British Gas Hitting Me With Massive Bills Based On Estimates

Barking_Dogs

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Barking_Dogs

They claim they have problems getting gas readings but they never seem to have the problems when it comes to getting a reading for the adjusted bill later on.  I have asked them to rectify any technical issues if there are any but nothing ever happens despite assurances to the contrary.

Of course, it's impossible to speak to anyone there on the ohone and all these comms occur over their chat app with somebody on the opposite side of the world

MattMattMattUK

Barking_Dogs said:

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Is your smart meter actually reporting?

Secondly are you on budget Direct Debit, the same amount every month, or whole bill monthly Direct Debit eg. do you pay the same amount every month, which will be averaged over the whole year, or do you pay for each months usage in full, with no balance?

Barking_Dogs

MattMattMattUK said:

Barking_Dogs said:

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Is your smart meter actually reporting?

Secondly are you on budget Direct Debit, the same amount every month, or whole bill monthly Direct Debit eg. do you pay the same amount every month, which will be averaged over the whole year, or do you pay for each months usage in full, with no balance?

I'm not paying by DD

MattMattMattUK

Barking_Dogs said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Barking_Dogs said:

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Is your smart meter actually reporting?

Secondly are you on budget Direct Debit, the same amount every month, or whole bill monthly Direct Debit eg. do you pay the same amount every month, which will be averaged over the whole year, or do you pay for each months usage in full, with no balance?

I'm not paying by DD

What method are you using to pay? Not paying by Direct Debit increases your costs.

Barking_Dogs

MattMattMattUK said:

Barking_Dogs said:

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Is your smart meter actually reporting?

Secondly are you on budget Direct Debit, the same amount every month, or whole bill monthly Direct Debit eg. do you pay the same amount every month, which will be averaged over the whole year, or do you pay for each months usage in full, with no balance?

They tell me they have problems getting gas reading from my smart meter but despite assurances that the issue is going to be sorted out, nothing ever happens and I am sick of spending hours on their chat app!  It also doesn't explain how they manage to get the actual reading when they create the adjusted bill sometime down the line

MattMattMattUK

Barking_Dogs said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Barking_Dogs said:

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Is your smart meter actually reporting?

Secondly are you on budget Direct Debit, the same amount every month, or whole bill monthly Direct Debit eg. do you pay the same amount every month, which will be averaged over the whole year, or do you pay for each months usage in full, with no balance?

They tell me they have problems getting gas reading from my smart meter but despite assurances that the issue is going to be sorted out, nothing ever happens and I am sick of spending hours on their chat app!  It also doesn't explain how they manage to get the actual reading when they create the adjusted bill sometime down the line

For the moment if I were you I would submit the gas reading yourself a few days before the bill is generated. They may be getting intermittent signal from the network, which would be the most likely explanation. 

Barking_Dogs

MattMattMattUK said:

Barking_Dogs said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Barking_Dogs said:

Like £200 for 1 month when in reality I owe £80.  Yes, I can pay it and it will count as credit to the next one but it's a huge hit on my monthly cash flow and I'm not a zero % loan company!

Why are they doing this when I have a smart meter which submits daily readings?  I have asked them to stop but I'm getting nowhere.

Anyone else having similar problems?

Is your smart meter actually reporting?

Secondly are you on budget Direct Debit, the same amount every month, or whole bill monthly Direct Debit eg. do you pay the same amount every month, which will be averaged over the whole year, or do you pay for each months usage in full, with no balance?

I'm not paying by DD

What method are you using to pay? Not paying by Direct Debit increases your costs.

I'll sort that out.  Thanks

EssexHebridean

Do the figures on the bill show the actual reading from the smart meter? Allowing that they have said they have issues getting readings, have you also been submitting manual readings monthly to ensure that they do have at least something showing actual use? Andy finally, do the figures on the bill show something different to what you are seeing on the meter itself? 

Barking_Dogs

EssexHebridean said:

Do the figures on the bill show the actual reading from the smart meter? Allowing that they have said they have issues getting readings, have you also been submitting manual readings monthly to ensure that they do have at least something showing actual use? Andy finally, do the figures on the bill show something different to what you are seeing on the meter itself? 

I'm really confused by their bills - this month they've issued 5 different ones - the latest one based on an actual amount was £80 but when I go to pay that they're asking for £198.56 because there's something based on an estimate even though it's not detailed in any of the bills.

No, I haven't been submitting readings until today.  I thought that's what a smart meter was for but I was naive

Barking_Dogs

So I spent 1 hour 30 minutes on the chat to get a new bill issued with the reading and now they're demanding £402.66 based on an estimate - though bill isn't actually ready to view.  I'm sick of this