British Gas on the fiddle?

j.a.mcguire

Hi Folks,

I signed up to British Gas Evolve in October of last year.  I think they've been absorbed back into British Gas as the website no longer says "evolve" and everything gets redirected when you try to reach the old website.

They've recently tried to stick my DD up by over 26%, and I can't figure out why, not only that it seems they're probably overcharging me for my energy usage.  I've raised the query with BG directly, but am hoping someone here might be able to shed some light on it, or confirm my suspicions?

When I signed up last year, I quoted that I would use 1742kWh of electricity and 16339kWh of gas based on the figures provided by my previous supplier.  I signed up for a fixed deal on a 12 month term, that started 10th October 2021 and ends on 9th October 2022 (364 days).  BG Evolve quoted me £101 per month.

At the end of June, when they issued the bill, they sent me an email saying they were going to increase my Direct Debit to £127.38 from £101 per month, a rise of 26%.  I'm trying to wrap my head around why and presently I can't figure it out.  My account is currently in £10.63 of debit, and is reducing significantly each month now we're in Summer and my usage is low.

On the June bill, it state's the following:

Elec:
Estimated annual usage: 1,483.6kWh
Estimated annual cost: £525.22

Gas:
Estimated annual usage: 12,742.38 kWh
Estimated annual cost: £956.74

Which would add up to £1481.96 or divided by 12, £123.50 per month. 

When I saw these usage numbers (kWh), I realised they're even lower than what I would have used to obtain the original quote, but the overall cost is higher, which doesn't make any sense, unless I had supplied the wrong usage numbers when I signed up.

I got in touch with their customer services, and they couldn't provide a copy of the kWh which I had used when I signed up, but they could provide the quoted spend amount for the forthcoming year which is:

£453.32 on electric

£762.01 on gas

So using my tarrif, I worked out what the kWh would have been which I used to generate the quote.

My tariff is as follows:

Elec Standing Charge: 31.43p per day
Elec Unit Rate: 19.43p per kWh
Gas Standing Charge: 23.71p per day
Gas Unit Rate: 4.12p per kWh

If I calculate the contract term from 10th October 2021 to 9th October 2021 as being 364 days, I can work out the total cost of the standing charge and how many units of energy that would then accommodate in the within the originally quoted spend amount for the contract term:

Elec Standing Charge for contract term: (31.43/100) * 364 = £114.4052
Gas Standing Charge for contract term: (23.71/100) * 364 = £86.3044

Subtracting the standing charges for contract term from the original quoted spend amount:

Elec Budget for Contract Term: £453.32 - £114.4052 = £338.9148
Gas Budget for Contract Term: £762.01 - £86.3044 = £675.7056

Dividing the remaining energy budget by the energy unit cost shows us the predicted usage figures in kWh for the contract term which I had originally supplied when establishing the fixed contract:

Electric predicted usage kWh: £338.9148 / (19.43 / 100) = 1,744.234 kWh.
Gas predicted kWh: £675.7056 / (4.12 / 100) = 16,400.612 kWh

So the figures seen above match those provided by my previous energy supplier which is why I used them to establish the fixed-term contract with BG Energy.

It's possible to verify then, that the predicted usage figures in kWh which I supplied at the start of the contract, add up to the predicted costs of £453.32 on electric £762.01 on gas, which when added up, total £1,215.33 energy costs for the year, when divided by 12 equals £101.2275 which very closely matches my direct debit of £101 per month, for the full 12 month fixed contract term.

Can anyone understand:

* Why British Gas is trying to raise my direct debit by over 26% to £127.38 from 22nd July onwards for the remaining term of my contract?

* Why on my June bill the estimated figures are lower than the figures I used when obtaining the quote, and yet the estimated cost is higher, it looks to me like they're overcharging on the tariff?

Would it be appropriate to raise this with Ofgem, or have I made a mistake somewhere?

molerat

Have you got 2 meter readings 12 months apart ?  Without those everything is guesswork.

j.a.mcguire

Thank you, I've included them below.

4th July 2021
Elec: 5444 kWh
Gas:5196 m^3

Start of Contract and opening read:

10 October 2021
Elec: 5847 kWh
Gas: 5302 m^3

4th July 2022
Elec: 7017 kWh
Gas: 6446 m^3

BUFF

Come the next SVT change on 1st of October we are going to see a massive jump. In your case it will be the 9th of October when your fix ends & you are going to see a phenomenal jump e.g. your gas rate is likely to treble & your electricity double or more.
You are also likely to find it hard to move supplier.

Knowing that, BG are probably trying to let you build some credit in the low use summer period to offset the coming higher usage winter period.

The estimated figures are probably lower than you used for your original estimate because it was a mild winter - many people are 15% or more down on last year's usage. BG are probably including pricing for the ~9 months of use outside your fixed tariff period into their  estimate for the next 12 months.

j.a.mcguire

Yeah I'm sadly all too aware of the pending price rises.  I'm not sure whether to switch now and get hit for the higher bills straight away albeit at a slightly lower %, or just hold off until I absolutely need to.

If they were including pricing for the next 7 months, I think a 26% rise is far too low?  Unless you're referring to the estimated prices on the June bill, but that still doesn't add up as it's only a ~10% difference.

BUFF

You have still got 3 months on your old fixed tariff left & whilst this is the lower usage time of the year the jump to new rates for those 3 months would still add up to quite a few £s.

I doubt that BG are overcharging & that it will all come out in the wash. Do yourself a favour & keep up with actual consumption rather than estimates. Of course it doesn't help that BG bill 6-monthly rather than monthly unless you go onto variable DD {which can mean big bills in winter).

theoretica

j.a.mcguire said:

Elec Standing Charge: 31.43p per day
Elec Unit Rate: 19.43p per kWh
Gas Standing Charge: 23.71p per day
Gas Unit Rate: 4.12p per kWh

Have BG confirmed this is still the tariff you are on?  Are these the numbers on your bills?

These charges tend to be without tax, which throws all calculations out a bit.

Mstty

Are you currently in credit or debit on your account and how much?

k_man

Mstty said:

Are you currently in credit or debit on your account and how much?

From the OP:

My account is currently in £10.63 of debit

Mstty

Thanks @k_man

Any debt over the summer months where most on direct debits accrue credit on their energy accounts will have an effect on the billing and DD algorithms.

However this isn't exorbitant and will see you in credit for when the big hit on prices comes this winter so overall not a bad thing?

In answer to your question. Are BG on the fiddle?....not in my opinion

PennineAcute

Come October, you will be paying more than that anyway.  You say you may move away.  Most companies are not taking on new customers, unless they are taking over a property supplied by that company.

So around £20 a month extra, for 3 months, will pay your extra standing charge from October.  The remaining will contribute towards your vastly increased prcies.