British Gas - Offer of ofgem cap electricity rates and strange maths

Merciful

Hi, I am currently on Exclusive Jul 23 v1 with British Gas for electric only, following the announcements of the new rates from October I logged onto my account to see what I was being offered (see image below), firstly the "Standard Variable" is more expensive although marginally by their calculations ( when both rates (unit and SC) are cheaper than my fix) and secondly when I use the formula which BG have helpfully included above the tariff details, I get completely different numbers (energy usage x daily tariff + daily standard charge x 365) of £1279.74 and £1233.65 respectively.

What gives? Is it just me?

wrf12345

Aren't they supposed to be amending fixed deals to reflect decrease in expected kwh? Was there a date of there saying its starts Oct 1st? And how does your estimated use compare to actual, they usually treble it.

Merciful

I had an email over the weekend to say they would be writing to further confirm my rates, also there is no start date stated in the quote.

The estimate is a little off as to my actual usage (being slightly higher) according to my last year of usage but not a million miles away.

It's just off to me that even using their own formula with the figures they have presented in the screeshot I posted I can't make my figures agree; one thought is that it (their calculation) is taken from the 01/10 and as my fixed runs until the end of July 2023 that is taken into account, although that is likely me overcomplicating it to make the calculations fit.

locky123

I also have a similar electric rate from BG when using their website. Dont know if this is the new 1 Oct but it maybe as their app shows increased SVT rate of about 10p per unit and SC about 28. BG indicated that the new gas rate is for 1 Oct when asked on Twitter.

MattMattMattUK

Merciful said:

Hi, I am currently on Exclusive Jul 23 v1 with British Gas for electric only, following the announcements of the new rates from October I logged onto my account to see what I was being offered (see image below), firstly the "Standard Variable" is more expensive although marginally by their calculations ( when both rates (unit and SC) are cheaper than my fix) and secondly when I use the formula which BG have helpfully included above the tariff details, I get completely different numbers (energy usage x daily tariff + daily standard charge x 365) of £1279.74 and £1233.65 respectively.

What gives? Is it just me?

Those offers reflect the rates that were applicable before Truss froze the cap, the new unit rate and standing charges are not reflected and will not be for another week or two. Now is the time to wait, not take action, as the above demonstrates everything is currently between the headline announcement and when the fine detail has been confirmed. 

The actual rate on the SVR will be around 34p per kWh for electricity with a standing charge of 46.36p per day (with regional variations). 

Merciful

Agreed, I plan to do nothing until I hear more detail, but it is strange how the maths don't tally with the figures they've quoted.

If I were on a much more expensive fix, I'd be more concerned however.

victor2

The maths works for the Jul23V1 quote if you use the "typical" usage of 2900kWh for electricity. It appears BG are trying to adjust quotes as they interpret the governments intervention.