British Gas DD increase - accurate?

Stewzors

Just had our latest DDs for gas/electric and combined its gone from 178.69 last month to 467.00.this month.

This seems a tad excessive to me? Looking at the calculator on one of the other pages based on our yearly it estimates a 27% increase, not around 160%

Am I missing something - a brief chat with their online help says it's to cover price rises, but still seems high? Or am I just lucky enough to have been sheltered from the worst of it until now as our billing/review cycle seems to be Mar-Oct (just on standard variable tariff)

Many thanks if anyone can help clarify - I don't fancy spending a day on the phone!

ariarnia

can you tell us your 12 month usage? 

[Deleted User]

And whether you are in credit or debit? The date of your last bill and if it was actual or estimated readings?

Stewzors

Thanks All, see below, I only used the estimated annual usage figures on the calculator...


Covering: 26 Mar 2022 to 3 Oct 2022 Statement date: 4 Oct 2022

Gas:
Your previous balance on 26 Mar 2022 £59.46
Total energy costs £292.09 (including VAT)
You’ve paid us £367.29 CR
Your new balance on 4 Oct 2022 £15.74 CR
Electricity:
Your previous balance on 26 Mar 2022 £59.10 CR
Total energy costs £726.32 (including VAT)
You’ve paid us £883.54 CR
Your new balance on 4 Oct 2022 £216.32 CR

Covering: 26 Sep 2021 to 25 Mar 2022 Statement date: 28 Mar 2022

Gas:
Your previous balance on 26 Sep 2021 £140.69 CR
Total energy costs £514.97 (including VAT)
You’ve paid us £314.82 CR
Your new balance on 25 Mar 2022 £59.46
Electric:
Your previous balance on 26 Sep 2021 £50.48
Total energy costs £647.74 (including VAT)
You’ve paid us £757.32 CR
Your new balance on 25 Mar 2022 £59.10 CR

MuckChucker

I find that their estimate of my usage is quite a bit higher than it will be (the year is nearly over so it's bit of a pi$$ take that they can be so far off) so I'm guessing it's the same for you OP. You need to match this estimate against your actual usage in Kwh before you go getting the monetary value differential

Stewzors

Also, looks like estimates are slightly higher than actual usages - so had assumed that the estimates in the calculator would give us a ceiling value and we are being charged way above that

[Deleted User]

Hi,

don't go with other sites estimated this and estimated that, using estimated usage.

Get your own annual actual usage, set up a wee spreadsheet, then you can see what you are using and cost.

ariarnia

Stewzors said:

Thanks All, see below, I only used the estimated annual usage figures on the calculator...

Thanks Stew but we really need your usage in kilowatts not money to do it properly. there were price rises in april and again in october so its hard to work out with only cash figures. do you take regular readings from your meter that you can see on your account?

Stewzors

ariarnia said:

do you take regular readings from your meter that you can see on your account?

No, just the "smart" readings and we can't see them all - just the "readings used to create your bill"

Happy to chuck the actual PDF statements in a drive link to show if that helps, but couldn't find a simple/obvious way to check actual usages online...

dunstonh

Just had our latest DDs for gas/electric and combined its gone from 178.69 last month to 467.00.this month.
This seems a tad excessive to me?

Not necessarily.   Mine has gone up from £90 to £320 on actual use (but not the d/d) as I turned the AGA on.     Its all about your own use.

 Looking at the calculator on one of the other pages based on our yearly it estimates a 27% increase, not around 160%

Which will just give you garbage figures.  

You need to take your ACTUAL meter readings with a 12 months gap..  That will give your annual use. Then multiply that by the tariff you are on for gas and electric.  Add in the standing charges and divide it by 12.

Your summer credit figures are a bit low (especially on gas).  So, some of the increase will be down to you needing to catch up.

ariarnia

if you have a smart meter and a smart phone you could try downloading one of the apps like the bright app (its free). it takes a number from the back of your in home display (the little plug in things hats probably in a draw somewhere) and pulls the readings directly from your meter. i think you can see about 18 months worth of readings that way? i think its useful because it shows you what you used in a day or month as well as a year so you can see how your use changes at different times or when you do different things.