British Gas billing

emilee01

After contacting British Gas to ask them to bill me monthly, I've been notified that they now only bill customers twice yearly. I find this move perplexing in the current climate. How do I know how much energy I've used and how much I've spent, if they are billing every 6 months. Can they do this without notification? I have only ever been billed monthly with numerous other suppliers. If someone could advise me please? 

pochase

BG has a 6 month billing cycle for most customers (on DD).

What have you changed that you are suddenly on their standard 6 month cycle? For example what payment form did you have?
 

Jyana

British Gas do still do variable monthly direct debit. I know because last week they put me on it, without asking me, due to the fact the £400 rebate is creating a massive credit balance for me as a very low user. But I need the direct debit going out in order to satisfy my current account conditions, so asked them on twitter to change it back again, which they did straight away.

MorningcoffeeIV

emilee01 said:

.
 How do I know how much energy I've used and how much I've spent, if they are billing every 6 months. Can they do this without notification? 

You'll see your usage in the app, online or via your meter.

They notified you in their terms, so it's all ok.

[Deleted User]

I find this move perplexing in the current climate

I agree. It is something that, in my opinion, Ofgem should be addressing if they are seriously concerned about consumers getting into debt.

ariarnia

emilee01 said:

After contacting British Gas to ask them to bill me monthly, I've been notified that they now only bill customers twice yearly. I find this move perplexing in the current climate. How do I know how much energy I've used and how much I've spent, if they are billing every 6 months. Can they do this without notification? I have only ever been billed monthly with numerous other suppliers. If someone could advise me please? 

they are only required to ensure you have an accurate bill once a year. so twice a year is fine as far as what they CAN do is concerned. and as someone has already said its not a new thing. most bg customers have always been on 6 month billing. 

BUT the good new is theres an easy way for you to know how much energy you have used and spent. if you take regular meter readings then you can do a couple of basic sums and keep track (lots of us on here do exactly that even tho were billed monthly because its good to double check theres nothing wrong with the bill). i recomend google sheets. 


if you have smart meters

 your electric meter reads in kilowatt-hours. so you just times the number of units youve used that month by your unit rate and add the standing charge for every day (then add 5% vat but even without that its close enough for keeping track)

your gas meter will read in meters cubed (m3). so times the number of units youve used that month by 11.2 (to convert to kwh). then times that by your unit rate and add the standing charge (plus vat at 5% if you want to). again this isnt exactly right but close enough for keeping track. 


if you don't have smart meters the calculation of the electric will be the same but your gas might be measured in cubic feet (ft3). it will say somewhere on the meter. 

then its a bit more complicated to convert but if you times by 32 instead of 11.2 then that will give you a rough idea (again should be good enough for budgeting) 

nannytone_2

I've been with BG since August 2021.
I received bills in september 21, october 21,December 21, january, march, July and September.
Theres no rhyme or reason to their billing sustem

brewerdave

BG's "systems" are rubbish compared with the many small suppliers I've been with in the past. The amount required by DD was altered 6 times in the first 11 months after I was moved to them from Neon Reef.
My account has been in annual review since early November with a completion date of 8th Dec.
Why does it take them so long for a review ? Are they using a Commodore 64 to do each account in turn? 
And now it looks like they have failed to take my due DD so that will, no doubt, screw up the data used for the review !!

emilee01

pochase said:

BG has a 6 month billing cycle for most customers (on DD).

What have you changed that you are suddenly on their standard 6 month cycle? For example what payment form did you have?
 

I was moved to BG from another supplier who went bust. I've always paid by DD and until August, I was billed monthly. The app is as much use as a chocolate teapot, so I can't rely on that & I don't have a smart meter.

emilee01

MorningcoffeeIV said:

emilee01 said:

.
 How do I know how much energy I've used and how much I've spent, if they are billing every 6 months. Can they do this without notification? 

You'll see your usage in the app, online or via your meter.

They notified you in their terms, so it's all ok.

The app is absolutely useless and I don't have a smart meter.  I was being billed monthly until August......then no notification, nada.

emilee01

[Deleted User] said:

I find this move perplexing in the current climate

I agree. It is something that, in my opinion, Ofgem should be addressing if they are seriously concerned about consumers getting into debt.

That's what alarms me. You can rack a hell of lot of debt up in 6 months.nannytone_2 said:

I've been with BG since August 2021.
I received bills in september 21, october 21,December 21, january, march, July and September.
Theres no rhyme or reason to their billing sustem

So you too are finding that they have changed the billing time frame. I don't understand their reasoning & feel like they have their customers over a barrel at the moment.