Reducing my dad's direct dbit

MWT

keithp88 said:

...and British Gas have estimated that his usage for the next year will be 49485.67kwh. Given that he has used 4100kwh over summer, if that doubles over winter he will hit the 12000kwh mark which someone earlier said would probably be on the mark. I have no idea where they get the 49.5k from....

Do make sure that all the numbers you are using really are kWh not m3 as the bills charge by the kWh but the meter measures in m3...

For example, 4100 m3 is roughly 46,000 kWh...

chris_n

The estimated usage will be much higher because it is based on a catch up reading so the computer software has assumed he has used all of the catch up over the summer not spread more evenly (with winter bias) over the last 2 years.

keithp88

wrf12345 said:

but your dad will not like that idea, I think.

No, he will diligently pay off the debt and pay his bill, but he won't use anywhere near what they are predicting

keithp88

MWT said:

Do make sure that all the numbers you are using really are kWh not m3 as the bills charge by the kWh but the meter measures in m3...

I've just put what it says on the bill, definitely says kWh

Gerry1

keithp88 said:

I've just put what it says on the bill, definitely says kWh

Be aware that some smart gas meters unhelpfully also show usage in kWh.  If you enter a kWh figure as a meter reading sent to BG because your smart meter has gone dumb, they will expect it to be m3 and you'll end up being billed for 11.3 times the correct amount.

keithp88

Given what others have said, I suspect the meter reading is correct but British Gas for whatever reason have let the debt build to a stupid level and whatever bot works out estimated usage, is probably not fit for purpose.

macman

49.5kWh estimate is off the scale. My first thought would be: how much is the current level of debt? Has he had  a meter change in the last few years? Possibly a metric meter but still being billed in imperial units, which would more than treble the kWh total? Check the billing against the meter details.
Has he read the meter correctly? Ignore the digits in red.