British Gas ongoing billing issues

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023

Hello - this maybe a bit long but I'll do in bullet points for ease:

1       Got moved to BG in Sept 2021 when People's Energy ceased trading
2       Kept requesting a bill to pay & set up DD nothing happened - got one in December 2021 to tune of £19.76 but managed to get set up for DD               starting January 2022
3       Bills started coming through - just gas no electricity; BG advised they could not read the electricity meter as it had 'lost it's smart meter                       functionality' - so started sending readings for electricity
4       June BG wanted to up my DD from £165/mth to £500/mth - huge issue with this.  Instructed them to put me on variable DD so that they still
         took the payments but I gave the readings. Had to settle the account in full to be able to start - paid £490.70 to level account up
5       Still couldn't upload gas readings; kept requesting smart monitor to be able to check spend.  BG said the electric meter needing fixing first -               they came out once, said the meter was faulty & needed Western Power to fix it.  Western Power came out, tested it 3 times nothing wrong               with it.  They contacted BG to come back out as did we; 3 appointments booked - all cancelled morning of visit due
6       Now started taking photos of meter readings for both gas & electric as knew something wasn't quite right but BG kept insisting all working ok
7       Forgot to send a reading in December & BG read my electric meter - & estimated my gas as couldn't read the meter (only found this out this               week!)
8       Invoices steadily increasing from Sept 2022 to now (Mar 2023) - assumed it was just energy crisis related.  Now up to £400/mth - less                         government assistance
9

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023

Sorry posted too soon!
9    February invoice had additional £200 on the invoice that BG couldn't account for - queried it with
      them, they cancelled & reinvoiced correctly

10  March invoice now has an additional £400 on the invoice that BG cannot account for - queried it, have photos of meter readings, used their own data off the usage graphs on my account & copies of the invoices.  They insist there is nothing wrong with the meter & the readings are right - but they don't justify the expense.  My daily usage has risen from £12-£15/day to £35/day at the rate they are saying & at that rate my monthly bill will be £1085!  That is £13020 per year! This simply cannot be right but I cannot get them to even check!  Online chat, telephone, complaints & even Twitter - all comes back to 'there is nothing wrong'!

Just don't know where to turn now - this is cannot be right; we have our heating on for max 2.5 hrs in a morning (weather depending) 3 hrs on an evening after 7pm.  2 showers a day via thermo shower, washing up bowl once a day, wash hands with cold water & sanitzer, boil kettle once a day & use a flask.  Washing machine dropped from min 1 load/day to prob 3 loads/week.  Dishwasher dropped from daily to every 2/3 days. Yet my bills are astronomical!  I am so stressed I just don't know where to turn.

Thank you for the rant - if anyone else has had similar issues please comment.  From speaking to others, it seems majority of people who got transferred to them forcibly are having issues

MattMattMattUK

Can you post the monthly meter reads you have taken and let us know what region you are in so we can calculate your actual costs?

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023

Gas for Feb was 2523kwh electricity 410 units Gas for Mar was 2266kwh electricity 415 units based in the West Mids. My usage figures match theirs but whereas the bill should've been £400.81 less £67 = £333.81 it was £779 less £67 = £712 with no explaination as the usage on the invoice matches the correct figures - sorry if it's confusing!  It's like they've randomly added on £378.19 to the cost but not the usage figures if that makes sense.  

Robin9

So you are a high user -  electricity is heading for 5000 kWh a year at a cost of £1700; gas not so easy but perhaps a bit over average say 14000 kWh  £1400   over all add s/c and VAT £3000

MattMattMattUK

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023 said:

Gas for Feb was 2523kwh electricity 410 units Gas for Mar was 2266kwh electricity 415 units based in the West Mids. My usage figures match theirs but whereas the bill should've been £400.81 less £67 = £333.81 it was £779 less £67 = £712 with no explaination as the usage on the invoice matches the correct figures - sorry if it's confusing!  It's like they've randomly added on £378.19 to the cost but not the usage figures if that makes sense.  

That is just one month, so I am guessing that there was something carried over from the previous month? The £67 would not have been deducted from the bill, that would have been refunded to your bank account. 

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023

Would you say high user?  Not quite sure how I can reduce our energy anymore.  We both work from home - just laptops on.  Never heating unless it drops to 14 degrees in our house - even sat in a sleeping bag some days to keep warmer.

How do you not pay an estimated bill when they take it via DD & it takes them ages to answer queries?

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023

MattMattMattUK said:

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023 said:

Gas for Feb was 2523kwh electricity 410 units Gas for Mar was 2266kwh electricity 415 units based in the West Mids. My usage figures match theirs but whereas the bill should've been £400.81 less £67 = £333.81 it was £779 less £67 = £712 with no explaination as the usage on the invoice matches the correct figures - sorry if it's confusing!  It's like they've randomly added on £378.19 to the cost but not the usage figures if that makes sense.  

That is just one month, so I am guessing that there was something carried over from the previous month? The £67 would not have been deducted from the bill, that would have been refunded to your bank account. 

I deduct the £67 for my own figures at the moment sorry. It's credited to our energy account so it's knocked off the bill in effect when they take the direct debit. Why wouldn't they a) tell us something is carried over b) itemise it?

MattMattMattUK

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023 said:

Gas for Feb was 2523kwh electricity 410 units Gas for Mar was 2266kwh electricity 415 units based in the West Mids. My usage figures match theirs but whereas the bill should've been £400.81 less £67 = £333.81 it was £779 less £67 = £712 with no explaination as the usage on the invoice matches the correct figures - sorry if it's confusing!  It's like they've randomly added on £378.19 to the cost but not the usage figures if that makes sense.  

That is just one month, so I am guessing that there was something carried over from the previous month? The £67 would not have been deducted from the bill, that would have been refunded to your bank account. 

I deduct the £67 for my own figures at the moment sorry. It's credited to our energy account so it's knocked off the bill in effect when they take the direct debit. Why wouldn't they a) tell us something is carried over b) itemise it?

Are you sure they credit onto your account? British Gas with Direct Debit customers credit it to the account, the remove it from the account and refund it to the customer's bank account, the same one the Direct Debit is linked to.

They would on a bill, it just might not be laid out in the clearest way. Can you post a copy of your bill with personal information (name and address) redacted? All pages if possible. 

Mstty

AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023 said:

Would you say high user?  Not quite sure how I can reduce our energy anymore.  We both work from home - just laptops on.  Never heating unless it drops to 14 degrees in our house - even sat in a sleeping bag some days to keep warmer.

How do you not pay an estimated bill when they take it via DD & it takes them ages to answer queries?

Depends on the size of your house if you are to be considered a high user.

Are there any electric heaters you use, large American type fridge freezers, pond pumps etc. The circa 400kwh per month just for electricity with no heating is high. By thermo shower do you mean electric shower as they can use a lot.

The reduction in electricity will see the biggest saving so concentrate there.

Robin9

@AnnoyedBritishGasCustomer2023 You raise quite a few points

1)  Why are you getting estimated bills ?   Does BG give you a date when they want them.

2)  Set yourself some challenges to reduce that electricity consumption .  Start with @Mstty and the suggestions made. go through your house room by room, the garage, the loft and look for the high energy items; is your lighting all LED ?   How  long are yours ?   

3) The suppliers had to introduce the £66/£67 credits at short notice and some have struggled to make it obvious,
. All the info is there.

4) £400 a month is probably about right

5) Forget what the IHD toy is telling you. Take your readings from the meters themselves. Keep your own records