British Gas credit amount vastly incorrect

TJI_3

My British Gas account was showing that I had built up nearly £1000 in credit.  I was planning on withdrawing this money once we had made it through the winter months. I contacted British Gas today about withdrawing the credit, but to my shock I  was told this amount was wrong and I was actually in debit by £400!

I can see from my account that automatic monthly meter readings have been taken and my account always showed I was paying the correct direct debit.  This is an important feature to me as it enables me to carefully budget my finances.

Are British Gas responsible in way for incorrectly calculating my bill?  I thought the whole point of having a smart meter and automated meter readings  was to help  the customer budget and not have these shock  bills.

pochase

BG has not incorrectly calculated your bill, you have not received bills from BG.

BG only bills you every six months. You DD payments are added as credit during this six months, but nothing uis deducted for your usage, After six month they will generate your bill.

The credit shown between a bill and the next bill just show the credit/debt from the last bill and payments made.

In your case you had a credit of £1000, and than you got a bill of £1400, leaving you in debt. Not an ideal situation only to bill twice a year, but full within Ofgem guidleines, they only require one bill per year.

[Deleted User]

We need to see your latest statement.

A credit balance is valid for one day only: the day that the bill was produced and only then if accurate readings were used. You need to check your statements. Smart meter readings are usually annotated with an ‘S’.

If you were paying the ‘correct’ DD how have you amassed a credit balance of over £1000?

Uitlander

BG issues me with monthly bills using the readings I submit to them each month. I am currently £147 in credit, with my energy usage pretty much matching my usage for last year on a month for month basis. I am still on a fixed rate tariff on a very low rate as past me thought that a 24 month fix was a good idea 18 months ago.

Last week BG emailed me to say they were doubling my monthly direct debit as I was at risk of falling into debt. This didn't add up as my usage is going down now that we are heading for the summer months and my fixed rate continues for another 6 months or so. I had quite the exchange with them this morning insisting that they put my DD back to the level it was at last month. They continually argued that I was heading for a massive debt, although my meter readings, my credit balance and my historic usage all tell a different story. I think they were trying it on.

Xbigman

Uitlander said:

BG issues me with monthly bills using the readings I submit to them each month. I am currently £147 in credit, with my energy usage pretty much matching my usage for last year on a month for month basis. I am still on a fixed rate tariff on a very low rate as past me thought that a 24 month fix was a good idea 18 months ago.

Last week BG emailed me to say they were doubling my monthly direct debit as I was at risk of falling into debt. This didn't add up as my usage is going down now that we are heading for the summer months and my fixed rate continues for another 6 months or so. I had quite the exchange with them this morning insisting that they put my DD back to the level it was at last month. They continually argued that I was heading for a massive debt, although my meter readings, my credit balance and my historic usage all tell a different story. I think they were trying it on.

Are you sure they are issuing a monthly bill or are you just looking at the balance update when you put in a meter reading? Monthly bills from BG would be unusual. The updated balance reading is not forward looking where as the DD amount is. 


Darren

Uitlander

Xbigman said:

Are you sure they are issuing a monthly bill or are you just looking at the balance update when you put in a meter reading? 

Yes. I download the monthly bills which are supplied as PDFs. They accurately show my usage and charges based on the readings I have submitted to them. My billing has always been monthly over the duration of my current fixed rate tariff.

BooJewels

I too get bills more frequently than 6 months - but I'm not on a smart meter - but do give a meter reading on the last day of every month.  They seemingly issue them whenever they feel like it and at unfathomable intervals.  I had 7 in 2022 and 2 already this year. 

I'm also managing an estate property and despite the bereavement department telling me not to pay bills until the end, but they'll issue me with quarterly bills for information - they've now issued 2 bills since the end of February with a demand to pay them (which I have, from estate funds).  So I just don't think it's as clear cut as they 'bill every 6 months'.

brewerdave

pochase said:

BG has not incorrectly calculated your bill, you have not received bills from BG.

BG only bills you every six months. You DD payments are added as credit during this six months, but nothing uis deducted for your usage, After six month they will generate your bill.

The credit shown between a bill and the next bill just show the credit/debt from the last bill and payments made.

In your case you had a credit of £1000, and than you got a bill of £1400, leaving you in debt. Not an ideal situation only to bill twice a year, but full within Ofgem guidleines, they only require one bill per year.

HOWEVER, BG are pretty poor at calculating the DD required for my fix, to achieve the fabled zero balance at "plan end". I've worked out what I need to pay but when I've tried to increase my DD, BG warn me that I need to decrease it to prevent a credit balance build up!!
Doesn't bother me as I can cope with a shortfall at review but might cause some customers to suffer totally unnecessarily.

Gerry1

You can have monthly BG bills, at least if you are still on their old billing system and opt for Monthly Variable DD.  Lower bills in summer but higher in winter.

High time that dozy Ofgem made monthly billing compulsory, the present system causes a lot of confusion and bill shocks.

That said, a close study of my latest bill shows it's suddenly changed to Quarterly Variable DD with no notice or explanation,  so a whinge is on the way.

pochase

Variabke direct debit was my first thought also, but that does not explain the £147 credit, there should be no credit on variable direct debit.

Uitlander

pochase said:

Variabke direct debit was my first thought also, but that does not explain the £147 credit, there should be no credit on variable direct debit.

When I switched to them 18 months ago their estimate of my usage was higher than my historic usage figures. They refused to budge on the initial DD figure they set, but claimed they would adjust it later if it turned out to be too high. Note that while DDs are variable, this was set up on the basis that the DD figure would be annual usage figure divided by 12. Unsurprisingly , as they started off with an inflated usage estimate it turned out to be too high and I have always paid them too much - building up credit over the summer and then drawing on that credit balance over the winter. I'm now in a position where even with increased energy use during the winter months I still have a credit balance throughout the winter. They have never adjusted it downwards to match actual usage, but have tried multiple times to increase it. Each time I go back to them, point out that I am on a fixed rate, consistently have a credit balance and am not running up a debt. There is usually an argument where they say things that are patently untrue like "your current usage is estimated as leading to a high debt in the summer months" and eventually they put the DD back to its original level. I am figuring that when I come off the fixed rate later this year that credit balance will come in handy when the price shock finally hits me.