British Gas refuse to bill me monthly

Healthynotwealthy

I'm hoping that I am posting in the correct category, and bear with me whilst I rant- but I am furious and cant believe that this can be so ! 

So.... I pay my gas and electric monthly to British Gas- 3 adults in 3 bed semi. £322 pcm. (My bills are always higher than my friends, but i do use  my heating a lot- and the amount I pay isn't actually in dispute).

My issue is that British Gas will not automatically bill me monthly unless I telephone them each and every month to request it !
They will only automatically bill me every six months.
They have said that because I pay a fixed DD every month, they can only issue a bill every six months and if I want a monthly bill, I need to call them every month or switch to a variable DD 
I think that in this current climate , the fact that they refuse to issue monthly bills unless i physically call them every month is so morally wrong on every level.
the only way I could get a monthly bill would be if I were to switch to a variable direct debit. I have pointed out that i cant afford to pay a variable amount each month as like many people, i need to KNOW how much my outgoings will be each month.
I strongly believe that they should be doing everything they can to avoid people racking up huge bills and that they actually have a moral responsibility to work with their customers to make them aware of their monthly usage. I think that they are being obstructive in refusing point blank to issue bills automatically every month to those on a fixed direct debit ,and its discriminatory and penalising those on fixed DD's

Honestly, I just think this is wrong on so many levels as i do not believe that other energy companies do this (?) I've been with a fair few previously and have never encountered this before .

I am disgusted with British Gas- whats everyone's thoughts please  ? Am I over reacting???

TheMilkmansDad

If you're not happy, switch suppliers. British Gas will not change their policy and indeed they do not have to.

Alnat1

Totally agree with you, many problems arise when people get an unexpectedly large bill after 6 months when it's far too late to do anything about it.

If you're not happy with the service BG provide, switch to a supplier who will bill monthly.

Unless you're on a fixed rate with BG, all suppliers with have very similar variable rates and the only difference between companies is the service they offer..

Healthynotwealthy

...forgot to mention- I cant switch as I am locked in until July..... but I definitely WILL be switching as soon as I can :-) 

Spoonie_Turtle

Yep, switch.  Unless you're on a really good fix, in which case a system you hate is the price you pay for it.

Octopus is one that issues monthly bills, and if you don't have a smart meter then submitting a reading triggers one no matter how frequent they are.

Robin9

As you are on a fix till July and (only) paying £322 - have you done your sums yet as to what you will be paying ?

A piece of advice - sit down when you do so.

molerat

Something Martin should be pushing OFGEM to make part of the SLCs.  Now the market is opening up for switching I have just moved my SOLRd gas away from EDF for that reason.  It is not as if they have to send out bits of paper in the post any more.

Healthynotwealthy

@Robin9.... it doesn't really matter what I will be paying- if its gone up its gone up ? 
That's not my issue - However much it is, I will still pay a fixed amount over 12 month- I'm not sure what your point was? 
My issue is that everyone should be able to have monthly bills

[Deleted User]

molerat said:

Something Martin should be pushing OFGEM to make part of the SLCs.  Now the market is opening up for switching I have just moved my SOLRd gas away from EDF for that reason.  It is not as if they have to send out bits of paper in the post any more.

The issue might be that EDF does not have a billing system that enables it to provide a monthly bill - hence the lease of Octopus Technologies billing platform KRAKEN.

molerat

[Deleted User] said:

molerat said:

Something Martin should be pushing OFGEM to make part of the SLCs.  Now the market is opening up for switching I have just moved my SOLRd gas away from EDF for that reason.  It is not as if they have to send out bits of paper in the post any more.

The issue might be that EDF does not have a billing system that enables it to provide a monthly bill - hence the lease of Octopus Technologies billing platform KRAKEN.

Strange that the current billing system is a downgrade on the previous when I could submit a reading at greater than 28 days and a bill would be produced.

Robin9

Agree your future bills are not relevant to your BG gripe - I have the same with EDF