Am I missing something or is British Gas totally lost?

UnclePennybags

Simple story: I registered with British Gas for dual fuel energy in December 2022 and 180 days later I asked for a closing or final bill, which duly arrived. I gave meter readings at both ends.

Like many I'm sure over the intervening period I've had bills calculated, re-calculated and figures replaced, so to check the figures trying to unravel it's a total nightmare. Add to this estimated readings (why are they estimated when the house has a (supposedly) smart meter installed? ... seems ludicrous) swapped for irregular actual readings and the government feed-in ... it's like trying to follow a strand of spaghetti in thick tomato sauce!

Why I'm here: I believe British Gas proposes to overcharge me between ~£210 and ~£250 (IRO 50%) over the above period.  Before I challenge the final bill and no doubt get into the Customer (dis-)Service circus are there any kind people out there who could judge on the following data if it's I who am mad, or they who are? With another dispute with SSE going on elsewhere in my world, I really don't need the angst ... or rather my long-suffering wife doesn't want to hear too much more!

As I said, it's complicated or nigh-on impossible for the inexpert to get the chronology right in terms of the (varying/revising) charging vs meter readings actual or estimated, so I've used two scenarios: highest energy unit and standing charge applied over the whole period to give the lowest possible overcharge and contrasted this with using the lowest energy unit and standing charge applied over the whole period to give the highest possible overcharge. (Spreadsheet available ... please PM)

QrizB

A smart gas meter measures in cubic metres, not kWh. You need to multiply by a factor of about 11 to convert that into kWh.

That would change your calculations by about £200.

CSI_Yorkshire

Its extremely difficult to work out what's gone on from your interpretation of the information and on a bespoke spreadsheet. 

Simple things first:

What are the meter readings on their bills?  Do yours match?

How many units do they say you have used?  Do you agree?

What are the recorded payments on their bills?  Do yours match?

edit:  Smart meters frequently can't send data, and sometimes a manual reading can overwrite a smart reading.

CSI_Yorkshire

QrizB said:

A smart gas meter measures in cubic metres, not kWh. You need to multiply by a factor of about 11 to convert that into kWh.

That would change your calculations by about £200.

That's a good point - 190kWh of gas between December and June would be tiny.

Gerry1

You've probably read the electricity meter incorrectly.  Doubling the usage suggests a very rough annual consumption of 164kWh whereas the average is 2900kWh.

QrizB

QrizB said:

A smart gas meter measures in cubic metres, not kWh. You need to multiply by a factor of about 11 to convert that into kWh.

That would change your calculations by about £200.

OK, looking at this in more detail.

• Gas used = 189 cubic metres (manual billing is done on whole cubic metres only)

During the period of interest, my gas was delivering 11.15kWh per cubic metre.

• Gas used: 189 * 11.15 = 2107 kWh
• Cost of gas used: 2107 * 10.573 = £222.77
• Standing charge (as calculated by OP) = £58.87
• Subtotal before VAT = £281.64
• Including 5% VAT = £295.72

If we assume the electricity calculation is correct, the grand total is £143.74 + £295.72 = £439.46.

This is pretty close to the £436.45 that BG are asking for.

UnclePennybags

Derrr ... yes, I made a massive blunder overlooking the gas conversion math and that of course makes a massive difference. I've added in that factor to my sums and come out much closer to QrisB's analysis. BTW consumption was low over that period anyway: house empty pending re-dec. Thank you so much All Forumites esp QrisB who helped me on this - it's saved lots of egg-on-face not to mention time!

CSI_Yorkshire

Glad you've got it sorted.

QrizB

I'm glad to have helped!

(And thanks for coming back to let us know, not everybody does )