British Gas Annual Estimates

MissPennySave

Morning, I've been going round the house trying to get an answer from British Gas as to why my estimated annual usage is so high for this year compared to last year.  in 2022 I used 4575 kWh of electricity and 7964kWh of gas, yet my estimated annual usages for 2023 is 6847 kWh electricity and 13465kWh gas, almost double what I used last year.  Every time I speak to Customer Services they say it's due to the increase in prices, which makes zero sense to me, how would the price per unit affect my usage estimate, I get it effects the overall cost, but surely a unit is a unit regardless of cost.  If anyone could shed some light for me please because I am pulling my hair out trying to figure it all out!!

CSI_Yorkshire

Prices are assumed to affect usage - but in exactly the opposite way.  If the prices go up, there is an assumption that people will try to use less.  It's not a big component of the calculation, but it is there.

There's also a component of "new technology", to account for people buying new appliances that are more efficient, adding insulation etc.  That would usually make estimates get smaller, but at the moment the sentiment is that people don't have the money to spend on these things so there's no decrease (but still not an increase).

The biggest factors for estimated usage increases are predicted weather and a change in trend of actual usage.  Weather impacts are normally <30% though, and you would know if you'd suddenly bought an EV or changed your thermostat to 30 degrees.

Gerry1

Why worry about a stupid estimate?  Just ignore it unless it's causing problems such as an inflated Fixed Direct Debit.  If so, changing to Monthly Variable DD might be the solution although that does mean lower bills in summer but higher ones in winter, and it may not be available with BG's new billing system.

Better still, ditch & switch to a company with sensible billing, such as Octopus !

Robin9

What was your actual consumption in the last year ?

Look back on your bills and find one that has Actual not Estimated readings. Now read your meter today and do some simple sums.

PS If the 4575 kWh in 2022 is correct - that's on the high side for a gas heated property. 

pseudodox

I had the same scenario last October when SSE moved me to OVO, who only allow monthly FDD payments.  With my 17 year history of usage at their fingertips they decided that facing winter and huge price hikes I would be using DOUBLE my previous consumption (ie kWh usage, not ££).  They would not budge on the crippling FDD they demanded so I moved to EDF.  On my stating my consumption history EDF immediately projected my usage at the figures I was proposing (ie cutting DOWN from previous use) and offered me a FDD of half what OVO demanded.  But in fact I opted for their Monthly Whole Bill arrangement & this suits me.  Higher bills in winter but now in summer combined gas/elec just about reaches £60 per month (where almost a third of the bill is the standing charges!), almost a quarter of the amount OVO would have insisted I pay on FDD.  I am keeping money aside for the winter.

The bottom line is that BG want YOUR money in THEIR pockets.  You can easily move away from them to Octopus or EDF who are more accomodating.

I agree with above comment that your elec usage does seem high.

[Deleted User]

Even the best suppliers can get it spectacularly wrong. I have just had a quote from Octopus that estimates my annual electrical usage as 4200kWh/year. My electricity smart meter which has been installed now for 31 months has a total index reading of 03281. Throughout this time, I have been an Octopus customer. It is not something to waste heartbeats on.

Brie

My supplier admitted to using just the coldest, darkest month of the year to do an estimate of annual use and further multiplied that by 14 rather than 12 months which when calculating my DD meant they wanted more than twice what was required.  Even customer service thought the calculations were completely bizarre and unreasonable.

Thirtyone709

Hi ,

As a British gas customer I don't wish to brag but my annual gas estimate on 24/3/23 was 123,699.71 kWh. Estimated annual cost: £12,856.05. I contacted them to question how they calculated that figure and why, as i use annually 9,500KWh approx for Gas. Customer services apologies and said they do another bill on 24/4/23. New bill Estimate 123,701.89 kWh. Estimated annual cost: £12,727.37. I contacted customer service again, this time I was told 'not to worry  about it you only get billed for what you use'.

MuckChucker

serious font issue going on there!

Yes they'll bill you on what you use but they'll set their DD amount based on what they estimate you'll use - you'll get it back but why go through the hassle in the first place. I moved to Octopus from BG in the last 2 months due to their estimates being pie in the sky even after smart meters figures emphasised how wrong they were.

MissPennySave

Thanks everyone, yes our electricity is on the high side, my 3 and 6 year olds are not a fan of turning things off!! I am planning to leave and switch to Octopus, but I also cant actually access my account on BG at the moment either and I want to see where I am.  They are fixing my DD based on my annual usage which is why I keep trying to question it with them but they do not seem to be budging on it.

Here are my meter readings from 24 March 2022:
Gas 03769
Elec 19385

Here are my meter readings from 25 March 2023:
Gas 04407
Elec 23832

Robin9

Gas annual assuming Actual reads 632  m3 = 7300 kWh @ 7.5p plus s/c plus Vat is about £800 a year so £70 a month assuming you are not carrying forward any debt