British Gas credit use (cost + debt), had enough for 4 years so considering court action.

tifo

BG top ups for 2023.



From 23 December to 4 Jan it used £50 for 12 days which is £4.231 per day.

From 4 Jan to 9 March it used £50 credit which is 64 days and works out at £0.781 per day.

From 9 March to 21 March it used £68 credit which is £5.666 per day.

In June it used £85 credit which is £2.833 per day with hardly any heating.

In July it used around £70 of credit which is £2.333 per day with hardly any heating.

It's remained above £2 and below £4 for the next few months.

From 13 December to date it's used about £26 credit which is £0.928 per day.

From the next top up in a day I can see it jumping up again.

It's obvious there's something wrong here from BG and the inconsistent nature of the credit use and lack of credit information in the account or IHD means i have no choice but to check manually and regularly.

Qyburn

Does your meter really not give any units, cu.ft, cu.m or kWh? Without those there's really no way of saying whether those daily figures are right or wrong. All we know so far is that over the year it looks correct. Can you get a bill like that more often than once a year?

MWT

There are many different screens on most if not all pre-payment meters, and one of them will show the meter index.

Here are the general instructions that Octopus provide for example:

https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/how-to-read-your-top-up-prepayment-meter/

tifo

Qyburn said:

Does your meter really not give any units, cu.ft, cu.m or kWh? Without those there's really no way of saying whether those daily figures are right or wrong.

All we know so far is that over the year it looks correct.

I've no idea about units etc.

Those daily use figures are from me checking the meter every few days or so and seeing how much credit has been used, so they're correct.

It might look correct over the year but the variable use of credits after a top up, which can be seen, is what gets to me. I've no idea how much it's going to use hence, like i keep saying, i have to regularly manually check outside which is also an issue for me. And top up when it starts using more credit than anticipated, like in March/April or through summer.

MWT

tifo said:

Qyburn said:

Does your meter really not give any units, cu.ft, cu.m or kWh? Without those there's really no way of saying whether those daily figures are right or wrong.

All we know so far is that over the year it looks correct.

I've no idea about units etc.

Those daily use figures are from me checking the meter every few days or so and seeing how much credit has been used, so they're correct.

It might look correct over the year but the variable use of credits after a top up, which can be seen, is what gets to me. I've no idea how much it's going to use hence, like i keep saying, i have to regularly manually check outside which is also an issue for me. And top up when it starts using more credit than anticipated, like in March/April or through summer.

The other screens that you are not using give you all the answers you are missing, they will show how much has been deducted from your last top-up for debt, they will let you track your actual energy consumption etc. ...

Spoonie_Turtle

tifo said:

Qyburn said:

tifo said:

Looking at the past 12 months i must've topped up at least £1,400. 

tifo said:

In 2023 I topped up £871.

Getting accurate figures rather than making assumptions is really key. Can we take it that in light of this actual top up figure, most of your complaints about cost are actually addressed?

"Getting accurate figures rather than making assumptions is really key".

I agree. Please see last paragraph and next post.

"Can we take it that in light of this actual top up figure, most of your complaints about cost are actually addressed?".

Not really, there's still the management of the outside meter and the variable rates it seems to charge after a top up.

It's £871 for 2023 but the credit use is inconsistent in monthly terms. I've added my top ups in next post so it can be seen here why i say that. Usage varies from below £1 a day to £5.67 or over a day for the same typical use. That yearly top up figure is skewed because in some months the meter has taken below £1 a day, usually £2 - £3 a day and sometimes upto £5.67 or more a day. I've got it all written down as i check at least once a week after i top up and every few days after some top up is used as i don't know how much credit is left.

As an example, last December 2022 i topped up near £200 a month and at times use was £8 a day, this December 2023 I topped up £25 in mid December and it's still not finished as it's using under £1 a day. In Jan and Feb 2022 last year credit use was low and in March 2022 from the next top up it massively jumped up (from under £1 to nearly £6) for no apparent reason, it stayed like this for a while.

It's an average of £3 - £3.50 a day over the majority of months so in some months if it did not take less credit (I don't know why it does that) then yearly top ups would be £1,100 - £1,300 hence my 'estimate' of '£1,400'.

Different weather requiring different amounts of heating would be an obvious answer.  

Dec 2022 was concert than Dec 23 - we had the two week cold snap at the beginning, and a chilly test of the month.  Dec 23 I was kicking the hot water bottle out of bed then stopped using it, until the colder nights we're just having now in Jan.

March 22 was cold, then prices increased so less usage would still cost more.

Obviously there are still problems you need sorting, but if this isn't one of them then you can focus your battle on what actually does need sorting.

tifo

Spoonie_Turtle said:

tifo said:

Qyburn said:

tifo said:

Looking at the past 12 months i must've topped up at least £1,400. 

tifo said:

In 2023 I topped up £871.

Getting accurate figures rather than making assumptions is really key. Can we take it that in light of this actual top up figure, most of your complaints about cost are actually addressed?

"Getting accurate figures rather than making assumptions is really key".

I agree. Please see last paragraph and next post.

"Can we take it that in light of this actual top up figure, most of your complaints about cost are actually addressed?".

Not really, there's still the management of the outside meter and the variable rates it seems to charge after a top up.

It's £871 for 2023 but the credit use is inconsistent in monthly terms. I've added my top ups in next post so it can be seen here why i say that. Usage varies from below £1 a day to £5.67 or over a day for the same typical use. That yearly top up figure is skewed because in some months the meter has taken below £1 a day, usually £2 - £3 a day and sometimes upto £5.67 or more a day. I've got it all written down as i check at least once a week after i top up and every few days after some top up is used as i don't know how much credit is left.

As an example, last December 2022 i topped up near £200 a month and at times use was £8 a day, this December 2023 I topped up £25 in mid December and it's still not finished as it's using under £1 a day. In Jan and Feb 2022 last year credit use was low and in March 2022 from the next top up it massively jumped up (from under £1 to nearly £6) for no apparent reason, it stayed like this for a while.

It's an average of £3 - £3.50 a day over the majority of months so in some months if it did not take less credit (I don't know why it does that) then yearly top ups would be £1,100 - £1,300 hence my 'estimate' of '£1,400'.

Different weather requiring different amounts of heating would be an obvious answer.  

Dec 2022 was concert than Dec 23 - we had the two week cold snap at the beginning, and a chilly test of the month.  Dec 23 I was kicking the hot water bottle out of bed then stopped using it, until the colder nights we're just having now in Jan.

March 22 was cold, then prices increased so less usage would still cost more.

Obviously there are still problems you need sorting, but if this isn't one of them then you can focus your battle on what actually does need sorting.

"Different weather requiring different amounts of heating".

I agree, but i'm comparing like for like.

"March 22 was cold, then prices increased so less usage would still cost more".

There's no reason for credit use to jump up from 9 March 2022 to £5.67 a day than the several months before at £0.78. That's a huge increase which stayed as it is for a while then dropped in next top ups but nothing like Jan/Feb 2022 until last month at under £1 again, which again i can't explain.

When credit use has jumped up after a top up it isn't because we've suddenly increased our central heating or cooking the next day or week, it more or less stays the same except in summer there's less or no central heating for weeks.

"Obviously there are still problems you need sorting, but if this isn't one of them then you can focus your battle on what actually does need sorting".

Yes, and some of the things that needs sorting is the lack of information from BG and an explanation about why my credit use varies so much from top up to top up, which is why I have to always check it and the meter is outside, small display, not clear etc like i've said. They did promise a breakdown but can't seem to send it.

The top ups and associated meter checking is hard to manage for me, both mentally and physically (on many occasions) which is why i want to do something about it because BG are not going to help at all. I genuinely stress over the top ups and not knowing how much credit it will take following a top up and fret over checking it again and again. It really gets to me.

cannugec5

We are on page 6 and you have still not posted a picture of your actual meter as requested some way back. 

tifo

cannugec5 said:

We are on page 6 and you have still not posted a picture of your actual meter as requested some way back. 

i'll have a look.

pictures of screen options?

Jyana

British Gas do something called Friendly Credit, by the looks of it you are letting that build up between top ups which is then having to be paid back. 

"This feature means that if you’re worried your supply will run out, the meter won’t cut you off during these Friendly Credit times.

Any Friendly Credit used will need to be repaid at your next top up.
Friendly Credit is available all year round, every evening between 6pm – 9am and all-day Sunday.

Friendly Credit is also available on Bank holidays, you don’t need to worry as your meter will activate automatically as long as there is either remaining credit or Emergency Credit available on the meter at the start of the Friendly Credit period.

Any Friendly Credit used will need to be repaid at your next top up."