British Gas New Billing System From 90 a month to 175, issued multiple different bills. Image inside

Gerry1

Here's Ofgem's statement that the CV must be truncated to one decimal place.  See the middle of Page 2.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2014/08/supplier_guidance_on_cv_calculation.pdf

Edit: Fat fingered, page number corrected.

UndergroundSaxClub

Hi all,

Sent a reply to BG which can be seen below.



and have received the following response this morning:


There is a bill attached to the reply, the total is 


I'm really struggling to understand here. Is the total £417 or £697? Why is my balance 697, shouldn't the credit reduce this? They seem to gloss over the decimal place issue too.

Is it worth going to the Ombudsman at this point, they will most likely say I am now able to be issued bills and end the matter there?

PeterGr

Personally, I would concentrate on getting your account corrected.  Bill No.3 on 26/2/24 is correct in so far as the energy charges from 13 Oct 23 - 22 Feb 24 are £417.68.  (the point over the cv will have marginal effect)

The matter which you haven't clearly put is that you have had 2 bills issued on 22 Feb 24 for £279.85 which are for the period which is then covered in Bill 3.

The statement of your account on 26/2/24 shows a credit note has been raised on 22/3/24 for one of these two bills.  So what you need them to do is to apply another credit for £279.85.  Therefore when you pay £417.68 your account will be £0.00.

Once that is done you can complain about the poor customer service etc. and compensation, but getting the correct bill paid and no debts showing would give you peace of mind.  You did mention putting £100 per month aside, so paying a bill of £417.68 shouldn't cause you any hardship.

UndergroundSaxClub

Hi all,

Thank you for the continued support. I am really struggling here, unsure if the Ombudsman or Citizens Advice or someone can break this down for me. I'm not sure if BG are in the wrong or I am seriously misunderstanding the situation.

I have asked for the bill to be broken down/another credit note to be added and have received a response from BG stating the balance of £697 is correct? Surely this isn't right. £417 is fine, and I'm sure the usage of gas and electricity add up to this. Am I missing something here?

Please find the breakdown from BG below.

 

PeterGr

The bill dated 22/02/24 is for the period 13/10/23 - 31/01/24 for Electricity, and 13/10/23 - 07/12/23 for Gas.

They have acknowledged that this was duplicated and they have raised a credit.

However, when you have submitted meter readings on 22/02/24, they have in effect cancelled the first bill, and issued Bill No.3 on 26/02/24.  This makes sense because the rates changed on 1st Jan, and estimated readings for that date have to be generated.  However if they don't credit the charges on the first bill, you are being charged twice for that consumption.

Nothing in their "breakdown" changes that.  Ask them to look at the dates for the energy charges on the 22/02/24 and the 26/02/24 bills.  Ask where is the reversal for the consumption billed on 22/02/24?

UndergroundSaxClub

Hi all, Peter,

Have taken your advice forward and sent an email. Have received a response from BG advising me to go to the Ombudsman. Does this mean I should no longer respond to the BG complaint manager? Also unsure if Citizens Advice or any company like this can/should be used at this point? They have an incredibly long wait time.

I've also received notifications via my phone to submit this months meter reads, which I am happy to do so, and pay on receipt of a valid looking bill. I'm assuming BG have placed some kind of block on my account for the disputed bill, or will I soon be encountering debt collectors?

Please find the email response and Ombudsman referral below.

PeterGr

I would agree with almost everything they say accept for the line "Previous bills were cancelled and the attached one in the email is the correct one"  What they did was cancel a bill that they have admitted was duplicated in error.  What they haven't done is to cancel the original bill.

I've no experience with Ombudsman / Citizens Advice, but somehow you need them to see what they have done.

I would tend to pay the energy charges on the bill of 26/2/24, and submit meter readings as requested.  It will then be clear that your complaint is solely about the cancelling the first bill.  Others might be better placed on how you forward that issue.    Good luck....

UndergroundSaxClub

Hi all,

Sorry to revive such an old thread. This did indeed go to the Ombudsman and they made a decision today. Thought it may be worth posting the outcome.

To cut a long story short.

• Contacted Ombudsman, submitted evidence.
• Process took around 70 days total
  
• Decision today
• Ombudsman have upheld the complaint and have stated British Gas should follow through with their offers of a written apology and small financial sum for compensation for inadequate customer service(£100)
• During my phone call for the decision with the agent they said it's "very clear" British Gas had not applied the credit correctly and were "extremely shocked" this was signed off by multiple teams. (The cynic in me thinks BG hope people don't notice, or just don't challenge it)

A happy ending, I'd like to thank all of you in here for the guidance and support provided during this time. Now to change providers and hope for smooth sailing going forwards.

wrf12345

Amazing no-one at BG could be bothered to compare the dates on the bills and see what was obvious but not particularly surprising given the general ethos in retail energy.