BG estimated reading looks imposssible?

cannugec5

@bailey_uk you have left in your initial meter number . As you redacted the others I’m guessing you didn’t mean to share it. 

bailey_uk

t0rt0ise said:

bailey_uk said:

The point I’m making is that the price cap increased January 1st 2024, and so charging me for more units
at a higher rate 

But it's a smart meter reading on the 1st so it has to be a true reading. 

They used the estimated reading on my bill though which is annoying when there is a smart reading on the same day!?

bailey_uk

Archerychick said:

This is working in your favour. If you ask them to update the 1st Jan meter reading, then they will bill more units at the 27.08 rate instead of the 25.81 rate 

My understanding is the opposite of this because after January 1st, the cap went up?  

EssexHebridean

Yes - the unit price is higher from 1/1/24 isn’t it. Whether it’s deliberate I doubt - it’s not the only estimated reading on the bill is it, so I suspect there are simply issues with the data making its way through from your meter.  

Qyburn

The good news is that the bill ends on an "Actual" so no error I'd being carried over.

So you're left with the 93 kWh billed at the January rate instead of December. Id be inclined to raise that as a complaint, ask for it to be re-billed at the correct prices, or for them to credit the difference. It'll only be £3 or so but there's really no excuse with a smart meter and the fact their own system shows Actual on 1st January.

Do we think they're using estimates any time there's a delay getting the smart meter data,Rather than waiting for it to pop up later? 

[Deleted User]

Going back to your original post, the issue you raise is that the estimate on the 1st January is less than the reading from 31st December, which doesn't make sense. This arises because of a timing issue. Although the reading from 31st December will be correct, they might not have got it until after they made the estimate on the 1st January. So if the display showed "1st January we estimated xyz" and "2nd January we got the actual reading from 31st December which was abc" it would make sense to you. At the point the tariff changes they need to know the meter reading to generate a bill that reflects the change. If you have a billing date on or close to the 1st month then the bill will be generated using the estimate because that's all they have. The over or under charge would then be rectified in the next bill.

So there are reasons for this, and annoyingly it's mainly an issue for folks who have a billing date of 1st month which they've chosen because it's logical and keeps everything nice and tidy. Depending on your mindset this is either a trivial thing that isn't worth worrying about or (if you're like me) it really bugs you because you like everything neat and orderly and want it to be right first time and not subsequently corrected.

But that's the way it is.

Qyburn

[Deleted User] said:

So there are reasons for this, and annoyingly it's mainly an issue for folks who have a billing date of 1st month

If they're going to raise an estimated bill every time they have the slightest delay getting the smart meter data, it's going to happen whichever day of the month is the chosen billing date. Looking another way if you choose a date other than the 1st, your bill will always be an estimate when the tariff changes.

Look at the bill, they've used estimates on 1st Jan and 22nd Feb, actual on 16th Oct and 1st April. God only knows the relevance of those dates, their billing schedule seems completely random.

bailey_uk

Thanks guys, my main reason for posting on here was to confirm or not if my logic was correct in being overcharged.

I worked it out to only be about £3 as well, trivial I guess but at the same time it really bugs me to think this could be happening to 1000s of customers. 

Also what’s annoyed me is when they say one doesn’t have to submit meter reads on price cap change day if one has a smart meter! This proves different

After chatting to BG they are going to replace the bill.

Ive fixed now to the current cap until May 2025 so no more issues ahead.

thanks for your replies