British Gas CREDIT

Robswife

I have looked at my British Gas account online and I am £5860 in credit ???  They keep dismissing it and say ‘wait for your next bill’ !!!!  I have a smart meter and looking back on past bills they have altered them ?  It says ‘cancelled charges’ and then ‘revised charges’ some are less (putting us in credit) and some are more ??  It is extremely difficult to work out 🤦🏼‍♀️  I have given ‘actual’ readings and they have taken readings from the smart meter either way I can’t really work out why they would have to go back to my old bills and change them ?  Has anyone else had problems like this ?

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this to the Energy board

MeteredOut

Have you recently been migrated to BG's new billing system? Others have had issues too, though not necessarily nearly £6K credit!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6505988/british-gas-credit-balance-disappeared-in-the-move-from-the-old-to-the-new-billing-system

I know its confusing, and customers should not have to put up with that level of incompetence, but Is there any reason you can't wait until the next bill.

You could raise a complaint saying you can't manage your finances as you don't know how much you need to set aside for energy, and you might get a few quid compensation while they work out your correct bill.

t0rt0ise

Robswife said:

I have looked at my British Gas account online and I am £5860 in credit ???  They keep dismissing it and say ‘wait for your next bill’ !!!!  I have a smart meter and looking back on past bills they have altered them ?  It says ‘cancelled charges’ and then ‘revised charges’ some are less (putting us in credit) and some are more ??  It is extremely difficult to work out 🤦🏼‍♀️  I have given ‘actual’ readings and they have taken readings from the smart meter either way I can’t really work out why they would have to go back to my old bills and change them ?  Has anyone else had problems like this ?

You need to make a spreadsheet and work out, using the meter reads you've given them, exactly how much you owe. Then you can ignore their strange bills as long as the final totals are good. If they aren't then you open a formal complaint copying your spreadsheet explaining what you really owe.

TheDeterminedBromptonette

British Gas - my account said I was over £500 in credit, so at this time of year (May) felt I should ask for a refund. My meter readings were up to date, so i had no reason to think anything was out of order.  However, when I contacted BG about a refund, they said 'oh, your account isn't up to date' and then said I was £117 in debit.  It turns out they moved to a 'new platforms' and the balance on my account (and presumably not anyone else's either) only reflected the payments in, not the cost of energy used, until the 'new platform' was updated with the most recent meter readings (even though i had submitted them).    I asked the assistant via chat how on earth customers were supposed to know where they were with their accounts if BG was not displaying accurate account information, to which they said 'yes, we should have done'.  What's worse, because my account was showing as £500 in credit to both me, and it seems British Gas, also, they had reduced my payments to £50 odds a month, which is why I think I ended up in debit.  The chat handler then said to me 'and the £117 is due within 14 days'.   I can cope with that, but what about people in difficulties, who could have thought they were fine, and then get a nasty fright?   The emailed statement contained no such demand for payment so quite frankly i am waiting until they send me a bill!  Very unimpressed.

MeteredOut

TheDeterminedBromptonette said:

British Gas - my account said I was over £500 in credit, so at this time of year (May) felt I should ask for a refund. My meter readings were up to date, so i had no reason to think anything was out of order.  However, when I contacted BG about a refund, they said 'oh, your account isn't up to date' and then said I was £117 in debit.  It turns out they moved to a 'new platforms' and the balance on my account (and presumably not anyone else's either) only reflected the payments in, not the cost of energy used, until the 'new platform' was updated with the most recent meter readings (even though i had submitted them).    I asked the assistant via chat how on earth customers were supposed to know where they were with their accounts if BG was not displaying accurate account information, to which they said 'yes, we should have done'.  What's worse, because my account was showing as £500 in credit to both me, and it seems British Gas, also, they had reduced my payments to £50 odds a month, which is why I think I ended up in debit.  The chat handler then said to me 'and the £117 is due within 14 days'.   I can cope with that, but what about people in difficulties, who could have thought they were fine, and then get a nasty fright?   The emailed statement contained no such demand for payment so quite frankly i am waiting until they send me a bill!  Very unimpressed.

If any of the gas usage was 12 months ago, you have a chance of that getting written off using the back-billing rules, but I suspect this is not the case here.

Otherwise, you still have to pay for the gas you used, but raised a complaint about the issue and you might get a£30-50 goodwill gesture credited to your account.