British Gas DDM increase

Jyana

SierraSue said:

Thank you so much for all your comments.  My statement for February (which covered the period 27th November, 2023 till 27th February 2024) was £126.33 including standing charge and VAT.  All my readings where actual and I've had a smart meter for some years. According to British Gas on my February statement my average annual kilo usage is 1051 kwh per year.  I'm not a big user of electric (unlike the gas for heating and cooking on the one I pay £130 per month).  I'll try B.Gas again - they know my usage I've been with them since it was called East Midlands Electricity Board - and yes I think it is time to switch suppliers and pay the £75 exit fee twice.  Why oh why did they move their call centres out of the UK.  I do appreciate you all taking the time to answer I adfmit I've foolishly been getting rather depressed by it all.

When does your fix tariff end? When I was within six months of the end of my fix with BG they wanted to up my monthly DD by a massive amount (£70 instead of £20) due to the fact that I had fixed just before the energy crisis and it would mean that if I had stayed with them my payments would have gone up a lot after my fix ended. The reason being that they look 12 months ahead and want you to be in credit through all that time, so you are paying in advance for being on your future fix/SVT and not just your current one. 

I knew I was leaving them for Octopus Agile though because it was a much better deal for me, so argued with them for a bit in keeping my monthly payments down, saying I couldn't afford it just yet. And when that stopped working, I worked out the difference in paying on receipt of bill instead for the last four months I was with them, and as i was such a low user, like yourself, it only cost me about £5 more overall. So I did that. It worked out cheaper than paying them the hugely inflateted DD they would only be paying back to me months later, or the exit fee. Might be worth having a look at the figures and see what you can do to work around them.

SierraSue

Thank you for that.  I have today written a formal letter of complaint to British Gas about my DDM.  I am on Fixed Tariff 12 and it ends in March 2025.  I asked B.Gas for an to date statement taking into account the old smart meter final reading and the current new smart meter reading.  Today the statement came and covers 50 days and the bill = £63.40 including usage, standing charge and VAT.  They also are going to take the next payment due on 22nd April (correct date) at the new increased rate of £89.76 - which means they only gave me 6 days notice and under Ofgems rules that's not on.  So I now await their response and if I don't get one I'll go to ofgem - I'm on a mission now!  When everything is sorted - then I'll switch.

GingerTim

SierraSue said:

Thank you for that.  I have today written a formal letter of complaint to British Gas about my DDM.  I am on Fixed Tariff 12 and it ends in March 2025.  I asked B.Gas for an to date statement taking into account the old smart meter final reading and the current new smart meter reading.  Today the statement came and covers 50 days and the bill = £63.40 including usage, standing charge and VAT.  They also are going to take the next payment due on 22nd April (correct date) at the new increased rate of £89.76 - which means they only gave me 6 days notice and under Ofgems rules that's not on.  So I now await their response and if I don't get one I'll go to ofgem - I'm on a mission now!  When everything is sorted - then I'll switch.

Remember that consumers don't go to Ofgem, but to the Energy Ombudsman, if British Gas don't resolve your complaint after 8 weeks or if you ask and are given a deadlock letter: https://www.energyombudsman.org/our-process

Scot_39

£63.40 for 50 days is c£43 per 30.x day month if truly flat usage.

Your last 3 month bill to Feb 27 again just over £42 per month.

But with £105 credit the £35 should cover it.  But only just.

But that should also mean your credit would be dropping monthly - as underpaying c£8.

It seems perverse that they would seperate the two for seperate DD amounts on a duel fuel fix ( your comment re  paying two £75 exit fees).  But perhaps that's normal. I'm electric only- parents were with different suppliers.


So treating electric as purely standalone.

How do your current fixed per kWh unit rates and SC compare to those for those billing periods ?

As a low user - you need to consider if wise to leave an old fix - the recent SC increases should be considered  - if not already in the Mar 25 fix  (they could be if entered post Ofgem announcement in late Feb) -  and moreso in your case the exit fees.

Electric SC up 6.8p on average but down 0.6p in one, up upto 14p in one region -  Northern iirc.  Your region ?

The £75 fee over 11 months - equivalent to another c22p per day.  If pay 2 to leave duel fuel that's 44p.

On sub 3kW per day even the recent per kWh changes are unlikely to cover any changes to the SC and the £75 exit fee. 

The £75 exit fee alone on your 1051 kW needing - an over 7p (7.8p taking 11/12ths of 1051) saving per kWh unit over the remaining 11months. Double that if pay 2. Even that 7p now seems unlikely for the duration on svt given recent CI forecasts that show electric back to near (24.06 vs Ofgem 24.5) ave current by Jan 25.  And that forecast had an increase even to forecast for July quarter cf previous months - even before Isreal vs Iran - next Jan pricing crystal ball territory even for experts.

You simply need to challange the DD amount - take 1051x unit rate - plus SC - plus VAT  - your projected annual cost.

They may even have stated the figure when signed up to fix - I get an annual cost estimate with every tariff cap change from EOn.

Take that projected annual cost subtract any standing true credit balance on that recent bill  as amount of funding required.

Divide that by 12 add say 10%-20% margin - and insist that's all your willing to pay.

Even without credit - I'd say £47 - £52 tops based on your recent bill for £63 and the £126 for 3 months - but would have to adjust for rates and SC differences to be sure - especially if you were on a cheap rate fix before the current plan.

Possible sub last credit / 12  (107 - 2 months at £8 = £91  / 12 = £7.50)   So £43 -7 = £36 - pretty much as current.  But maybe £45 tops with margin.

And stand your ground.

As you say they cannot charge an unreasonable amount.

Then leave BG as soon as you can when exit fee free - if still want to.

You could soften the blowby getting a referral code from a friend - its not just Octopus (@£50) who do them if move still move now - but certainly seek one out - if move next Feb / Mar.

Don't be tempted to cancel DD though - you might not even be allowed to without terminating the fix if it's DD only  - and that would leave you on more expensive standard credit rates in general anyway.

Scot_39

wrf12345 said:

On chat you have to stand your ground and keep insisting on no increase, mention that Ofgem don't allow unnecessary increases, etc and eventually they will refer to their line manager for "permission" to keep it the same. This will happen every couple of months so maybe consider Octopus where you can get variable direct debit so you only pay for what you use. If you do the internet every day anyway you might consider Octopus Agile, but you will basically have to turn everything off between 4-7pm to make it work (rates vary every half hour but that is the peak period).

We are in an age group that tends to stick with what we have and therefore an easy target for companies to take the mickey.

I believe BG now do monthly variable direct debit for some -  one regular poster here - who had it when transfered to new system.  I know others struggled though - perhaps initial restriction for new customers.

Tracker might be a better initial step for many than agile even if less optimal for those willing to avoid peak hours.

Chris_b2z

SierraSue said:

Thank you for that.  I have today written a formal letter of complaint to British Gas about my DDM.  I am on Fixed Tariff 12 and it ends in March 2025.  I asked B.Gas for an to date statement taking into account the old smart meter final reading and the current new smart meter reading.  Today the statement came and covers 50 days and the bill = £63.40 including usage, standing charge and VAT.  They also are going to take the next payment due on 22nd April (correct date) at the new increased rate of £89.76 - which means they only gave me 6 days notice and under Ofgems rules that's not on.  So I now await their response and if I don't get one I'll go to ofgem - I'm on a mission now!  When everything is sorted - then I'll switch.

I wouldn't be too hasty to switch supplier especially if it will incur a £150 early exit penalty. As a very low user you are already being penalised with disproportionately high standing charges on most tariffs from all suppliers.

You could ask BG to switch you to the Fixed Lighter 12M V2 tariff. This has standing charges at a rate significantly lower than the Ofgem SVT cap so should work out cheaper for you and you'll avoid the exit fee.

SierraSue

Thank you for your comments and advise.  Today I heard from British Gas and they are returning my DDM for electricity back to £35.00 per month.  Whilst my DDM may be a little low, I would like to use up my credit balance before I up my payment amount.  It was well worth the stamp to get this resolved, had they suggested at £10 - £15 increase I wouldn't have bothered but not £54 when my bill for the entire 2023 was under £500.  Last time I looked, B.Gas had removed their address from their website, if anyone wishes to write a complaint to them the address - British Gas, Complaints Management Team, P O Box 226, Rotherham, S98 1PB.