British Gas "concern team"

James_N

I submitted a meter reading to BG several weeks ago showing far less consumption than they had estimated - there had been no readings for some time. This leaves me a great deal in credit. Since then a succession of "Advisors" have promised a resolution "within 7 to 10 days". Nothing happens. The reading has been recorded, but no bill and no refund. Interestingly, their website shows me as submitting another reading recently in line with the correct figures - but I have not. Of course, I have a photo of the meter at the time of the reading.

The latest advisor said the bill is with the "Concern Team", but declined to explain further.

Does anyone know what the "Concern Team' is. I want to take this to the ombudsman but every time I ask for a dead lock letter it - you guessed it - 7 to 10 days.

BarelySentientAI

Well if it has been 8 weeks since the formal complaint was made (you did make one of those, didn't you?), then you don't need a deadlock letter anyway.

Brie

presumably the "Concern Team" is the one that deals with fraud.  So they can't figure out why your actual reading isn't in line with their inflated estimate.  

Teapot55

Has your consumption of gas altered radically since last year? Are you surprised or not surprised by that? For instance, bought new cooker and started using electricity for cooking, somebody has moved out who used lots of hot water or kept turning the thermostat up?

Mobtr

When you say no readings for some time, when was the last reading, what was it & what is the reading now? With this info we might be able to give you some insight as to why it wasn’t accepted.  

[Deleted User]

Hi - my recollection from a previous post I can't now find is that the Concern Team deal with suspected fraud. The key word there is suspected - I'm not for a moment suggesting that's what has happened here. Meter bypassing is unfortunately not uncommon, and if they suddenly get a reading that is very much lower than expected that would be consistent with fiddling the meter. Of course, they are duty bound to investigate. I suspect that's what's happening here and they are just doing what they should be doing very slowly and/or the real issue is crap communication on their part. It's possible that there are back end system issues or admin matters that are compounding the problem, or maybe they are just snowed under. If they are investigating suspect fraud due to a particular set of circumstances that's frustrating but ultimately a good thing. But that doesn't make passing you from pillar to post and not telling you what's going on OK. If you haven't logged this as a formal complaint already you should do that straight away, the point being that identifying it as a formal complaint has particular signifiance for the ombudsman and any subsequent follow up. Hope this helps :-)

wrf12345

Prior to BG I had lots of visits from the meter reader guy, presumably because of "suspicious" low usage but when I switched to BG (who were offering low s/c fixed at the time), never had a visit despite yet lower usage but they did fit smart meters after a year or so, perhaps their answer to people who were "cheating" them out of their normal massive profits.

Scot_39

perhaps their answer to people who were "cheating" them out of their normal massive profits.

At the SVT level BG retail are allowed 2.4% EBIT allowance under Ofgem cap on standard regulated domestic supplies

The same amount as any other energy supplier.

And like others retail wings even  those that are energy generation or gas drilling company subsidiaries  - were making losses. 

Just like c30 who failed.

EBIT = Earnings Before Interest and Taxes - so its not even actual profit - its just one intermediate measure - one of a few commonly used - to measure operating profit.

And 2.4% a fraction of what many big high street brand names have reported in past.

And clearly not been enough to sustain failed operators.

(But much of the blame for those failures arguably also lies with Ofgem itself).


Interest on debts now so large c24m on SC and DD terms (but not prepay who pay less) are paying £28 debt special from April extra per annum.

As well, as the extra 0.5% / c£8 in the EBIT allowance as that itself increased from 1.9% to 2.4% recently - raised after so many firms collapsed.


By comparison 2.4% of £1690 is c£40.  I'd have to dig through Ofgem data to find exact amount.


You are then paying a reduced SC - so they are likely making even less from your payments.