Extortionate Energy bills - please help.

treeclimber47

Hello, I'm new to this sort of thing so please bear with me...
I'm really struggling with energy bills that are close to £500 per month with British Gas. To be specific, £160 per month gas, £292 per month electric.
Background. The electric bills were around half this amount up until January 2024, when a smart meter, previously installed by Britsh Gas or by another provider (my ex used to shop around for the best deal) began submitting readings autonomously after I received an email to say, 'Don't worry, we'll be receiving your readings from now on from your smart meter...' I never asked for this. All was ok until in around April 2024, I received an email to say that my bills were going up due to my usage. I thought this was strange because nothing about my circumstances had changed whatsoever. When I looked into it further, it appears that my usage had in fact doubled, precisely from the moment that the smart meter began submitting readings. So I compared the previous period in 2023 and sure enough, the units used had basically doubled. This had caused a swing from being about a grand in credit to being a grand in debit, despite the new massive monthly bills. I have tried speaking with BG about this but to no avail. They have had me submit readings every week for 3 weeks and after 'checks', they have informed me that the meter is ok. They have also told me that if I want someone to come to physically test the meter accuracy in the house, I will be liable to a further fee (£175 I believe), if they deem the meter to be working correctly. 
So what do I do? I'm a single Dad of 3 kids who spend 50% of their time with their Mum. I live in an end terrace, 3 bed house and wEe don't use anything that would consume an unusual amount of electric. My electrician has agreed that there's no way I can be using nearly £300 a month in electric but BG are unreceptive to my plight. Last conversation I was told that, 'as far as they're concerned, the meter is operating normally and that if I disagreed, I was entitled to that opinion.' 
I have raised a complaint and spoken to the ombudsman but I am unable to make any progress. Meanwhile, they just keep taking the money. This is incredible frustrating and unnecessarily stressful. Any help, advice or light shed would be most appreciated. Thanks

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78850409/#Comment_78850409

Make sure the immersion heaters are permanently switched off.

Check the gas conversion from volume to kWh: it should be about 11.2 as the meter is metric, but could be 35 if they are wrongly billing it as imperial.

Check that the bills show the readings are smart, not estimated.

Keep_pedalling

What is your actual usage? Monthly direct debits don’t really tell us much. 

MikeJXE

Good to know you have your own records, I keep my own too on a dumb meter but a very low user 

Either the old meter was recording low usage or the new meter is recording correct or high readings 

It seems to me the only way out of it is a test at a cost but free if it is faulty 

How long are you going to go on paying that amount instead I would bite the bullet 

EssexHebridean

This doesn't sound like a newly installed Smart Meter - it sounds as though it might be an old SMETS1 meter which has now been adopted onto the system and is suddenly working as it should. 

RelievedSheff

Do you have some figures in kWh of energy consumed?

Talking in pounds and pence is pretty meaningless!

treeclimber47

RelievedSheff said:

Do you have some figures in kWh of energy consumed?

Talking in pounds and pence is pretty meaningless!

Yes. So January 2023: 45018.2
             May 2023:       47721
             Total usage:     2702.8

              January 2024: 52331.1
              May 2024:       57286.9
              Total usage:    4955.8

Nothing in the house has changed between the two periods. In fact, kids are in the house less and most lights have been changed to LED. 

teaselMay

are they all actual readings not estimates?

Scot_39

£300 pm excl SC is around 25-30kWh per day.

About 3-4x Ofgem dual fuel allowance of around 7.5kWh for 2-3 in 2-3 bed median tdcv.

If your 3 kids have seperate baths that could easily use 15-20kWh if you were accidently relying on a standby electric  immersion heater in a tank rather than gas boiler.  Many cut gas boilers back in summer and suddenly find immersion runs part time to keep thermostat temperature.

3 electric showers maybe still 3-5kWh.

Do any have games consoles and or tv / monitors in bedrooms - another anything upto 0.5kWh per hour.

Extra cooking, extra loads in washing machine 1kWh each etc 

Electric fires in bedroom before gch goes on etc etc.

It can all add up.

Changing from dumb to smart shouldn't have messed with meter accuracy - there have been issues  on multirate register errors - where swapped for peak and off peak - but as you are on gas - assume not problem here.

How accurate were and now are meter readings vs bills - and were bills using submitted or estimated before  and again check now.

Some have ended up literally £1000s in debt recently after a couple of years of estimated rreadings on bills are corrected.

SGas once ignored 4 seperate 6m sets of readings on mums account - 2 family, 2 actual annual (as on PSR) meter reader visits.

Have you checked new smart readings on bils vs actual and even meter serial numbers. 

Not all smart meters stay smart.

British Gas have had many posts here re issues with account system migration - whilst most probably worked - others have reported issues.
Have you been migrated over during this period  ? (Check account number(s) ?)

So if can do check bills before and after re any balance transfer, dd payments being applied to your new account, even maybe tariff type etc .

Oh and lastly - do a sanity check on predicted costs re the £500 demand - don't forget any opening debit / credit and c£330 ave SC. 

debitcardmayhem

Surely those figures are from the same meter ?
Are they actual readings or are some estimates

MikeJXE

I think the question here is not so much the cost but 

WHY the doubling of the cost and or usage after April with either new meter or new supplier