Anomalously high gas bill - from British Gas

brianposter

I assume that in principle the OP"s suppliers should have hourly records of her gas meter readings. Presumably, to save paper, she can ask for the hourly records for the first half of 2024 to be emailed to her as part of the SAR.

Robin9

It's been  a long thread and I may have missed a bit.

You move in Sept 22  when the reading was 3738.   Is there a sticker on it showing an instal date and reading (usually zero)

Appreciate not your use but if this was to say Sept 19 that would infer 1200 m3 a year - similar to yours.

CazeryBird

Robin9 said:

It's been  a long thread and I may have missed a bit.

You move in Sept 22  when the reading was 3738.   Is there a sticker on it showing an instal date and reading (usually zero)

Appreciate not your use but if this was to say Sept 19 that would infer 1200 m3 a year - similar to yours.

I'll have a look. Although when we moved in there was a gas boiler from 1976 in and multiple gas fires which we immediately removed and replaced with an efficient modern boiler and all new rads so not the best comparison.

Qyburn

People keep saying "SAR", and BG may in fact respond, but can you really claim metr readings to be personal information within the mening of the Act?  I struggle to see how anyone could be identified by their meter readings. "04972 on 14th Dec, I can tell that's Lord Qyburn of Muttley Towers"

CazeryBird

Yet another reply that addresses nothing I've asked...

"
1)  I have conducted a review of the account and would like to inform you that the billing generated up to September 2023 was based on estimations, and the readings used were underestimates.

2) Following the bill generated on September 16, 2023, no additional bills were produced until April 2024. In April 2024, a bill was generated for £371.31 based on an estimated amount. Subsequently, we issued a refund of £500.12 to you.

3) A subsequent bill was issued for the period of April 26, 2024, to November 15, 2024, resulting in a debit of £3,203.11 on the account.

4)I kindly ask you to reach out to us through chat to set up a direct debit on the account, which will assist you in clearing the outstanding debt."

CazeryBird

Qyburn said:

People keep saying "SAR", and BG may in fact respond, but can you really claim metr readings to be personal information within the mening of the Act?  I struggle to see how anyone could be identified by their meter readings. "04972 on 14th Dec, I can tell that's Lord Qyburn of Muttley Towers"

It's identifiable as belonging to that meter, at the house I own. But more simply I'd think if it's in my records and has an association with my name then it is personal information. In the same way as any emails which mention my name can be requested etc.

Although someone may know better. I'm going by the approach we take at work with these sort of things.

Petriix

I think the real focus of your investigation/analysis needs to be on the reading when you moved into the property. We know what the meter reading is now so, if that start reading is accurate, your usage between then and now is whatever the total difference between the opening and current readings. The photo we really need to see is the one you took of the meter on the day you moved in. 

British Gas have form for inventing spuriously low historical readings as part of the transition to their new system. If something has gone wrong, I'd be looking carefully at those historic readings.

Absolutely fundamental to proving anything is having evidence of the actual opening reading. It can't be emphasised enough that the first thing anyone should do when they gain access to a new home is to photograph all the meters. Obviously you can't go back in time and do that, but it might help someone else who reads this. 

CazeryBird

Petriix said:

I think the real focus of your investigation/analysis needs to be on the reading when you moved into the property. We know what the meter reading is now so, if that start reading is accurate, your usage between then and now is whatever the total difference between the opening and current readings. The photo we really need to see is the one you took of the meter on the day you moved in. 

British Gas have form for inventing spuriously low historical readings as part of the transition to their new system. If something has gone wrong, I'd be looking carefully at those historic readings.

Absolutely fundamental to proving anything is having evidence of the actual opening reading. It can't be emphasised enough that the first thing anyone should do when they gain access to a new home is to photograph all the meters. Obviously you can't go back in time and do that, but it might help someone else who reads this. 

I did take a photo and am happy that the move in reading was accurate (that said I'm not sure where it is).

My issue is that I think something went wrong with the meter around late spring this year, when a massive leap in usage was recorded with no changes in our usage. They say we are on schedule to have used 50,000kWh in a year for our 3 bed terrace (not a big house, and mostly heated by a log burner), where we used 14,000 last year. Our usage pattern hasn't changed and since the spring high blip it's been at a much more average usage level so something went wrong around then. It also coincides with my account being erroneously transfered to another supplier and then back again.

The first bg person I spoke to seemed to be suggesting he could adjust the reading to make a more reasonable average, but when I responded to clarify before agreeing I stopped receiving constructive replies and none since address that proposed solution.

(Sorry for the essay, thought a recap might be useful as the thread is long now!)

Qyburn

CazeryBird said:
It's identifiable as belonging to that meter, at the house I own. But more simply I'd think if it's in my records and has an association with my name then it is personal information. In the same way as any emails which mention my name can be requested etc.

As I said it's quite possible that they would send what you ask for. But I mentioned this because there's a tendency just now to speak about a SAR as if it was some sort of trump card that will compel a company to disclose anything that they might seem reluctant or unable to disclose. It doesn't. If it came to the crunch they wouldn't need to disclose anything except personal information (as defined) and no requirement to provide copies of any documents at all.

brianposter

I think you are underestimating the power of a SAR, eg this from the NHS website "For example, an internal email from a receptionist to a nurse about a missed appointment would be subject to a SAR if the content identifies the patient."