Anomalously high gas bill - from British Gas

brianposter

 If you take the meter readings a day or two apart and add up the Loop usage figures for the same period is there any discrepancy ?

CazeryBird

Well I have a conclusion from the Ombudsman. Because the meter readings match up, the bill is upheld. They did say to me that the usage is extremely high and doesn't seem at all right. Industrial usage levels... but they can't dispute the bill as its based on meter photos.

Not sure what I can do now. I'm going to ask for the meter to be tested...but beyond that?

brianposter

You should have gone to the ombudsman about BGs failure to deal with you - not about the bills themselves.

It is not possible to provide sensible assistance unless you answer the questions which are asked so please answer my last question.

And do not ask for your meter to be tested..

CazeryBird

brianposter said:

 If you take the meter readings a day or two apart and add up the Loop usage figures for the same period is there any discrepancy ?

ah that's twice I've replied to things and they've not published. I don't know how to do that? Can I see kWh on the meter?

CazeryBird

brianposter said:

You should have gone to the ombudsman about BGs failure to deal with you - not about the bills themselves.

It is not possible to provide sensible assistance unless you answer the questions which are asked so please answer my last question.

And do not ask for your meter to be tested..

I've never done this before! Everyone said to go to the Ombudsman, so I did. He said the only things he could do was admonish them for their failure to communicate properly etc. So I get a letter of apology and 125 quid.

CazeryBird

I know how to get the main meter reading, but not kWhs. I thought they were only accessible through the IHD (which we don't have), or through the apps.

I am doing my best to try and sort things in between caring for two very small children, an unwell partner, and now possible redundancy at work. I am doing my best at something I have never had to deal with before. It was hard to ask for help and admit how stupid I actually am (in most things I am quite the opposite, and frankly it's humiliating how much I've messed this up while trying to balance everything else). I have tried to follow advice where offered. If I've made the occasional mistake I am sorry, but I have tried my hardest to follow guidance offered.

Instead of finding the help here supportive I'm now finding it judgemental and stressful. This may well be because of my personal situation affecting my interpretation, but it's still having a negative effect.

I'm likely going to have to just stop fighting BG and pay the 3.5k. Somehow, and knowing that the amount of usage claimed is impossible for my household: the ombudsman case worker kindly ran my details through various tools they use and had never seen such high usage for a house this size, so agrees something has gone wrong somewhere, but not in an area within their remit. They are also going to revisit my readings in a month to see how they have tracked over that time, so we can try and pinpoint whether it is an ongoing issue or one that happened at a specific time only. We'll then have a think about how to proceed with BG (if I haven't given up by then).

QrizB

CazeryBird said:

I know how to get the main meter reading, but not kWhs.

Gas is metered in cubic metres (or hundreds of cubic feet for some people with ancient mechanical meters). The only gas meter readings that matter are the index readings, and it's the index readings that jumped when you had your supposed high-usage day.

CazeryBird said:

Instead of finding the help here supportive I'm now finding it judgemental and stressful. This may well be because of my personal situation affecting my interpretation, but it's still having a negative effect.

I think you've done as well as you could, and I'm sorry that the. Ombudsman wasn't persuaded by your argument. Some recent posts on this thread have been insensitive and don't seem to appreciate everything you have already done.

CazeryBird said:

I'm likely going to have to just stop fighting BG and pay the 3.5k.

BG should give you a payment plan, if you ask. Perhaps £100 a month, possibly less if you can't afford that much.

CazeryBird said:

... the ombudsman case worker kindly ran my details through various tools they use and had never seen such high usage for a house this size, so agrees something has gone wrong somewhere, but not in an area within their remit. They are also going to revisit my readings in a month to see how they have tracked over that time, so we can try and pinpoint whether it is an ongoing issue or one that happened at a specific time only. We'll then have a think about how to proceed with BG (if I haven't given up by then).

That sounds like a good way to continue your dispute. I hope it works out for you.

brianposter

Any dispute about a large bill is likely to be stressful and a PITA, but, at least in this case, it is for an amount worth fighting about. If you are lucky someone responsible at BG or the Ombudsman might take up your case but this is pretty unlikely in the modern world.

Otherwise you simply need to keep at it but try to ensure that it is a secondary part of your life.

What you do not seem to realise is that you have told us almost nothing about your gas bills or meter readings. At the moment we do not even know whether you are being billed for the correct gas meter.

And it is hardly appropriate to think that you have messed things up when you have just had a victory at the ombudsman. But please could we have some concrete information to work with.

This link may help with the Kwh.

https://www.jaxi.co.uk/tools/gas-to-kwh/

Gerry1

brianposter said:

This link may help with the Kwh.

https://www.jaxi.co.uk/tools/gas-to-kwh/

That's a dreadful site that should never be recommended.  Sounds like it's a bum job !

• It seems to be written by American AI ('cubic meters').
• It assumes you have a metric meter.  No help for those with Imperial meters.
• It completely overlooks the Calorific Value, so the result won't be accurate.

brianposter

Thanks for the response. Can you find a better site as most of them seem to be confusing rather than helpful ?