Anomalously high gas bill - from British Gas

CazeryBird

I need to re-mortgage in two years...this is why I am worried about the credit record.

The bit of the bill I am disputing is this:

My smart meter data shows this usage:


The British Gas bill show the following:



It is the meter jump from 6713 to 8754.3 which I am disputing. This doesn't match my recorded usage at all (I realise they calculate kWh using a formula rather than directly from the kWh usage recorded by the smart meter).

This jump coincides with my account being erroneously swapped to another supplier and back again and my usage recorded by the data is as I would expect: my daughter was ill and it was a cold spring so we had the heating on longer into spring than usual. Our usage this year is about the same as 2023, with similar weather and us all healthier than 2024.


I am finally speaking to someone vaguely useful at BG and have drafted an email. The crucial part of my email is this. Does this sound ok?:

"It is this jump that I have been disputing/that's why I have disputed the bill. I think this has been lost in the noise of this ongoing complaint/correspondence (and not helped by my emotions making it hard for me to write succinctly).

I was told that this could only be a faulty meter which is why I pursued this route, but it happened around the same time as my account was erroneously transferred and returned to you so I want to compare readings and dates/times to look for a) any large jumps which exceed that my boiler can handle; b) any jump dates that correspond with the transfers of my account between suppliers as it might be a transfer data error. I also know there have been all sorts of recorded and acknowledged issues with SMEST1 devices when it comes to supplier transfer and errors in data and again, this jump happening when my account was transferred to someone else then back again raises concerns that an error occurred. How can we check this though?

I have sent an email to Martin Lewis as I have been told this is something Lewis has looked into before, so I'm hoping he or his team will be able to advise me. (I should add I have no desire to be public about my utterly humiliating situation, and we don't even watch telly! I have just had no luck with our exact situation online or through citizens advice).

All our usage apart from this jump has been in line with what I expect to see for our house (we had a small baby so I used more heat over winter than I usually would), all except this period in which there was the jump and we were recorded as using over 23,000kWh in 50 days (in late spring when the weather was alright). I am only contesting the bill because I dispute this period. All I have ever asked for is this be adjusted to match our previous average usage in the same period and for checks to be made to make sure the data wasn't input/recorded inaccurately when the account was transferred out and back again in a short period of time."

debitcardmayhem

That meter hasn’t jumped as far I can tell, Apr 26 6713 + 3765 =10478 , but your spread sheet must be wrong .

CazeryBird

debitcardmayhem said:

That meter hasn’t jumped as far I can tell, Apr 26 6713 + 3765 =10478 , but your spread sheet must be wrong .

All the spreadsheet figures are kWh (I realise I should have labelled it with this!), so the 3765 is kWh from the smart meter. The meter jump is:

which BG calculate as 23194.6kWh gas used between those dates. The smart meter recorded 3765kWh.

debitcardmayhem

Are you sure the meter is in kWh not m3? 

brianposter

Too verbose. 4 considered sentences should be enough.

So are the current bills correct or incorrect ?

debitcardmayhem

The photos of you meter say m3 that is not kWh

CazeryBird

debitcardmayhem said:

The photos of you meter say m3 that is not kWh

The meter is in m3. The data I am accessing from Loop and Bright is kWh - it is this which I have recorded on the spreadsheet. To show the comparison between the kWh BG calculate and the kWh the smart meter is recording (this smart meter data remains accurate and appropriate to our usage throughout. Even when BG record the meter jump).

CazeryBird

brianposter said:

Too verbose. 4 considered sentences should be enough.

So are the current bills correct or incorrect ?

Bills before and since the jump seem fine. Higher than usual this winter but our baby was unwell so we had the heating on more. The period 26th April 2024 - 15th June is the bit I dispute and where I think some error occurred when our account was swapped to the other supplier and back again.

And being too verbose is something I struggle with, especially when emotions are involved. I err on volunteering as much information as possible. I'll whip out the Martin Lewis part and that cuts it down.

I'm responding to the advisor saying:

"I have also checked over the historic usage on the account again and cannot see anything incorrect apart from one jump on readings.  I have attached these for you as they could be different from the ombudsman.  In general when a meter is faulty it would not then go back to reporting the same "normal" usage from your home, A faulty meter would continue reporting high or more likely stop recording any usage."

debitcardmayhem

CazeryBird said:

debitcardmayhem said:

The photos of you meter say m3 that is not kWh

The meter is in m3. The data I am accessing from Loop and Bright is kWh - it is this which I have recorded on the spreadsheet. To show the comparison between the kWh BG calculate and the kWh the smart meter is recording (this smart meter data remains accurate and appropriate to our usage throughout. Even when BG record the meter jump).

Aaaaah now I understand, forgive me for presuming. It’s a shame you can’t access the old BG data.

CazeryBird

debitcardmayhem said:

CazeryBird said:

debitcardmayhem said:

The photos of you meter say m3 that is not kWh

The meter is in m3. The data I am accessing from Loop and Bright is kWh - it is this which I have recorded on the spreadsheet. To show the comparison between the kWh BG calculate and the kWh the smart meter is recording (this smart meter data remains accurate and appropriate to our usage throughout. Even when BG record the meter jump).

Aaaaah now I understand, forgive me for presuming. It’s a shame you can’t access the old BG data.

I find it odd that they can't access it as well. I've asked for all the data they have on my account from the original opening of it until now so we'll see what turns up then!