Anomalously high gas bill - from British Gas

Gerry1

CazeryBird said:

All I can do is show how my previous and recent usage is average apart from the three blips... I'll start collating evidence for the Ombudsman too. Boiler details and a letter from the plumber/installer, details of our general use patterns. House size and details along with number of rads. I'll note that we heating the downstairs with a log stove and have no gas appliances.

Sorry, but TBH that sounds far too waffly, mostly opinions rather than hard facts.  Everyone thinks their bills are too high, so mere opinions won't wash.  House size and details along with number of rads still doesn't prove anything, you could be at the top of a windswept hill or at the bottom of a sunny valley.  And you do have a gas appliance, it's the boiler.

OK, I'm being picky but the ombudsman doesn't investigate, so you need a really watertight argument, not one that's vague, can be misinterpreted or is full of holes.

The smoking gun will be a video of the meter incrementing with the supply having been fully turned off by the lever or knob.   Ditto if it ever shows a 'b' or other symbol in the display.  It's more likely to do this when it's cold, so several overnight tests are best; check the forecasts and look for clear skies.  A sudden jump over a very short period would also be good evidence, especially if it exceeds the maximum flow rate of the meter.

CazeryBird

Of course, apologies I assumed the gas boiler was obvious, should have been clearer (am typing around looking after the children so a bit rushed).

I'm screwed then. My only evidence is that my previous usage has all been normal and is now. There are three anomalous higher figures. Let's say last month's (260) was because we had the heating on full almost constantly so that's OK. This leaves the two really high amounts. They are anomalous because all my other readings are within normal parameters for a house my size and we couldn't use that smount of gas if we tried (which is where I thought detailling the amount of rads and boiler type would be useful). I was hoping that showing previous usage and patterns would corroborate things.

I'm sure I have seen the 'b' before on the meter, but I don't have any evidence. Is that the low battery symbol?

It sounds like I have to be lucky enough to capture evidence of another blip otherwise I need to start saving to pay, and somehow find 340 a month on top of that to pay my new bill.

I will still complain though because the person I spoke to in April told me my bill was up to date, we were in credit by 500 quid and this was based on actual readings. This is the only reason I took my eye off the ball/bill for a few months to focus on our newborn and my partners recovery. Eurgh  

CazeryBird

I'll contact them in the next couple of days to arrange some sort of payment plan.

brianposter

So far you do not seem to have made a serious case that your bills are wrong - it is all disjointed statements.

The first thing I wpuld do is make a Subject Access request to BG so that you have all the available information and then put that information in an organised form.

All you are trying to do is determine your normal consumption for a period which corresponds to that which you believe to be wrong. Simply doing that does not guarantee you a win but it gives you a reasonable chance.

Gerry1

CazeryBird said:

,,, we couldn't use that amount of gas if we tried (which is where I thought detailling the amount of rads and boiler type would be useful). I was hoping that showing previous usage and patterns would corroborate things.

I'm sure I have seen the 'b' before on the meter, but I don't have any evidence. Is that the low battery symbol?

It sounds like I have to be lucky enough to capture evidence of another blip otherwise I need to start saving to pay, and somehow find 340 a month on top of that to pay my new bill.

Hard evidence would be a photo of the meter showing 'b' (low battery) or showing that the claimed usage exceeded the capacity of the meter or the boiler.  For example, the meter can handle 6m3 per hour so if you used 40m3 in an hour that's proof of a fault.  Similarly, if you had a 24kW boiler but you used 200kWh of gas in 1 hour.  To be convincing it needs figures, not just opinions.

If all else fails you could consider making a Subject Access Request to get the historical meter reading and billing data.  Best to limit what you ask for otherwise they might have to wheel it in...

CazeryBird

brianposter said:

So far you do not seem to have made a serious case that your bills are wrong - it is all disjointed statements.

The first thing I wpuld do is make a Subject Access request to BG so that you have all the available information and then put that information in an organised form.

All you are trying to do is determine your normal consumption for a period which corresponds to that which you believe to be wrong. Simply doing that does not guarantee you a win but it gives you a reasonable chance.

Isn't the normal consumption evidence this (from page 1 of the thread)?

03738 - ACTUAL read 16 Dec 22
04922.8 - ACTUAL read 11 Dec 23
9511.8 -Actual read 15 Nov 24

I don't have the breakdown but have asked for it. It will show a more average usage over the same period. I don't have anything pre 2022 as we moved into this house in Sept 22 and we were on bottled gas for the 15 years before then.

It seemed like the first person I spoke to at BG was keen to establish a more reasonable average but when I asked him to confirm this he went quiet and none of the other agents have responded to my requests for confirmation of this.

QrizB

CazeryBird said:

Isn't the normal consumption evidence this (from page 1 of the thread)?
03738 - ACTUAL read 16 Dec 22
04922.8 - ACTUAL read 11 Dec 23
9511.8 -Actual read 15 Nov 24

Not really. You've got one year in which you used 1200 cubic metres, and another in which you used 4600 cubic metres. It's entirely possible (no matter how unlikely) to use 4600 cubic metres in a year if eg. you have a leaking hot water pipe (see this thread for exactly that situation).

You need some evidence that your meter is at fault and that the problem doesn't lie elsewhere.

brianposter

That gives you consumption for a full year but it appears that the readings are wrong for a much shorter time so you really need a closer and presumably more obvious comparison.

If you string things along you will soon have your figures for next year.

Also it does not seem unlikely that the problem is the supplier swap. When was the swap undone ?

And insist that they provide the incorrect figures for 2023 - that might flush out something interesting.

CazeryBird

brianposter said:

That gives you consumption for a full year but it appears that the readings are wrong for a much shorter time so you really need a closer and presumably more obvious comparison.

If you string things along you will soon have your figures for next year.

Also it does not seem unlikely that the problem is the supplier swap. When was the swap undone ?

And insist that they provide the incorrect figures for 2023 - that might flush out something interesting.

I got an email on the 5th April confirming they were processing the erroneous swap. On the 24th April they confirmed the other supplier had agreed to hand us back and it would take up to 4 weeks to process.

(Which is to say, the two high bill periods occurred around the same time)

brianposter

That is obviously suspicious. Have you asked for a clearer explanation of what you were previously offered ?

Simply "I do not understand what you are suggesting. Please could you send me the revised bills for the first half of 2023.".