British Gas - day and night electricity readings the wrong way round (Transposed readings)

MonsteraSky

Hi all

I realised I have been submitting my day and night readings the wrong way round. I'm assuming since I moved into this property 11 years ago. I have always just copied how it has been entered previously (i.e. entered the current reading next to the similar looking previous reading thus showing a slight increase).

6 months ago I booked an appointment for a smart meter and mentioned this to the engineer over the phone (at the time I wasn't sure, but he confirmed that it looked wrong too). He said he couldn't fit the meter until this issue was resolved and told me to call British Gas and inform them. I spoke to a lady who told me to email her photos of the current readings, which I did - however I never heard anything back. I vaguely remember trying to send an email through a form on their website, but I didn't get any response to this either.

Comparing several readings going back, my night energy use is about triple my daytime usage because I always set washing machine/dryer on timer to start at 1am so I think I have been overpaying.

On researching what happened to others with similar experiences, it seems that BG is a nightmare to deal with. I already have a lot on my plate as my husband suffers from severe anxiety and I am scared they will try to fob me off. The whole situation is stressing us out and I don't know what the best way to approach it is.

I thought to first submit an SAR? And then to try and send an email to them explaining the situation as I don't really have any evidence that I initially told them and see where it goes from there?

Or would I be better off speaking to Citizen's Advice first?

Any advice gratefully appreciated. Thanks 🙏

maisie_cat

What happens if you submit the current readings correctly into the BG website? that should prompt a correction or an investigation. If you are due a refund BG will not want it to be at today's rates so they'll have to engage.

DE_612183

raise a complaint with British Gas , then if no resolution go to the ombudsman - however if it's only your washing machine on the night rate you may have actually been under paying - have you checked which register is recording during the day?

MonsteraSky

maisie_cat said:

What happens if you submit the current readings correctly into the BG website? that should prompt a correction or an investigation. If you are due a refund BG will not want it to be at today's rates so they'll have to engage.

I asked them when I spoke to them and asked would it not mess everything up and they said not to do that as it would make a big mess. Also not sure whether the system would let me do this as there is a large discrepancy between the two?

MonsteraSky

DE_612183 said:

raise a complaint with British Gas , then if no resolution go to the ombudsman - however if it's only your washing machine on the night rate you may have actually been under paying - have you checked which register is recording during the day?

I calculated the differences and it seems the meter ticks 3x more during the "day" readings (i.e. what is supposed to be the night readings) - I think it's the dryer more than the washing machine as that seems to consume the most energy. Do you think it would be worth requesting a SAR first before making a proper complaint so that I have all the info they give me to hand? Or do both simultaneously? Thanks

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

Forget which readings are higher and lower, you need to establish which register is active during the day, say 12 noon.  The meter will show this.  Spinning disk ones often have a small arrow pointing to Low or Normal, LCD ones may display R1/R2 or R01/R02 etc.

If you tell us the make and model number of the meter someone will be along soon with a better explanation.

What do you use for room and water heating?

MonsteraSky

Gerry1 said:

Welcome to the forum.

Forget which readings are higher and lower, you need to establish which register is active during the day, say 12 noon.  The meter will show this.  Spinning disk ones often have a small arrow pointing to Low or Normal, LCD ones may display R1/R2 or R01/R02 etc.

If you tell us the make and model number of the meter someone will be along soon with a better explanation.

What do you use for room and water heating?

Thank you! After your comment, I took both readings, waited an hour (used some appliances to make the meter run) and Rate 2 is the one that has increased (during daytime hours). Now my brain is just so scrambled....so does this mean that we are being charged correctly, it's just the rate 1 and 2 clock the the wrong way round - but it's all actually okay? That would be such a HUGE relief if so!

For gas, we are with a different supplier not British Gas.

Gerry1

You still haven't given us much information so it's difficult to give precise help.

Does the most recent bill show that the readings closest to today's Rate 2 figure are being charged at the more expensive day rate?  If so, and assuming you're on Economy 7 then everything would seem to be fine.

Check a few times after about 11:30pm and see whether the meter indicates that Rate 1 is now in use.

QrizB

MonsteraSky said:

Gerry1 said:

Welcome to the forum.

Forget which readings are higher and lower, you need to establish which register is active during the day, say 12 noon.  The meter will show this.  Spinning disk ones often have a small arrow pointing to Low or Normal, LCD ones may display R1/R2 or R01/R02 etc.

If you tell us the make and model number of the meter someone will be along soon with a better explanation.

What do you use for room and water heating?

Thank you! After your comment, I took both readings, waited an hour (used some appliances to make the meter run) and Rate 2 is the one that has increased (during daytime hours). Now my brain is just so scrambled....so does this mean that we are being charged correctly, it's just the rate 1 and 2 clock the the wrong way round - but it's all actually okay?

Yes, it sounds as though you are being charged correctly.

There's no "right" or "wrong" way for rates 1and 2 - rate 1 as day is more common, but having rate 1 as night isn't incorrect.

Ildhund

QrizB said:
There's no "right" or "wrong" way for rates 1and 2 - rate 1 as day is more common, but having rate 1 as night isn't incorrect.

A wee remark about this: I learnt some years ago that DCC required the lowest numbered meter register tier to be the one for anytime or peak usage. Some systems called them Tier 0 and Tier 1, others Tier 1 and Tier 2, so ample scope for confusion. Anyway, it was established with Secure SMETS1 meters and possibly others that on enrolment and adoption (to virtual SMETS2 status), tier 1 as offpeak just wouldn't work. @MonsteraSky should note this for when a shiny new smart meter comes along.

MonsteraSky

Gerry1 said:

You still haven't given us much information so it's difficult to give precise help.

Does the most recent bill show that the readings closest to today's Rate 2 figure are being charged at the more expensive day rate?  If so, and assuming you're on Economy 7 then everything would seem to be fine.

Check a few times after about 11:30pm and see whether the meter indicates that Rate 1 is now in use.

Sorry, thought I replied to you but think my comment didn't save.

I checked the most recent bill and yes it does.

Also checked after 11.30pm and it was still Rate 2 but then checked around 1am and Rate 1 increased.

Anyway, thank you so much for your help. I will talk to BG and double check with them too, but feel a huge sense of relief after posting on here so thank you.