Help! British Gas billing misery. I want to leave.

OldGoldLad

I switched from Scottish Power onto a BG fixed tariff last June. I have an electric smart meter and a normal gas with an IHD.

Due to the fact the gas isn't smart I have been logging the gas meter readings on the app every month.

I have been paying a direct debit to BG but have recently noticed they have never sent me a statement and my account is £1,200 in credit.

I then got an email from BG saying they were going to half my DD......which would just about cover the gas.

I called BG and they said my electric smart meter has not been sending them electric readings. I immediately challenged this as I can see my electric usage in the app and I regularly take part in GreenFlex events (reduced electric rates). They said we need a photo of your electric meter.

I raised a complaint with BG as I didn't believe there is / was and issue with the meter and I was called by the complaints team. They said my meter has not been sending readings to the billing system? Apparently it is a different system to the one that provides data to my app. I sent the photo 3 weeks ago, apparently it has been escalated to the billing team and I have heard nothing since.

So, I have decided I have had enough of them. My energy plan ends 31/8 and I want to leave but if I cannot resolve this billing issue by then, would it be foolish of me to leave with the account being £1,200 in credit?

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

If BG haven't billed you in 11 months, your £1200 credit is only temporary; once BG catch up with their billing, you might even owe them money.

OldGoldLad

QrizB said:

Welcome to the forum.

If BG haven't billed you in 11 months, your £1200 credit is only temporary; once BG catch up with their billing, you might even owe them money.

Hi and thank you!

I have an energy bill / usage spreasdsheet and according to my calculations I owe them around £175 as the DD was never adjusted.

I have manually intervened and changed the DD now.

My concern is it could get incredibly messy if I leave. 

MWT

OldGoldLad said:

QrizB said:

Welcome to the forum.

If BG haven't billed you in 11 months, your £1200 credit is only temporary; once BG catch up with their billing, you might even owe them money.

Hi and thank you!

I have an energy bill / usage spreasdsheet and according to my calculations I owe them around £175 as the DD was never adjusted.

I have manually intervened and changed the DD now.

My concern is it could get incredibly messy if I leave. 

I doubt they are going to let you leave until the billing issue is resolved.

They shouldn't object as technically with no bills outstanding they cannot show that you owe them money, but I'd still suggest you do your best to get this fixed before attempting to switch away. 

laidbackgjr

If the smart meter isn't communicating with billing, best thing is to submit a manual reading, get a bill, settle up and leave.

OldGoldLad

laidbackgjr said:

If the smart meter isn't communicating with billing, best thing is to submit a manual reading, get a bill, settle up and leave.

I have submitted multiple manual meter readings. I have even said please just generate a bill from the manual readings and they refuse saying they need the smart meter to be working.

There is nothing wrong with the meter. I can see all my usage from the day I joined them. 

Ideally I want to be away from BG by 31st August but at the same time, I really cannot be bothered with debt collector letters etc if I leave and the account is in a mess.

Tescodealqueen

My British Gas gas meter often fails to send readings. If you go in to live chat with them with your meter readings you can persuade them to initiate a bill. It’s a pain but at least it keeps things straight

OldGoldLad

Low and behold, they have ignored my DD increase request and have only charged me £40, which will not cover the Electricity.

Scot_39

OldGoldLad said:

Low and behold, they have ignored my DD increase request and have only charged me £40, which will not cover the Electricity.

If thats the change made 2 days ago they probably haven't had time to modify it or apply it.

The rarte for tge current transaction locked in a few days before your change I suspect (*)

It probably will work next month.

It has never been instantaneous for me at EOn - and I used to do my own calcs and change every 6m and thrn every 3m quarterly with the caps.

Iirc EOn you used to have to give more than a weeks notice on the phone or on line in portal, certainly less than a week on line it would warn you it would not kick in on the imminent payment, but would the end of following period.

(*) Direct debit funds are actually requested in advance of payment date in UK - one link to Halifax says they request 5 days, one to Lloyds  re user chsnges says changes needed 7  days in advance 

https://www.lloydsbank.com/mortgages/help-and-guidance/managing-your-mortgage/make-a-change/change-your-direct-debit.html

"Any changes made within seven days of your current payment date won’t start until the next month."

On the flip side suppliers who change the amount say for mvdd type accounts generally give users a full 10 day statutory iirc notice, some maybe give 2 weeks.