British Gas and renewal of a EV tarrif

Scottieman333

OK, I apologise if there is a thread on this, but I cant see one.

Over the past 3 months, since Oct I have to call British Gas to reduce my Direct Debit.

I have now found out why they are doubling my DD without my permission each month.
They constantly look at DD amounts to help customers( this I understand) but they use total usage then the cost as a rough guide for DD.

I constantly say to them, 75% of my electric is used for EV charging and is cost is 7p per kwh. but they use the full price of kwh for the calculation for the DD.

my DD is £240 ( which includes gas ) but each month they increase it to £459 because my usage of electricity dictates this amount. Again I say to them, for the past 3 years its almost been the same cost ( ok, it gone up a little ) and my account has always had a £240 DD. I am not actually pay more in historical money terms, so why raise the DD to more than double.
During a call they agreed that my £240 DD per month would cover me for the year, but they have to go by the calculation of the full price of electricity per kwh.

Is there a way around this ? has anyone had similar problems with BG, or any other energy supplier ?

Its just daft the way they calculate the DD

MWT

If your EV tariff is fixed and due to expire soon, the problem should go away when you renew.

QrizB

I think this is unique to BG.

Sorry.

Scottieman333

I just renewed onto BG EVPower V1 duel, so im there for a year

WiserMiser

Welcome to the forum.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/bills-and-payments/changing-your-direct-debit#change-amount

Alternatively, ask to pay by Variable Direct Debit, but be aware that this may not be available on their new billing system.

Netexporter

Move to Octopus. You can change your DD online.

Scottieman333

also they have taken away the right for the cusomer to change their DD, ont down but only up in cost. for the past 3 years I have only paid around the £240 mark ( duel fuel) but they now calculate my usage not with the 7p per kwh but at the 29p kwh. Th ey keep changing my DD to £459 per month

Scottieman333

just been told by BG that if I make an advanced payment of £2000 I can get a direct debit of £100....I think this is a cartel

rp1974

OP,Out of curiosity why renew for a year when your not happy with what BG are doing?,seems rather counter productive to me.
Unless there's a particularly pressing reason to remain,move elsewhere would be my view,especially considering the notorious BG customer service standards and refusal to allow variable direct debit as a payment method.

Scottieman333

@rp1974, everything was great until I renewed in Nov, everything was working perfect, but since I went onto a new EV tarrif , at the same time I think BG changed their systems, all went to hell. OK if I move im charged £50, big wows I can handle that, but since the EV charger is a HIVE charger, most other energy companies dont recognise that as it would not work for their systems ( which I think is wrong ), so im just pi***d off that BG on this tarrif that I am on, does not allow variable DD, its fixed on their terms. 
during writing this, just had another communication, they are willing to accept my £240 DD for 6 months then they will change it to £620 per month. Also they have accepted that it is their systems that dictate the DD as they use the full kwh usage for the full year.
OK, i suppose ill accept that, and in 6 months figure it out again. 
funny thing is, I told them to look at my last bill which will probably be the largest of the year as it was only £219 for the month ( duel fuel )

so strange how they want to get the money what ever which way they can

QrizB

This is far from ideal, but can you afford to pay the £460 DD then make a claim for a credit refund every 2-3 months?