New duel fuel tariff

harriett-boxer

British Gas!
Time to change to a new fixed tariff, comparison site said British Gas was the best deal so put my highest winter usage in for a quote. Now after 1 month they say my bill will be doubled. Turns out they just gave a number that sounds appealing regardless of what I said I use. They’ve just said I’m using more than I was paying, argued that I gave them my highest usage and they misrepresented price to lure me in. Now the cooling off period has just passed so can’t leave.
The last company did this and massively overcharged me leaving me over £700 in credit!

Any suggestions please?

Farway

Did you input in Kw or £s?

If in Kw simple sums would tell you the projected cost by DYOR and not take their word for it.

What, in Kw terms is their projection against your actual use, in Kw?

harriett-boxer

I gave them in kw. I’m not technical unfortunately. The customer service person said that I’ve used much more than they quoted me for even though I gave a typical January usage for both fuels.

Told her I should be paying slightly less in winter and over pay in summer to balance out the cost of the whole year. A very tight budget means I need to know what I’m paying each month

Alnat1

With the comparison sites you need to put (in kWh) how much you use in a year for each fuel, not just for one month.

harriett-boxer

comparison site said British Gas so then went to BG website where they asked for monthly usage

IOWJJBTM2025

Now is not the best time to be looking for fix. Suppliers are offering Price Cap since the issue with prices going up.

What Fix did you sign up to? Is there a fee to exit? unit rates and standing charges rates?

Do you have any bills from a year ago that shows your meter readings back then and then take some meter readings today. We can then work out how much energy you use over a year.

If you signed up for the tariff 1 month ago it may work out that your tariff is not too bad ?

IOWJJBTM2025

On reflection to my previous post you was looking for advice.

You will only pay for the gas and electric that you use each month. My immediate suggestion is not to do anything hasty - your British Gas tariff may work out to be ok.

Don't forget that your British Gas fixed tariff rates will reduce in April according to the Government discount.

There are a number of us on the forum that can give some advice if you want it. Just give us more detail and we can crunch the numbers.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6658826/new-duel-fuel-tariff

Unfortunately you seem to be treating your monthly DD payment as though it was a bill and as if that amount was the price…

Your fix will have been for an amount per kWh and for the daily standing charge, those amounts will not have changed so nothing they have done will change the amount of your bill based on your consumption, nor has the price of the kWh you use been changed.

Compare those figures (price per kWh and the daily standing charge) with what you were paying your previous supplier and see if they are higher or lower. Do make sure to compare like with like so ensure you are using the figures inclusive of VAT in both cases.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81915839#Comment_81915839

Many companies no longer operate entirely like that on their annualized plan - and most including BG do not guarantee the DD payment will not be reviewed mid term.

In fact with a new customer it's likely to if anything be more regular. And a review in winter - could result in a higher estimate - especially if a high heat user - so summer to winter balance out compared to their standard user profile.

But at least this page does seem to suggest a simple running cost /12 - if you put in just one month - and a winter month - Id worry about them overestimating.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/bills-and-payments/setting-up-a-direct-debit#monthlydd

But even there they show an example where underpaying in previous months - leads to a higher demanded DD level part way through the year.

Modern DD Balance Profile

The norm at other companies is now you start in credit in spring, build up the required credit by winter to cover winter bills higher levels, and return to their nominal (0 - but in some cases 1 month) min balance the following spring. The age old concept of drifting negative over winter into debit started disappearing maybe 2-3 years ago.

Are Bills Correct on New Plan

As duel fuel - have you checked BG are interpreting the meter readings correctly - especially gas. New meters are metric - some old ones are still imperial 100s of cubic feet - use the scale factor for imperial - and the kWh and so £s figure out by nearly 3. (And suppliers have been known to get that wrong even on latest smart meters they are reading automatically - that are 100% metric) Metric 1 m3 c11.x kWh, Imperial - 1=100 cu ft = 32.x kWh.

Are they getting smart meter readings - or are you providing regular measurements if able if not ?

DD Adjustments

As they dont allow even minimal control of DD of online account pages - according to above BG link.

You would need to work out if the new charge is reasonable - and argue with their customer services - if not - to lower it.

You may be tempted to cancel DD - think carefully - on a fix it might even be a requirement - on SVT - it would lead to c7% higher bills when last did the calc vs DD.

Based on experience with other suppliers - including their Scottish subsidiary - that will need a good grasp of your own numbers - and possibly a chat with a supervisor - as the default CS response will I guess almost always be "but the computer says".

Doubling within first months I would say suggests a problem somewhere - the problem is no one can be sure what would be the realistic version from the very limited information provided. So

Very Rough Sanity Check on your DD numbers

The median consumption dual fuel cap is currently £1758 for annual 11500 kWh in gas and 2700 kWh for electricity - thats around £146 per month on straight average - maybe say £10-15 less on a good fix - butothers maybe only save a few % - so nearer £5.

That might give you a rough idea if you are a only a little higher or lower user - if compared to the quoted old and new DD rates.

That £146 / lower if fix average however might mean well sub £100 in summer and well over £200 in winter for many homes - but the whole point of annualized plan - is to smooth that out.

However as a new customer - if you only pay £150 and the initial usage months are £250+ in coldest winter months say - then after a couple of months - they may well predict a large debt accumulating and could react - not only towards the observed £250 level - but also to recover the already say -£200 balance.

More accurate Check

Are you willing to share the actual £s figures before after double - and the kWh figures used for quote - and your fix rates.

In simple terms as BG link they claim to set

DD = [(annual usage x unit rate + SC x 365) gas + (annual usage x unit rate + SC x 365) electric] / 12

You or we need all of those unknowns DD, usage, rate and SC per fuel to guide you further.

You might find past annual usage on your bills / statements (not all do provide but mines do in the tariff comparison data / tables on 2nd page).

Without the details difficult to comment on whether the old or the new DD calcs are the more realistic

tfhnota

When I was with BG they would try to increase the DD even if in credit and by amounts that far exceeded my usage and it was always a battle with the chat customer service agent to leave the DD where it was. The OP needs to find out how much he has actually spent in the month in question and then compare that to the sum BG is demanding. That will give a starting point for arguing about the DD amount (variable direct debit was not available when I was with them), if a winter month is worst case and they are averaging out over twelve months then the DD should be lower. You can calculate previous yearly usage and divide by twelve for the average usage… but then take say 7 percent off the actual new unit rates for April decrease and multiple by the average monthly use to get the DD amount (repeated for gas if necessary).

WiserMiser

Welcome back to the forum.

For each fuel and using the meter on the wall, find two readings 12 months apart. They must not be estimates, they need to have been taken by you, a meter reader or sent by a smart meter.

Tell us the readings and whether your gas meter is marked as Imperial (100s of ft³) or metric (m³) and someone will be along to calculate your annual usage in kWh. (Note that it's kWh, not kW).

Beware of stupidly small decimal points on some smart meter displays.