Help - Just recieved a massive Gas bill, what can we do?

chika

Hi everyone

I hope you can help us as I'm not sure what I can do in this situation. I have just received a gas bill for £834 from december to march! I have called british gas and the gentleman agreed that it did sound a little high but said that there was nothing he could do.

We live in a six bedroomed house and the gas is only used to power the bolier - which broke down during the period of the bill so we didn't have use any gas for about a week.

Has anyone got any experienmce of mega bills and what can be done to correct them? If we have genuinely used all this gas them I'm happy to pay for it but I really can't see how our gas bill could possibly be almost £300 a month!

Thanks for reading.

silverbullit

In trying to persuade the company that the bill is inaccurate, are you able to refer to previous bills and show them that you would never use so much? Have you checked that the meter readings supplied for the calculation of the latest bill were accurate?

If you were in the property the same time last year, do you have a bill for that period so that you can see how much you used then and compare it to the current bill?

traveller

Hi,I too recieved a ridiculously large electricity bill from BG.My usual are not more than 70.00.But yet for the last quarter it was over 300.00.When I first phoned BG, I too was fobbed off.I rang again yesterday and the lady I spoke to said she'd set the bill back to zero and I must get someone to read it in 28 days.I'm 8 months pregnant and the meter is located very high up, so I cannot do it myself as you need a ladder.The meter reader didn't use a ladder and she agreed that the bill looks wrong.Do persist, as I have found it really does depend on who you talk to.Good luck!

gypsyroseloz

I would definately check my meter readings.....we have had loads of throuble from British Gas & false extremely high bills! We had one for here two weeks after we had moved in.....in July.....for £95! We hadnt had the heating on once!!! Also, had on several years ago when we lived in a flat for £454 (for the quarter!) I rang & told them it was wrong, etc but they continued to take money out via DD! Idiots......needless to say they will never have anymore money from us!

Cardew

The number one reason for huge unexpected bills is that on the current bill there is an estimated meter meading.(denoted by an E next to the reading e.g. 12345(E))

Usually this is because the end reading on the previous bill was underestimated and thus the bill was too low. This results in the next bill 'catching up'

heeth

As an energy adviser you'd be amased how much someone can rack up in a quarter. Like people above have suggested, get into a habit of reading your meter regularly (at least every 3 months, don't rely on someone else to do it, legally comps only need to read a meter evey 2 years - that's a long time for estimated bills to amass) We often find when there has been a boiler breakdown or similar, a bill get distorted. I would be suspicious if this is the only quarter this has happened and the boiler broke down, the problem could lie there somewhere. Keep hold of your bills to prove your gas usage history as BG are known for poor record keeping. You might find it useful to do a seven day meter read - take a reading every day for the next 7 days to work out what your weekly consumption is, submit it to BG to see if it compares to the high bill. If BG do not back down, i advise going to Energywatch - consumer energy watchdog who can raise an enquiry and/or complaint on your behalf. http://www.energywatch.org.uk/ 08459 060708

If you find out this is not a blip and you need some energy efficiency advice on reducing consumption, contact your local energy efficiency advice centre on 0800 512 012

Finally, it does sound as if you will be able to pay this bill, but if you find out you are liable for it and you are genuinly going to struggle to repay this debt, BG has a Trust fund for people in genuine hardship, plug in British Gas Energy Trust fund to find out more - don't ask BG directly, they don't have a clue.