Help! BG gas bill (really!) huge?

annagram

Hello there,

I'm just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on our recent gas bill, I know prices have gone up recently but this seems ridiculous! We moved house early Dec last year and received a final bill for £76.77 for the dates 11/10/07 - 03/12/07 and the meter readings said we had used 84 gas units, all fine.

We have just moved house again and the final bill has just arrived for £716.24:eek: :eek: ! This was dated from 30/11/07 - 30/03/08 and in just over double the length of time we have used 837 gas units! Surely that can't be right! I have double checked the readings with the letting agents and they are correct.

The thing is, our previous house was actually bigger that this one and we also turned off all the radiators upstairs in the most recent house, so that usage is just for downstairs! We had a couple of problems with the boiler, it wasn't sending enough hot water to the bath or shower so we told our landlady about it not long after we moved in, she sent someone round and he recommended a new boiler as that one was pretty old.

She decided to sell up instead, hence why we had to move out so soon. I work 4 days a week and my partner full time so it wasn't on 24/7 or anything - does this bill seem right? If it is, do you think there is anything we can say to the owner? It doesn't seem right that we should have to pay the full amount when we told her the boiler was rubbish 3 months ago!

Thank you in advance for any help,
Annagram

annagram

Can anyone help? Should I post this in the rented houses section as it is possibly more about the dodgy boiler than British Gas?

Thanks,

mute_posting

Hi annagram, please don't take this the wrong way - I mean it in the nicest way possible!!!

Posts are a easier to read if you use paragraphs and split them up a little.

I got to the end of the first post and my head was spinning lol.

Cardew

£716 for 837 gas units mean that you are being charged for an Imperial gas meter(measures in cubic feet) and is for about 26,000kWh. So the price is correct IF you have used that amount of gas.

There is an outside chance that the meter from the house that you have moved from has a Metric meter - measures in Cubic metres - and you are be wrongly charged for an Imperial meter.

With a metric meter your bill would be approx £260.

As you say, it is difficult to see how you could use 26,000kWh in 4 months, although if the boiler was really inefficient, and the house very badly insulated, it is possible.

annagram

Thanks Cardew,

How would I find out if it was meant to be imperial or metric? To be honest I was kind of expecting a bill of £300 max so £260 sounds about right, unless it is an extra rubbish boiler! The house is double glazed and a standard victorian terrace, high ceilings but smaller than our last place so no real explanation for a giant bill!

espresso

annagram wrote: »

How would I find out if it was meant to be imperial or metric?

Read the meter for yourself. It will state the units measured e.g Cu Ft or Cu M on it.

annagram

We have moved out though so can't access the property again, I could try the letting agents in the morning but they are not particularly helpful at the best of times!

thanks for the advice though

espresso

I would go and look at the meter myself if necessary!

Cardew

espresso wrote: »

I would go and look at the meter myself if necessary!

So would I.

The current or next occupant would also be happy to let you look as it might save them some money as well!