Ridiculous Billing from British Gas
I am on a monthly direct debit plan and have a smart meter installed and I am on a dual fuel plan with British Gas. I received an email from BG a few days ago saying my latest bill was available to view online. I checked the bill and it indicated over £300 in credit and it projected I would be over £900 in credit by the end of the plan.
It advised that I should claim the credit as a refund, so I did and it then calculated that my direct debit should go from £304.99 to £305.00 per month. It seemed strange that it should calculate an increase seeing that the lower amount had led to a credit, but as it was only a penny difference I was not going to argue.
Two days later I receive an email from them stating that due to the refund my payments would have to be increased and that the new monthly payment was calculated to be £610 :shocked::shocked:
I checked my account online and sure enough they had increased the direct debit to £610 but the account was now estimating that by the end of the plan I would be over £3600 in credit!!!!
I called them up and was told that there was nothing they could do as the system automatically calculated it, they could manually reduce it again but could not guarantee that the system would not again automatically reassess it. He requested a manual recalculation and the system came back with an estimated usage of £2736 for the year and recommended a DD payment of £150 per month which he said would leave me in credit by around £11 at the end of the plan.
I explained that this too seemed ridiculous as the £2736 figure estimated divided by 12 should equal £228 a month, so by simple logic a payment of £150 would leave me in debit by the end of the year. I eventually told him to set the DD at £300 per month as I could plainly see that this would cover the estimated usage and ensure I did not run up a large deficit.
I advised the person that they should let their managers know that there was something seriously wrong with the way their systems calculated things, and I received the response that they would not change anything as they had spent millions on the system.
I have had similar problems with a previous supplier and I received all sorts of convoluted arguments as to why the system would calculated it this way. But it should really be very simple especially when you have been a customer for a few years and they have a good usage profile for you. Estimate usage for the year based on history, use that to calculate a cost and then divide by 12 to give a monthly payment. If you have to review every 6 months then review for another 12 month period, not for the time remaining on the initial 12 months. Such a simple calculating that would'nt cost millions to program.
So watch your direct debits if you have overpaid and request a refund from BG, because they will give it back to you but increase your payments so they immediately get the money back and the same amount every month after that. I will be watching mine very closely from now on.
It advised that I should claim the credit as a refund, so I did and it then calculated that my direct debit should go from £304.99 to £305.00 per month. It seemed strange that it should calculate an increase seeing that the lower amount had led to a credit, but as it was only a penny difference I was not going to argue.
Two days later I receive an email from them stating that due to the refund my payments would have to be increased and that the new monthly payment was calculated to be £610 :shocked::shocked:
I checked my account online and sure enough they had increased the direct debit to £610 but the account was now estimating that by the end of the plan I would be over £3600 in credit!!!!
I called them up and was told that there was nothing they could do as the system automatically calculated it, they could manually reduce it again but could not guarantee that the system would not again automatically reassess it. He requested a manual recalculation and the system came back with an estimated usage of £2736 for the year and recommended a DD payment of £150 per month which he said would leave me in credit by around £11 at the end of the plan.
I explained that this too seemed ridiculous as the £2736 figure estimated divided by 12 should equal £228 a month, so by simple logic a payment of £150 would leave me in debit by the end of the year. I eventually told him to set the DD at £300 per month as I could plainly see that this would cover the estimated usage and ensure I did not run up a large deficit.
I advised the person that they should let their managers know that there was something seriously wrong with the way their systems calculated things, and I received the response that they would not change anything as they had spent millions on the system.
I have had similar problems with a previous supplier and I received all sorts of convoluted arguments as to why the system would calculated it this way. But it should really be very simple especially when you have been a customer for a few years and they have a good usage profile for you. Estimate usage for the year based on history, use that to calculate a cost and then divide by 12 to give a monthly payment. If you have to review every 6 months then review for another 12 month period, not for the time remaining on the initial 12 months. Such a simple calculating that would'nt cost millions to program.
So watch your direct debits if you have overpaid and request a refund from BG, because they will give it back to you but increase your payments so they immediately get the money back and the same amount every month after that. I will be watching mine very closely from now on.
0
Comments
-
I'd solve the problem by switching from BG asap. The company is a shambles.0
-
Which BG tariff are you on, and what is your annual kWh usage on each fuel? £2,736 is more than double the typical UK anual cost, so something is badly wrong here.No free lunch, and no free laptop
0 -
Turn off the kiln in the back yard and tell BG what you think.0
-
Which BG tariff are you on, and what is your annual kWh usage on each fuel? £2,736 is more than double the typical UK anual cost, so something is badly wrong here.
The tariff is not the issue, the bill is for two houses and two households. I have had other suppliers and the cost is roughly the same. It's more the way their system suggests I should claim a refund them decides to double my payments when I do take the refund.0 -
I am on a monthly direct debit plan and have a smart meter installed and I am on a dual fuel plan with British Gas. I received an email from BG a few days ago saying my latest bill was available to view online. I checked the bill and it indicated over £300 in credit and it projected I would be over £900 in credit by the end of the plan.
It advised that I should claim the credit as a refund, so I did and it then calculated that my direct debit should go from £304.99 to £305.00 per month. It seemed strange that it should calculate an increase seeing that the lower amount had led to a credit, but as it was only a penny difference I was not going to argue.
Two days later I receive an email from them stating that due to the refund my payments would have to be increased and that the new monthly payment was calculated to be £610 :shocked::shocked:
I checked my account online and sure enough they had increased the direct debit to £610 but the account was now estimating that by the end of the plan I would be over £3600 in credit!!!!
I called them up and was told that there was nothing they could do as the system automatically calculated it, they could manually reduce it again but could not guarantee that the system would not again automatically reassess it. He requested a manual recalculation and the system came back with an estimated usage of £2736 for the year and recommended a DD payment of £150 per month which he said would leave me in credit by around £11 at the end of the plan.
I explained that this too seemed ridiculous as the £2736 figure estimated divided by 12 should equal £228 a month, so by simple logic a payment of £150 would leave me in debit by the end of the year. I eventually told him to set the DD at £300 per month as I could plainly see that this would cover the estimated usage and ensure I did not run up a large deficit.
I advised the person that they should let their managers know that there was something seriously wrong with the way their systems calculated things, and I received the response that they would not change anything as they had spent millions on the system.
I have had similar problems with a previous supplier and I received all sorts of convoluted arguments as to why the system would calculated it this way. But it should really be very simple especially when you have been a customer for a few years and they have a good usage profile for you. Estimate usage for the year based on history, use that to calculate a cost and then divide by 12 to give a monthly payment. If you have to review every 6 months then review for another 12 month period, not for the time remaining on the initial 12 months. Such a simple calculating that would'nt cost millions to program.
So watch your direct debits if you have overpaid and request a refund from BG, because they will give it back to you but increase your payments so they immediately get the money back and the same amount every month after that. I will be watching mine very closely from now on.
Follow this MSE article
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits0 -
The tariff is not the issue, the bill is for two houses and two households. I have had other suppliers and the cost is roughly the same. It's more the way their system suggests I should claim a refund them decides to double my payments when I do take the refund.
This post does not make any sense to me sorry.
Good luck!0 -
Follow this MSE article
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits
And in particular note the bit that says that under condition 27 of the Gas Supply Licence, a supplier must clearly explain if asked why it's chosen that amount for its direct debit. I don't think that this requirement is satisfied by the explanation that the system automatically calculated it - even if it dod cost them millions of pounds! Go back, demand a proper explanation of the calculation and make a formal complaint if you don't get one.sidbee0 -
I have just changed tariff with my supplier and before the next bill calculation was told that I had a few hundred in credit, which would be refunded.
However,at the time of the bill, I was told, as expected that the DD would go up (price rises) and that I had a credit (less than in the previous communication), which would be refunded.
This was because the original credit included money due for paying the next bill, but the calculation had not taken that into consideration.
The new DD rate assumes a start from £0 credit and its calculation was given lower down the statement.
Was the OP very near a tariff change ?0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.6K Spending & Discounts
- 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 607.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173K Life & Family
- 247.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards