British Gas overcharging?

Janeybo · 17 October 2018 at 12:44AM

Hello, we recently switched my mum's elec. & gas provider to Avron, all fine, they have just sent an email to say they estimate she'll be paying £88 per month, great! But she was paying approx. £250 for gas & elec. to British Gas. I went on the site to get a rough quote for single occupancy, 3 bed house, it came back with £98 per month.

Does anyone know anything about British Gas and this type of charging, surely this can't be right? I'm guessing, but not yet asked her, that she's been paying £250 for years, when she could have been paying much less. My mum is 84 and is pretty unaware that she has been paying too much. Can I do anything about this?
Thanks in advance for any info. or help.

Robin9 · 17 October 2018 at 3:47AM

You need to look at her BG bills and give us detail of her consumption in kwh not £.

What figures did you give Avron ? EDIT Just seen you used a figure based on bedrooms etc. This is NOT the way to do it - you need to use ACTUAL consumption in kwh to get a decent estimate.

If this is her first switch then substantial savings can be made.

BoGoF · 17 October 2018 at 6:35AM

Forget previous bills. They weren't overcharging unless estimated bills were involved.

[Deleted User] · 17 October 2018 at 8:40AM

Pretty ludicrous for the OP to accept the small supplier Avrons half baked way of estimating annual usage based on single occupancy 3 bedrooms. Your mums monthly payments are very likely to be going into deep debit until Avron or you or your Mum send in accurate meter readings which will indicate at least a better idea of her true usage as we enter the colder weather.
No two people are the same usage and the same go s for how many bedrooms and it does nt matter too much how many people live there for the gas usage
eg, my friend on her own in a two bed terraced uses 22000 gas kwhs and 5000 kwhs of electricity.
I use less than 10,000 gas kwhs and 2000 electric kwhs in a large 3 bed bungalow.
BG will show the annual kwh usage on your mums bills.Accept that as a true indication.
BG or anyone else do not overcharge. They all have to give an accurate price per kwh.
Actually BG are now coming 3 rd in the list of cheapest suppliers the last time I looked.
Maybe it was a case of just switching tariffs within BG before venturing into the rough and tumble of the here today gone tomorrow small suppliers who seem to falling like the autumn leaves.
I work for BG as a meter reader and they are one of the few suppliers who still do quarterly readings which may well suit your Mum.less chance of estimates with BG s constant actual reads gained.
Avron will probably pay for someone to come out for a meter reading once every 5 years. I just hope you never need to contact the small/cheap suppliers. You will soon find out why they can offer lower rates, because they only have two men and a dog running the show

dogshome · 17 October 2018 at 8:41AM

Hmmm - BG's £250 D/Debit payment could be due to Debt on the account which they are collecting on top of the cost of Gas/Elec used.

It's vital you access previous bills for both the status of the account and actual Gas/Elec consumptions

Janeybo · 17 October 2018 at 9:08AM

Robin9 wrote: »

You need to look at her BG bills and give us detail of her consumption in kwh not £.

What figures did you give Avron ? EDIT Just seen you used a figure based on bedrooms etc. This is NOT the way to do it - you need to use ACTUAL consumption in kwh to get a decent estimate.

If this is her first switch then substantial savings can be made.

Sorry I wasn't clear. We got Avron through Money Saving Expert, and actual consumption. Last night I did a quick British Gas quote finder thing, and did a quick estimate based on room size etc. Just to get an idea of what they are charging now.

Janeybo · 17 October 2018 at 9:12AM

Houbara wrote: »

Pretty ludicrous for the OP to accept the small supplier Avrons half baked way of estimating annual usage based on single occupancy 3 bedrooms. Your mums monthly payments are very likely to be going into deep debit until Avron or you or your Mum send in accurate meter readings which will indicate at least a better idea of her true usage as we enter the colder weather.
No two people are the same usage and the same go s for how many bedrooms and it does nt matter too much how many people live there for the gas usage
eg, my friend on her own in a two bed terraced uses 22000 gas kwhs and 5000 kwhs of electricity.
I use less than 10,000 gas kwhs and 2000 electric kwhs in a large 3 bed bungalow.
BG will show the annual kwh usage on your mums bills.Accept that as a true indication.
BG or anyone else do not overcharge. They all have to give an accurate price per kwh.
Actually BG are now coming 3 rd in the list of cheapest suppliers the last time I looked.
Maybe it was a case of just switching tariffs within BG before venturing into the rough and tumble of the here today gone tomorrow small suppliers who seem to falling like the autumn leaves.
I work for BG as a meter reader and they are one of the few suppliers who still do quarterly readings which may well suit your Mum.less chance of estimates with BG s constant actual reads gained.
Avron will probably pay for someone to come out for a meter reading once every 5 years. I just hope you never need to contact the small/cheap suppliers. You will soon find out why they can offer lower rates, because they only have two men and a dog running the show

thanks for your reply. Sorry I wasn't clear. We got Avron through Money Saving Expert, and actual consumption. Last night I did a quick British Gas quote finder thing, and did a quick estimate based on room size etc. Just to get an idea of what they are charging now.

I think you might be right re. falling off the radar and staying on a high tariff. my dad used BG, and when he died she was fearful to change. But why didn't BG they tell her she was remaining on a very high tariff?

Janeybo · 17 October 2018 at 9:14AM

dogshome wrote: »

Hmmm - BG's £250 D/Debit payment could be due to Debt on the account which they are collecting on top of the cost of Gas/Elec used.

It's vital you access previous bills for both the status of the account and actual Gas/Elec consumptions

No debt on the account, she's the sort of regular payer, well she pays automatically by DD. I think a prebious reply might be right in that she has been left ofn a high tariff and it's never been changed. Thanks for your reply.

Sorry as before Sorry I wasn't clear. We got Avron through Money Saving Expert, and actual consumption. Last night I did a quick British Gas quote finder thing, and did a quick estimate based on room size etc. Just to get an idea of what they are charging now.

Janeybo · 17 October 2018 at 9:18AM

BoGoF wrote: »

Forget previous bills. They weren't overcharging unless estimated bills were involved.

Thanks, someone has already mentioned being left on a high tariff. I think this was from years ago and she woudln't know to change tariff or switch provider - untill I eventually grround her down after years of asking to help her!

System · 17 October 2018 at 9:24AM

Janeybo wrote: »

Thanks, someone has already mentioned being left on a high tariff. I think this was from years ago and she woudln't know to change tariff or switch provider - untill I eventually grround her down after years of asking to help her!

Contact Avro and ask them for the Estimated Annual Consumption (EAC) for electricity and the Annual Quantity (AQ) for gas for your Mother's property. This is the historical usage data held by the data collectors for all Uk properties. These figures will give you some indication as to whether, or not, your Mother is paying Avro enough for her energy.

In saying the above, I assume that you provided Avro with actual meter readings on transfer? These readings are passed to the data collectors for validation before they are used to open and close accounts. You need to check the readings used to open the Avro account are close to what is showing on the actual meters. Previous bills based on estimates can affect the opening reading validation process.

[Deleted User] · 17 October 2018 at 9:31AM

Janeybo wrote: »

thanks for your reply. Sorry I wasn't clear. We got Avron through Money Saving Expert, and actual consumption. Last night I did a quick British Gas quote finder thing, and did a quick estimate based on room size etc. Just to get an idea of what they are charging now.

I think you might be right re. falling off the radar and staying on a high tariff. my dad used BG, and when he died she was fearful to change. But why didn't BG they tell her she was remaining on a very high tariff?

Suppliers now all have to indicate on their bills that "cheaper tariffs may be available " or words to that effect , but its well hidden on the billing. Its an OFGEM rule.
Coming down from a huge £250 a month to £85 tho just does nt add up. Something must be amiss on the figures. At a guess I d say the maximum difference between BG s standard/variable rates and Avons fixed yearly rates would nt be anywhere near that amount.
You have done the right thing in getting Mum to stop wasting money on gas/electric bills which are the biggest yearly expense. Most of my quarterly meter reading rounds appears to be with OAPs reluctant to change
Stick with it and do the same with the other yearly bills such as home insurance .
Was your Mum receiving BGs central heating Homecare alongside energy bills ?

British Gas overcharging?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free