Energy bill doubled in price recently issue !

twang72 · 8 August 2019 at 12:19PM

Hello I need some advice, ill keep it short and simple !

British gas customer, pay £89 per month (based on quarterly usage and bills), they recently said my usage is higher so need to pay £189 per month instead ! (were sensible, switch it off nothing heavy, no new appliances, small family etc)

Anyhow I dug deep into my Smart Meter Readings on the website, I spotted a massive error in the readings which are 'Estimated' for December 2018 it reads:1207992.0 kwh !

Spoke to BG agent and they appear to avoid answering directly about this error, they keep saying they go by the meter reading the following day, so I can ignore that error and this error was an underestimate value since the smart meter did not communicate properly.

Is this correct ?

Sounds like a lie to myself but I figured I would ask on here since could be wrong.

Our usual bills on average are 400-800 kwh or xmas peroids 2000-3000 kwh but not in the 7 digit territory.

Robin9 · 8 August 2019 at 12:31PM

What was the reading on the January Bill ?

Do you read your meters regularly ?

PS Looking at your "usual" consumption - even £89 sounds high. What is your ACTUAL annual consumption and traiff

D_M_E · 8 August 2019 at 12:34PM

Have you tried reading the meter yourself, instead of relying on BG getting a "smart" reading?

Are you saying you use 3000 units over Christmas, or over 100 units per day?

If so that is astronomical and there must be something wrong somewhere.

You may well have a faulty meter.

Try turning everything off and read the meter. Leave everything off for an hour or 2 then read the meter again - it should not have moved.
A fridge or freezer left off for a short period will not have much effect on the contents if the doors are left shut so do a simple check of the meter.

Robin9 · 8 August 2019 at 12:46PM

When the Smart was installed it would have read 00000.00 - when was this installed and what is today's reading.

texter · 8 August 2019 at 1:18PM

twang72 wrote: »

Hello I need some advice, ill keep it short and simple !

British gas customer, pay £89 per month (based on quarterly usage and bills), they recently said my usage is higher so need to pay £189 per month instead ! (were sensible, switch it off nothing heavy, no new appliances, small family etc)

Anyhow I dug deep into my Smart Meter Readings on the website, I spotted a massive error in the readings which are 'Estimated' for December 2018 it reads:1207992.0 kwh !

Spoke to BG agent and they appear to avoid answering directly about this error, they keep saying they go by the meter reading the following day, so I can ignore that error and this error was an underestimate value since the smart meter did not communicate properly.

Is this correct ?

Sounds like a lie to myself but I figured I would ask on here since could be wrong.

Our usual bills on average are 400-800 kwh or xmas peroids 2000-3000 kwh but not in the 7 digit territory.

Sorry, but far too complicated for my little brain to understand.

So allow me to break it down into easy to understand parts, that if I can understand, I feel sure you can

If you have received a bill twice as big as last time then:
a) you have used twice as much energy (approx, i.e. ignoring standing charges, discounts, etc) as recorded by the meter
or
b) there has been a change to your tariff (avoided, at least for the duration of the tariff, if you opt for a fixed tariff)
or
c) a combination of (a) & (b) above

If you have received an estimated bill based upon an estimated reading, then provide the supplier with an actual reading and so that an actual bill can then be produced.

If you are simply saying you have had a request for a different fixed amount collected monthly by direct debit, that is not a bill.
But there is a really useful MSE article I have seen linked to many times before to address that; here it is again
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/

twang72 · 8 August 2019 at 10:18PM

ok thanks for all the replies, I don't really read my meter readings daily or weekly for that matter tend to rely on smart meter being right. I checked my bill right after december ie the march bill and it was fine not 10 or 100x more as I thought.

So I redid 2018 and 2019 calculations based on my energy usage and sadly BG are spot on with what there asking and even the new double almost bill there asking sadly, it just came as a shock to be honest to get 2x the cost of your usual monthly energy bill so I assumed they made some mistake !

It does appear BG use meter readings and your yearly roughly estimated bill to figure out what you should be paying each month, this is the easiest way to figure out whats going on.

markin · 9 August 2019 at 12:20AM

You should still check the meters is not jumping up, What was you total usage last year?

Size of house and number of people?

twang72 · 9 August 2019 at 10:27AM

markin wrote: »

You should still check the meters is not jumping up, What was you total usage last year?

Size of house and number of people?

Thanks Markin, I checked total usage this tool is even more better to visually see the used energy and if your being overcharged

Just in case anyone else needs to check:

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/content/britishgas/youraccount/peea/manageenergyusage/energyusage.html#/usage/chart/year/2018-01-01?fuels=electricity,gas&display=energy&compare=false

For 2018, combined and total energy usage was 20002 kwh and checking currently 2019 usage to August is 10002 kwh but obviously in Xmas the usage will go up more and energy cost have been increasing.

This is with a family of 4 in a 3 bedroom house with standard appliances, washing machine daily and 3 tvs etc. Summer time we don't have central heating on naturally. I won't know for 100% till the years up if the usage equals the bill fully. Meters been fine, 99% of time its read and sent the results and the results are similar to previous months just that one blip really of estimated shown on the account.

nic_c · 10 August 2019 at 9:16AM

Check your tariff, are you on a fixed or variable. If on fixed when does it end? If they have your usage spot on then either you are using more than was estimated when you joined or your DD is based on 12 months use agd your fixed term is due to end (it could be they assume you will move onto SVR for the remainder of the 12 months).

twang72 · 10 August 2019 at 3:18PM

nic_c wrote: »

Check your tariff, are you on a fixed or variable. If on fixed when does it end? If they have your usage spot on then either you are using more than was estimated when you joined or your DD is based on 12 months use agd your fixed term is due to end (it could be they assume you will move onto SVR for the remainder of the 12 months).

Cheers, I believe Its on fixed tarif 'HomeEnergy Secure Mar 2021'

I am gonna do some digging, looking at BG comparison of similar house holds, it does appear we are using 20-30% more energy then the average normal similar houses on a monthly basis so this could explain it. I have gone thru the BG site tips, was not aware the gas oven is a big energy drainer we do have our oven on daily at least once. May just need to turn if off sooner and let the heat do the job or run it lesser.

Would be easier to know what 3 bedroom house and family of 3-4 average consumption or combined bills are for the month or year. Will google some more

Robin9 · 10 August 2019 at 3:54PM

twang72 wrote: »

......................

Would be easier to know what 3 bedroom house and family of 3-4 average consumption or combined bills are for the month or year. Will google some more

About 10000 kwh a year for the gas/ 3000 for the electric. But this is an average - depends on the property, its age insulation, your lifestyle, how warm you like it ..............

Could you answer my post - when was the Smart installed and what is today's reading ?

Energy bill doubled in price recently issue !

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