Bloody British Gas

[Emiliaswrath]

Our energy company went bust last year and for the 2nd time we were put with British Gas. 1st time we moved companies as quickly as possible and still ended up paying double one month as charged a huge bill by British Gas.

This time of course we were stuck with them as no one was taking on new customers. As soon as we were told we were moving to them we gave them and previous company an up to date meter reading, we were in credit with old company by £34 which they forwarded to British Gas. We just cannot seem to get out of debt with them since we moved.

Can anyone else look at this and tell me what's going on please?

Moved to British Gas 18th October
No bill until Jan - £555
Direct debits £140 x 5 = £700 (Dec to April)
April bill for £667
May direct debit for £263
We also paid extra payment of £200
Bill recalculated in June (dated 18th Oct - 13th April) £1317
no longer able to access previous bills on app
June payment for £263 not taken
Bill 13th April to 13th June £337.75
July payment £201

Their explanation for recalculating the bill (oct-april) is that they got an updated meter reading from previous company, but it is the same meter reading we gave them and we have given them monthly readings ever since.

Apparently we are still £289 in debt and I am bloody fed up!!

well I’ve just looked at those figures and yes £289/290 still exists. If you’d had June payments gone on it would have been minimal.

Whats your monthly cost at the moment. You need to be paying at least that and an amount on top to clear arrears down.

We are going to pay the missed payment next week, apparently if you make an extra payment too close to the direct debit date it mucks it up?

British Gas have decreased our monthly payment to £201 per month even though the app says we should pay £292 a month to stay in credit. However this amount is based on 4 adults in the house, we are now down to 3 so I am just going to pay the £201 a month and see how it goes.

What I really don't understand is that all bills sent are based on the same meter readings. So the original bills in Jan & April add up to £1222, but in June they have then recalculated the bills for Jan & April as adding up to £1317?
We can no longer access the original bills, so can't see where the extra £95 has come from.

OP you can easily request a paper bill if you have a British Gas online account. Their Live Chat is also excellent and you could request it that way too.

Thanks, I have requested all bills received since we joined them so will see what they say when they arrive.