Please explain my British Gas bill change

[user1469565563]

Can anyone explain why British Gas have increased my bill from £2100/year to £2800/year, despite me being in credit?

I must be missing something. I pay £175/month for both Gas and electricity on a fixed Turriff plan. I am in credit of £271 as it is summer.

Why then, is my bill going up to £233/month when I have credit on the account?
Thanks for your replies. Im just frustrated with the COL at the moment.

I don't know but my last 2 bills have been all over the place with them. I need to phone them but I really can't face it.

The utility company knows the rates are going up in Oct so building up decent credit before Winter bills.

They might have increased the bill ready for the higher usage in winter??

You say you are on a fixed tariff when does this end?

I assume they think that credit won't go far as we go into the winter and your heating costs go up and don't want you to end up with a big bill at the end. If you ring them up and say the increase isn't necessary or is too big they may reduce your payments again. Do you have records to show how much your costs increase in the winter so you can see the overall variation over a year and what that averages to a month?

Octopus keep doing the reverse to us and bringing our payments down although that will leave us a long way in debt by the end of winter.

If you are on a fixed tariff the rates won't change with the cap, only when the fixed term ends.

Usually by September we are nearly £1000 in credit and by May it’s down to £100, I suspect this is why they are raising the payment, it’s not enough for the annual predicted use

Octopus have just proposed to increase my direct debit even though we are over £500 in credit. The thinking is that, with the cost of energy going up, our current level of credit won't be sufficient to see us through the winter.

I’m with octopus and if they recommend increasing my payments I decline and advise I am perfectly capable of budgeting for my bills.
I am currently £13 in credit.

I would highly recommend switching to another supplier. British Gas kept increasing my tariff and refused to refund credit until the ombudsman was onboard. I’m with octopus no probs.

Yes, im on a fixed tariff which ends in November. The new rate starts from 1st September. It just seems like a big jump to me.

Tempted to do the sane, but can I be arsed??[

Assume that’s what they bank on!
your money, your choice, but I would not increase my payments and would switch.

I believe Octopus did everything for me (and it’s now cheaper)

Yeah, I fully expect Octopus phone lines to crash with switchers. I will see what I can find online. A £50 fine from BG for leaving the contract seems a small price to pay.

You could switch online. No need to call them.

But if the tariff ends in November I'd wait until you're less than 50 days from the end of the fix because then they can't charge the £50.

Ok, that's clever of BG, because my first higher payment is on 1st September. So I'll be paying 2 months at the higher rate before the switch. Just got a quote from Octopus and it's 208/ month, instead of 233/ month. So worth switching..... i just have to time it right!

I was thinking about moving to DD from my current system of paying per month for what I use, but threads like this just make me think 'no, I'll take the slightly higher tariff and know where my money is, thank you.'

I'm with Fuse. Much cheaper bills than Eon who I was with before and they take your monthly bill by DD. No set payments but just make sure you bank the excess in the summer to cover the increased winter payments. Better the money in my bank than theirs!!

Me too. Love Fuse. Love paying for what I use each month. Perfect

Just call them up and tell them to lower it, you don't have to pay what they suggest

Can recommend Utility Warehouse, too. I couldn’t believe how cheap it was compared to BG when we changed.

Are you paying my monthly direct debit op?

If so, it’s usual to be in credit over the summer, when your energy usage is typically lower.

This is then to ofset your higher winter usage, which your average monthly payments won’t cover so the credit from summer is needed to top this up.

There has been an announcement today about a price cap rise, so energy companies will be taking this into consideration when increasing your projected amount.

Also have you checked your usage on your bill? Has there been any change in your actual energy usage compared to last year? Or is your bill also estimated? Have you had an accurate reading that followed a few estimates? If so, might also be a catch up bill.

I always work out my usage against the current tariff and then divide by 12 months so I know roughly what the direct debit should look like. Then I know if is reasonably accurate.

I think its a fairly simple calculation.

Electric 26.32p x 2500kwh = £658 + 54.83p x 365 days = £200.13 = £858.13pa
Gas 7.97p x 3000kwh = £239.10 + 29.68p x 365 days = £108.33 = £347.43pa
Duel fuel annual total = £1205.56.
Monthly direct debit = £1205.56 divided by 12 = £100.46 per month.

Above is just to illustrate based on modest usage on the current cap.