In tears of Anger over British gas

[Mamazon]

I will try and be as clear as i can and not rant...but it will be hard.

As most of you know I am a single mum living off benefits due to a relationship breakdown and my sons SN preventing me from returning to work.

When i moved here i organised for my gas and electricity to be paid by monthly direct debit. the amounts to be paid were decided by BG.

Last week a meter man came and read the meter's.

This morning i got two seperate bills.
despite me having paid my bills each month, with the amount BG had asked for my bills are £362 for electricity and £458 for Gas.

I have spent all morning calling them arguing about the fact that i have paid everything i have been asked.
they state that my bills were estimated and therefore they are within their rights to demand this money from me now.

Obviously i cannot pay these bills. I asked what my options were and was told they could increase my direct debits, my electricty would be £74 per month i didn't bother asking how much teh gas would be as there is jkust no way i could afford that.

she then offered me a pre payment meter. great i thought.
NO. they would calibrate it so that it wouuld take off £9 per week for the debt before i even get any electricity. the gas would take off £11.

I just cannot afford it. I don't know what to do.
I am sat here in tears of aanger/frustration/fear.

I'm a very strong person with a decent level of intellect, what on earth a little old lady living on her own would be like i don't know.

I would go to the CAB and get them to negotiate with BG on your behalf

If they can't estimate with any accuracy then that is unfair. You need to find out what data they based their estimates on. I once had a massive over-estimation and it was because their system was faulty. Until I demanded to see what data it was based on they wouldn't budge. When they looked into it they realised that there had been a mis-calculation

You could speak to Energywatch, contact page here

That's outrageous, both the size of the bill and BG treatment of you!

Have you checked the meter readings to make sure they're accurate? Our last gas bill was £250 and we have the central heating on most of the time as someone is always at home, but we do have the thermostat on low. The electricity bill seems really high too.

Have you tried contacting your local CAB for advice? I think it's completely unreasonable of BG to expect you to suddenly stump up like this. But in my experience BG are generally completely unreasonable and I avoid them like the plague.

Very for you and hope you manage to sort it out quickly.

When did you move in? Why have they not been to read your meter before now? Have they definitely read it correctly / did they definitely read it correctly when you moved? Sounds like they are being a bunch of useless tossers!

Agree with Uriel.
Email energywatch, and they will deal with BG directly for you.

We have had MAJOR problems with British Gas in the past. They don't know their arse from their gas main.

And it isn't worth trying to deal with them directly.

You will be on hold for hours.

One person in a department says something different to another.

They will have no record of your previous communications.

Energywatch is the way to go.

They came and read teh meter wehn i moved in about 18 months ago.
They say they base their bills on previous bills from the last tennant,the amount of rooms and radiators i have and on other bills in my area.

it all seems very vague to me.

I have called energy watch who have said to forward them copies of my estimated bill's and this last bill.
but they said that if the meter readings are correct then i am liable for the bill.

I think the pre payment meters are more expensive, so do check that out before changing what you have.

Can you make sure that the amounts they have quoted are correct? Did you read the meters when you moved in?

I think, legally they can and will pursue you for the outstanding amount if you owe them it, but I am sure they can only ask you to pay at a level that you can afford - although that might also mean that they can insist on a prepayment meter.

Contact CAB, they will know what your best course of action is. Or when you feel calmer, ring them back, you may get someone more helpful next time.

make your own note of you energy consumption (one regular day, one regular week etc). then check your bills... do they corresponde? if you can't work it out, find someone to help (CAB). this will give you better standing to argue your case.

my sil is having the same problems with BG.

i wouldn't change to a pre-payment meter. it is a nightmare constantly having to figure out, have i got enough for the rest of today. also, you've got to make a real effort to track how much you're actually spending.

this exact thing happened to us - we ended up with prepayment meters because they wouldnt budge

did manage to get them to accept £5 per week on each gas and elec for debt though

You do owe them the money, but ime bg are shockers for getting their dd wrong. We used to have low payments during the winter, then they would 'adjust' them after hitting us with a big bill like you were and then the next time they came round there would be a massive surplus on the account!

This is what I would do. Work out how much you can pay (will have to be more than you currently are, even if only a little) and propose to them that they should set the dd at that level. Suggest a new meter reading and review in 6 months.

Try and use as little elec and gas as possible in that time (should be less anyway because we're going into summer). Then see whether you have paid off the debt before discussing what the new level will be.

Oh and do get the regulator involved. Utilities are much more cooperative when you do.

You poor thing. Agree Energywatch / CAB are the places to go.

Do you have copies of the meter readings when you moved in? Have you kept copies of the bills which will show what they estimate? Can you check the meter reading is correct?

You should also contact them in writing and tell them that you have a son with SN and a little daughter who shouldn't be left cold because they failed to estimate the bills properly. That would not look good on Watchdog. Good luck

Cahnge your supplier as well, as soon as you can, go to here BG are Soooooo expensive compared to others.

Scottish Power did the exact same thing to us.

DON'T switch to them.

They screwed several other MNers over in similar fashion.

British Gas - I hate them.
They caused me so much trouble. We were trying to sort out issues with the gas billing, and also trying to get an electric bill from them. With the electric, the first bill we got was a legal threat

we badgered and badgers and refused to pay either of our bills. Our 1 year electric bill was eventually reduced by half as they accepted we were correct, and our gas bill was also corrected. What they had been charging us as "estimates" for a daily use, we weren't even using in a week!!

Ask for breakdowns of everything - usage and units. Get it in paper and see CAB.

What bothered me is the fact that they almost had an additional £1000 from us for a year of gas and electric and if we hadn't questioned, they would have just pocketed the money

you'll have been getting estimated bills up until now? Sorry to seem harsh but don't you check your estimated bills? Our estimated bills wree always way out - the other way - they always charged us far too much. How much were you paying by direct debit?

BG were given approx 20 meter readings for our gas and electric and STILL failed to send us a proper bill, We'd provide readings, they'd still estimate.

I paid by DD each month so when a bill came in each quarter it just said "usage xyz"
it wasn't a proper bill iyswim.

i was paying £30 a month for electricity and £43 per month gas.

British Gas are USELESS!