By The Energy Know How Team
We met Patricia at a winter wellbeing event at Riverside library on 8th October– she was just browsing and mentioned she had an issue with her energy provider. She did not have time to discuss it however, she took away our leaflet and contact information and was encouraged to call us if she was unable to resolve the situation herself.
Patricia contacted us about a week after and requested support, We met Patricia at Riverside library. She brought lots of paperwork and we explained it would take time to sort through the correspondence and get a full picture of the issue before any actions could be considered.
She has an issue with her bills from British gas with both her gas and electricity bills.
She received a bill in February 2025 for over £900.00 after being in the house less than 3 months, she said it could not be correct as her boiler did not work properly. She had no reliable hot water or heating. She has visited Citizens advice who after two meetings said they could not support her anymore. She said they had lodged a complaint however until her paperwork was sorted out, we could not be sure of this.
She had tried to dispute this bill and is certain the gas meter was faulty – British gas had recently removed the gas meter and installed another (on 8th October) but had not yet informed her of the outcome of their tests – if they deem the meter as ‘accurate’ she would be charged £175 for the new meter.
We agreed to take the paperwork to sort through and review. Patricia was asked that if British Gas ring her, to ask them to contact us so that we can get their understanding of the issue and ascertain whether an ongoing complaint is in place. We said we would meet with Patricia again when all her paperwork is sorted and we have had chance to speak with British Gas.
After many hours we had her paperwork in order and had separated bills from her former property and her current one, however the bills were very confusing.
- Patricia was being threated by a debt collection agency for unpaid bills which were not accurate so should not have been pursued in such an aggressive manner.
- A starting reading had been used for her gas which was lower than one used on a bill to the previous occupier – if they have used a reading for the previous occupier why should this happen?
- There was a couple of dates when two bills were issued on the same date but with differing information so it was difficult to ascertain which was correct.
- No actual readings had appeared on Patricia’s bills until May 2025 – when she had been in the property for 6 months – the readings then seem to have been found by British Gas.
- Bills were then cancelled and re-issued but the replacement bills reverted to using estimated readings – one of the instances where two bills were issued on the same date showed two different ‘actual’ readings for electricity for the same date.
We had several long and lengthy conversations with the complaint handler at British Gas and explained our concerns – it was eventually agreed to cancel all the previous bills and start again, and this would then include the meter exchange although no result of the meter test had been received at that point. We were assured that ‘actual’ readings would be used and that the bill would then be correct – the bill however would not show the payment made by Patricia of £912.46 in March as their billing system fails to show payments made when bills are re-issued.
The bill was re-issued and emailed to us however we noticed at this point that the calculation to take gas units to KWH’s was incorrect and that Patricia had been overcharged – not a great deal but potentially a large issue if it affects lots of customers – we mentioned this to the complaint handler who confirmed by email that we was correct, the calculations were inaccurate and that this had been reported internally – A £5.00 credit was offered to cover the over-charge.
We were then informed that the meter test had recorded that her gas meter was accurate however due to the length of time it took to arrange and report back – British Gas would waiver the cost of £175.00. Patricia now had to make a decision whether she was happy with this offer.
We met with Patricia a second time at the library to update her on the work that had been done on her case and to discuss her options.
We handed Patricia her documentation back in 3 files which we had prepared for her. The first contained all her bills letters etc for her former home that she moved out of in December 2024. The second was a cardboard folder which contained all the envelopes that had her notes on along with pages of notes she had made whilst trying to sort out her billing issue earlier in the year and the third folder contained the information for her current property and was sectioned to have bills, price change notifications, reminder letters and letters from BW legal when she was being chased for unpaid and inaccurate bills. She was also given a £10 note which was in one of the envelopes when we were sorting out her paperwork after our first meeting. This was the first opportunity to return this to her in person.
We explained the work that had been done to establish an accurate bill, confirmed that the findings of the meter test had shown her gas meter to be accurate (she had received notification directly of this) and explained the conversations with Heather at British Gas.
The situation is now that she has an accurate(ish) bill – the calculations are inaccurate, but she has been awarded a £5.00 credit which should show on her next bill and this more than covers the over-charge.
Heather from British gas has said they will waive the charge for the meter test of £175.00, they have also during the complaint reimbursed 2 charges of £44 for her account being sent to debt collection – they were not prepared to offer any further recompense.
The bill (from 20th December up to 12th November) stands at £999.17 Patricia paid £912.46 in March making a total energy bill of £1,911.63 – an average of £173 per month.
There must have been some escape of gas just after she moved in as her usage was excessive in the first day or so or her heating was constantly on high, either case the gas had passed through the meter so was chargeable.
We explained that Patricia has the option to accept this and pay the £999.17 or refer the case to the ombudsman, it was her decision.
Patricia was concerned (as we are) about the inaccurate calculations however, she accepts that her bill is now accurate (sort of) and wants to draw a line under the situation.
She will pay the bill but has no confidence in British Gas and their billing system.
She was told that she has another bill due in December, but she will look to change providers. She asked for the phone number for Octopus energy so this has been given however we have stressed we are in no way recommending them as an alternative provider. She needs to call them if she wants to proceed with a switch and discuss payment options as she does not want a direct debit.