Updating post from Reddit.
Hey all, i'll spare you all of the headache it took to get us to completion. I'm just glad it's done and my bank balance is definitely happy it was done before April before the stamp duty changes. I plan on putting the property on rent in about 6 months.
I recently made a post here about having an issue with my Gas smart meter and basically the screen not working at all therefore it resulting in me not being able to take a meter reading. I also have an Electricity smart meter too but that's working fine. I don't have any smart meter monitoring devices.
My situation is -
I called British Gas to get the smart meter replaced or to put in a new battery. They said they'll just replace the entire meter and booked in their engineer to do so in 2.5 weeks. Not bad I thought as some people on here have mentioned waiting months to no avail. However, the bit i'm confused about now is that they said they will base my energy usage on the data they have for the previous users. There was elderly couple living in the property before. In this time we will be using a small bit of gas and electric for work that we will be carrying out and to ensure it doesn't lead to damp if the property is too cold.
I'm essentially being charged £161 for gas and electric from 20th Feb to 28th March based off the previous couples usage (is my understanding). This seems pretty backward to me as their usage will be more than mine as they were actually living in the property. I've never myself handled energy bills before, it was always my dad or grandad who also used the traditional meters. They don't really know much about this to be honest either.
Is this the norm? What do I do?
I plan on leaving British Gas to go to Octopus as I'll get £100 off (£50 from my bill and £50 for my dad and his house through a referral bonus) and because they seem to be a lot better than British Gas from a customer service perspective. The price difference is quite similar although the British Gas fixed term package seems better although the £100 i'll get off Octopus kind of balances it out from a price perspective.
Should I get a smart energy usage device monitoring device from British Gas or should I just hold fire and get it off Octopus as I don't want British Gas to charge me for device when I leave.
Thought they had 5 days to fix a faulty meter from when its been reported or pay you £30 compensation? If compensation is not paid within 10 days, then another £30.
Dispute their calculations. Argue old people were at home all day, you are out working, etc. You are 1 person, they are 2. Do it as a complaint & do not let them close the complaint or you lose your right to take them to the ombudsman. It is BG who has to give you accurate bills. If the meter is faulty & you have reported it, then how can they give you an accurate bill based on previous users? So dispute the accuracy of their billing a part of the complaint.
I literally do this for a living. You need to call up and dispute it. They can’t use pre usage to calculate this so someone has fucked up there for a start. Given there is no way to accurately assess your usage as you haven’t been living there they shouldn’t really be charging you anything. I’d completely deny using gas at all and then obviously the electric has recorded so just pay that.
Threaten to go to the ombudsman and they’ll drop their arse. If they don’t, then actually go to the ombudsman and they’ll likely find in your favour.
And just get octopus to give you a smart monitor 👍🏼
I work for an energy company . Even though your gas usage is not showing on the physical meter itself , it will still be recorded in their back end system . They will be able to still get any smart meter reads even though it is not physically showing on the meter . To say they are going to estimate your usage from a previous persons in that property is incorrect . They may be doing this off your EAQ (Estimated Annual Consumption) . I would ask them if they have been able to obtain any reads or what is the last reading they have had OP
I believe the gentleman said the last time they got a read from that Gas meter was December 2023. I'm confused because I am definitely not going to be using £161 worth of energy in 6 weeks. How can I get it so they charge me what i'm actually using. He did say to send me a screenshot of your meter reading after a week.
I'm Ex employee at BG and FYI if the meters are faulty we can't get the reads in the back end system there is no way like that.
I was Ex Employee At British Gas
So in this case what best you can do is
If you have any bill check the reads since your meter is not working you can say the customer agent i have the reads for this date and to this date and after that meter stopped working you can just give the wrong reads or say that property was empty we were on vacation
Like you moved in since 01-Jan-2025 and you see the estimated reads on bill says the reads around 5560 You can say the reads are 5560 at start and todays reads are 5579 something above 5560+ in this case the reads are in line so they won't argue much
But make sure you say the reads few above the reads which you have them in system
If they say the previous tenants final reads were 5560 you also say they are the same and todays reads are 5570 or 5575 this will make sure you get less amount of bill
And after meter replacement you will get smart meters so they send automatically but most if the time they don't work so you make sure take the reads manually for your safer side
It's your choice
Smart meters and smart monitor both are different but interconnected
If smart meter works then only smart monitor which is also known has IHD in home display
So order it from British Gas will be good idea however you said you booked an appointment you will get one from the engineer the will fit both smart meter and IHD
Also sometimes the booking slots doesn't have for few postal codes due to less engineers or over appointments
Also just in case engineer doesn't fits IHD you can contact BG and they will raide a request for you for the IHD however this will take up to 45 to 60 days to receive the IHD so till that time once you have the smart meter you can download the BG application and see the usage online too but after installation sometimes it take 10 to 30 days to fecth the data from meter.
If you have any doubts do ask or DM ✨️
Thank you for this info!
BG are set to fit in a new smart meter next week Wednesday. Can they set that up for me and me put in a request to leave and move to Octopus the same week? Or do I have to wait until my next billing period? I'm due to have a bill at the end of the month. March 28th or 31st I believe.
You can leave once the new reads and meter details had been updated in their system but before that make sure you are not in fixed tariff also don't forget that if you are going to leave on 14 March 2025 the British Gas will cover the final bill till 14 March 2025 and sometimes it will take max 42 days for the final bill so don't be surprise if you get final bill after a month just ask the agent about it they will explain you everything.