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 👍🏼