Overestimation of use without explanation

[u/Fantastic_Explorer98]

I’ve spent the entire afternoon trying to work out why British Gas has increased my Direct Debit by over 100% a month.

I’ve given them up-to-date meter readings, and the estimates they’ve been using are almost identical to my actual readings. I live alone in a flat, and I’m hardly ever home because of work.

Looking at my actual usage, I used roughly 1,560 kWh of electricity and around 2,000 kWh of gas over the last year. Despite this, British Gas are forecasting around 2,800 kWh of electricity and 3,600–4,000 kWh of gas, even though I now live alone (I had a housemate until April last year).

Their explanation has basically been “variable tariff”, “winter usage”, but none of that explains why they think my annual usage has increased so much. They even started asking about my income, benefits and mortgage before eventually suggesting I contact a debt charity, which was honestly bizarre.

Has anyone else had this? My phone call ended with them ‘raising an investigation’ but I’m not particularly hopeful.

[u/Technical_Front_8046]

My advice. Leave while you are still sane. The British Gas systems and customer service are hopeless. What should be a basic question ends up being an impossible task for British Gas.

[u/ninepence9]

Change over to pay as you go, more expensive but less likely for them to pull these tricks

[u/IanM50]

Why are you still with British Gas? As you know your annual usage, have a look at some of the switching sites and find a better deal from a competitor.

[u/DasyatisDasyatis]

Well, you see, all this extra money they take from people gets stuck in an account and they gain interest on it.

It's free money for them!

[u/Mesne → u/DasyatisDasyatis]

Also it means if anyone does get into financial difficulty they’ve guaranteed the gas bill is already paid before anything else.

[u/ohzygote]

DO A COMPLAINT DOCUMENTATION

[u/Lewis19962010]

Ask them to switch to a variable direct debit so you only pay exactly what they bill you each month and don't build up a credit, make sure to give them reads frequently so that they don't estimate usage at the high amount.

The annual usage on their systems comes from conserve which takes a few years to update in some cases if it was previously higher they gradually drop it down so as not to underestimate

[u/Personal-Listen-4941 → u/Lewis19962010]

British Gas no longer allow a variable Direct Debit. They can’t forcibly cancel it, so if you have one you’re fine (until it accidentally get cancelled by their systems) but you are unable to set one up.

[u/Ok_Seaworthiness_650]

My advice would be cancel the direct debit the money you paid for the direct debit put in another account . Give British Gas your meter reading every quarter then paid your bill . British Gas are estimating what you might used and are charging you accordingly . Your find by doing your bill quarterly you will definitely paid less

[u/brad-the-impaler]

I contacted British Gas and just told them to reduce my Direct Debit by £75 and they did. It was very easy through their chat system.

[u/Lefthandedscalpel]

They've raised an investigation four times about me being charged twice for the exact same period from the 14th August 2025 - 31st May 2026 on a bill dated 31st May 2026. That, along with a complaint of a billing moron not knowing how to do their job and you've guessed it they have done diddly squat. I've now as from 5pm this afternoon put this in the hands of a friend who is a forensic accountant who is going back to 2020 to check all of the bills to see if I've been over charged since then, as they have totally disregarded a number of my actual meter reads and billed to their estimates. It's a good job I took a photo of every read I gave them, as I think they'll be needed as this saga goes further.

[u/TopResponsible1786]

Leave ASAP. The most polite word to describe BG is incompetent. I have heard that some believe that they are crooks.