£1,100 energy bill for 1 month!!!

[Neon1]

I’m seriously stressed out, British Gas wanted to increase my direct debit from £270 per month to £870 in October, I have always thought my bills were high and have tried to be very careful but we simply couldn’t afford £870 pm so after failed attempts to contact British Gas I cancelled my dd and gave monthly meter reading, November seemed ok at £190 so paid that and sent a reading at end December in which this bill has arrived at £1,100 for 1 month! We have a 3 bed semi with a small 1 bed annex, annex is headed with a wood burner and house has central heating that is only on for a few hours morning and evening and used 4494.89 kWh for 30 days. We only have tvs on for a few hours, no tumble dryer etc and use camping stoves to cook to avoid using oven and electric hob (ridiculous way to live I know) We used 960 kWh electric in December. Could anyone give me an idea if this seems excessive?

[MIKE770]

Make a complaint - Help & Support - British Gas
The Ombudsman Service: Energy google their site and contact them save as to time as well as BG

[echat11]

You really need to understand where the error has been made by BG.

Just some of the reasons:-

Is it an estimated bill?
Is there a problem with the meter?
Is it a smart meter?
Are readings being entered manually?

If it's only the one month that is wrong, should be easy to find out.

[Neon1]

I’ve made sure I have sent meter readings, I’m trying to get BG to check meters but they are not interested, it’s not a smart meter, the house is old and so are the meters and I am entering the readings via the app.

[echat11]

Send BG a Subject Access Request, they have 30 days to provide all the data on the account over the last 6 years. It costs nothing to you to send. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/yo...ccess-request/

Check to see what Tariffs BG has charged for December, compare to November.

Ways you can check gas and electricity meter is working -

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rig...y-a2TuF9Y5HzfB

[GreenSunrise]

My approach is from different angle.

1. First determine if indeed you really use that much.
Others in the legal field here can help solve the legal matter.

2. How to determine if indeed your use is that high.
Take photo and note use on gas meter +- same time of day for a few days. {Use a CCTV camera if you must}
Calculate what you should pay. {Pls ask if you need the formulas ,can share in Google doc}

=> Below is an example of one of my checks done for years to be sure I am charged correctly.
{My calculations match what I am charged, Source image is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/link.public.s3.supportnow.eu/paste/2023/k3rAkGTMxSBp0jQgRzLZOkKLdsyJq27H.png}