aLison Woods lives frugally alone in a two-bedroom flat, but as far as British Gas is concerned she uses enough energy to fuel a cannabis farm. The estimated quarterly bill figures received in March were 1,000% higher than the same period last year. Ofgem estimates the cost was almost £2,000 more than the average household pays in a year. Woods has a smart meter and typically pays between £70 and £110 per month.
“I haven’t changed my habits in any way,” she said. She has tried to complain to the company several times. “Every time I open a complaint I receive a response that firstly ignores all my questions about how my bill can be so high, secondly uses the same stock phrases and makes me think it was written by a bot, and thirdly makes me tells what the The complaint has now been resolved and everything is fine,” she said. “It causes me so much stress and loss of sleep.”
After Guardian Money intervened, British Gas discovered it had botched the transfer of Woods’ account to its new billing platform. The reading of her gas meter was incorrectly registered in the new system and she was billed for energy for months that she had already paid for.
It seems she is not alone.
In 2021, Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, announced it would move more than 7 million customers to a new system that allows them to manage their accounts digitally.
British Gas, whose profits rose more than tenfold to £751 million last year, told customers the aim was to make its operations simpler and more efficient and promised to pass on the resulting cost savings. For some, however, the switch has caused chaos as they reported shock bills and missing funds after getting new accounts.
Chris Timpson* and his wife were told in January they owed £1,919 for a month’s worth of energy. When they complained the bill was changed to £77, but in April they were charged £1,259.
“We live in a small retirement flat and have been using two Dyson heaters instead of our gas central heating for the past three years to save money,” he said. “Last December, British Gas updated its system and the new app showed energy statements for the past 12 months that were up to 1,100% higher than the amounts we had actually paid.”
British Gas discovered after we were involved that they had entered an incorrect meter reading on the new system. The Timpsons actually owed £195, which they wrote off as a goodwill gesture.
Fiona Porter’s balance went into disarray after her account was transferred in December 2022. “Statements under the old account number showed I had £1,525 in balances and this was confirmed by telephone twice over the next seven months,” she said. “We moved out of our house in April 2023 and were promised a refund when it sold in September, but instead received a final bill for £1,594.”
Porter complained to the ombudsman, who ordered British Gas to recalculate her bill. In March this year the company informed her that she actually had £2,650 in credit and promised a check within 14 days. It never came. Ten days later she received a demand for £1,449 and has since been told she owes £3,000 and will have to deal with debt collectors.
A letter from customer service explained that the confusion arose when her account was transferred to the new system and that the credit on her statements was actually a debt.
British Gas told us that billing errors on Porter’s account were due to a faulty meter that was replaced in 2021 and stressed that her experience was not related to the new platform. It admitted that Porter was made aware that her account had sufficient credit before it was migrated, but says this was a human error. After contacting Guardian Money, her account was credited with an unexplained £1,201. She insists she still owes the £2,650 credit.
A spokesperson said: “Ms Porter’s complaint has already been assessed by the Energy Ombudsman and we have applied the remedies requested of us in recalculating her bill. Ms. Porter still has questions about the bill and we are currently in contact with her as we want to get this resolved.
In 2017, British Gas was ordered to pay £9.5 million in compensation by energy regulator Ofgem after a new billing system left business customers with inaccurate bills. Ofgem said it was monitoring complaints about the latest IT upgrade.
“We are aware of this issue and have contacted British Gas to request more information about the extent of the problem and to find out what they are doing to address the situation and protect their customers,” a spokesperson said. . “We expect all suppliers to invoice their customers accurately and that when errors are discovered, they are resolved as quickly as possible. It is unacceptable not to do this.”
British Gas declined to comment on the other cases.
*Names changed