Dad's Gas Bill

[viv38]

On the last two of my Dad's gas bills a new charge of 'standing charge' has been added, adding £22.48 to the bill. He is worrying about this as his bills are so high anyway, so I rang British Gas for him. They told me that Ofgem told them to do this, so I emailed Ofgem and was told by them that this is a 'blatant lie'! So once again I rang British Gas and after quite a heated call, they still insisted it was Ofgem who told them to do it! I tried to find out what a standing charge is for, but the woman I spoke to seemed unable to tell me. I suggested it was a rip off and a way to squeeze even more money out of the customers. I came away none the wiser. Does anybody actually know what a standing charge is and if Dad refused to pay it, would he get into trouble? Many thanks.

[viv38]

OG my Dad may have come across a standing charge before, but he is a very old man now and gets easily confused and it appears that this standing charge has suddenly appeared on his bill without warning which is why I sought help on here as I got nowhere ringing British Gas. And I pay by DD, so hope, that explains if to you !!

[Hopkirk]

I don't think anyone fully understands their utility bills, whether they be 86 or 26.

[mazie]

Change your supplier viv.. We use EDF and are really happy with them. We do our online meter readings every month and get a breakdown of our costs each month. When we use less they reduce the monthly payments on a monthly basis. It's very clear and transparent

[Svejk]

I've got my last bill in front of me;
cost of gas used-£4.58
standing charge-£21.79
vat-£1.31
total-£27.68
so my bill would be a third without the standing charge even if they charged double per unit(which they didn't)
I expect a lot of you wouldn't mind swapping bills with me though. ;-)