Gas Bill

[Bazile]

A Gas bill was estimated for the period 21/06/12 to 24/09/12 at x units used .

Bill has not been paid yet ( reasons wont go into ) .

At today's date the reading shows a figure which is x amount higher than the estimated reading on the 24/09/12 .

Given that British Gas are increasing their prices from the 16 November 2012 -which of the following is wiser to do -

1. Pay the estimated account bill ( the under reading will then take care of itself when the meter is read by British Gas at the next quarter )

2. Give them the reading as of today and get a recalculated bill .

[factor-fiction]

Give them the corect reading. I'm sure some would be tempted to inflate the reading too

[factor-fiction]

Oops- correct

[tamborine]

No one has read my meter in years but they take regular direct debits off me; but now they've given me a credit. Methinks they estimate charges from previous usage.

[buildersmate]

I do think it is unlawful to make a 'mistake' with your own reading and inflate the figure just before the utility company is about to increase prices.
The reverse was true a few years back, when prices were falling.
My eyesight isn't what it used to be and it has happened to me quite a bit over the years.
As that well-known retailers says: every little helps.

[Bazile]

//..I'm sure some would be tempted to inflate the reading too //

If I am interpreting what you are hinting at correctly - i assume you mean that by inflating the reading you will be paying for an extra amount of units at the current price before the price increases ?

However ( unless they do an actual reading on 16/11/12 - the date of the price increase - I dont think that they do that when there is a price increase ) when British gas reads the meter on approx 24 December wont they be estimating the amount used up to the 16/11/12 and the amount used from then , up to 24/12/12 reading , to take into account the price increase in November ?

So any advantage gained by inflating the reading now , will likely be neutralised /wiped out /decrease ?

Can you follow my drift ?

[snags]

We get a reminder every quarter to submit our Gas and Lecky readings online. And a couple of days later they come out and 'verify' it. One of us is wasting our time...

[bazwillrun]

"No one has read my meter in years "

as far as I'm aware legally they have to do a physical read a minimum of once every 18months or two years ,cant rember which.

that was told to me by British Gas

[buildersmate]

I remember a situation when the meter reader called about 3 months after my own reading and discovered that the meter had not clicked around to the figure that I had misread much earlier.
I was mildly concerned for a while, but I ended up with a credit on that bill for the units overpaid at the new (higher) rate.
I'm not sure if things are still that daft amongst those organisations.
I repeat; it cannot be a crime to be useful at taking the companies readings for them.

[buildersmate]

useless, not useful, of course

[Bazile]

By the way , I am actually asking for your opinions on my last post as well ( as opposed to making a statement ) so please let me have your further opinions

[Bazile]

i.e my post of 18:03 sounded like a statement .

I'm actually asking if what i've said in it , sounds correct to you .

[factor-fiction]

They will estimate the reading that applied at the date of the increase but if your latest own reading shows your rate of consumption has increased they'll have to increase their estimate accordingly.
It's quite dark in my garage and mistakes can occur