ANDlison Woods lives frugally on her own in a two-bedroom flat, but when it comes to British Gas, she burns enough energy to power a hemp farm. Estimates for the quarterly bill, which arrived in March, were up 1,000% compared to 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 a month.
“I haven’t changed my habits in any way,” she said. She tried to complain to the company several times. “Every time I open a complaint I get a response that firstly ignores any of my questions about how my bill could be so high, secondly uses the same phrases and makes me think it’s a bot, and thirdly tells me the complaint it is now resolved because everything is fine,” she said. “It causes me so much stress and sleep loss.
After Guardian Money intervened, British Gas discovered it had botched the transfer of Woods’ account to its new billing platform. Her gas meter status was incorrectly recorded in the new system and she was billed for months of energy she had already paid for.
It seems she is not alone.
In 2021 Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has announced that it will move more than 7 million customers to a new system that will allow them to manage their bills digitally.
British Gas, which saw profits more than tenfold to £751m last year, told customers it was aiming to make its operations simpler and more efficient and promised to pass on the resulting cost savings. But for some, the transition unleashed chaos: they reported shock bills and missing credits after they were assigned new accounts.
Chris Timpson* and his wife were told they owed £1,919 for a month’s energy in January. When they complained the bill was adjusted to £77 but in April they were charged £1,259.
“We live in a small retirement flat and for the past three years have used two Dyson heaters instead of our gas central heating to save money,” he said. “Last December, British Gas updated their system and the new app was showing energy bills for the past 12 months that were up to 1,100% higher than the amounts we actually paid.”
British Gas discovered after we got involved that they had entered the wrong meter reading on the new system. The Timpsons were indeed owed £195, which they wrote off as a goodwill gesture.
Fiona Porter’s balance collapsed after her account was transferred in December 2022. “Statements under the old account number showed I had a credit of £1,525 and this was confirmed twice over the phone over the next seven months,” she said. “We moved out of our house in April 2023 and were promised a refund when it was 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 was in fact owed £2,650 and promised a check within 14 days. It never came. Ten days later she received a claim for £1,449 and has since been told she owes £3,000 and faces debt collectors.
A letter from customer service explained that the confusion occurred when her account was transferred to the new system and that the credit on her statements was actually a debt.
British Gas told us the billing errors on Porter’s account came from a faulty meter that was replaced in 2021 and insisted her experience was unrelated to the new platform. She admitted Porter was informed her account was in credit before the migration, but claims it was human error. After being contacted by Guardian Money, an unexplained £1,201 was credited to her account. She insists she is still owed £2,650 in credit.
A spokesman said: “Mrs Porter’s complaint has already been reviewed by the Energy Ombudsman and we have applied the remedy we requested in terms of recalculating her bill. Mrs Porter is still asking about the bill and we are currently in contact with her as we want this resolved.
In 2017, British Gas was ordered to pay £9.5 million in compensation from energy regulator Ofgem after a new billing system left business customers with inaccurate bills. Ofgem said it was following up on complaints about the latest IT upgrade.
“We are aware of the issue and have contacted British Gas to ask for further information on the extent of the issue and to find out what they are doing to resolve the situation and protect their customers,” a spokesman said. “We expect all suppliers to invoice their customers accurately and when errors are found they should be corrected as quickly as possible. Not doing so is unacceptable.”
British Gas declined to comment on the record about the other cases.
* Names changed