Huge Bord Gais Bill

ShelTomato wrote: »

Just a little update on this in case anyone else is searching for the same problem.

So it's a few months later, and our bill has been creeping up every month while we are still on the level pay scheme. Being the silly billy that I am I chose to ignore it and just continue paying the €65.65, thinking maybe it's just a way they tot up the bill that I didn't understand (I suck at this kind of thing)

Anyways, turns out I have to move house again so called them up to let them know that I would be closing the account next month. The lovely lady on the phone informed me that when I close the account my final bill will be €211. Turns out the way the level pay works is, you pay the agreed amount each month, then anything over that price is added onto a running bill, so it collects up and gets bigger and bigger. Then months where you use less than the agreed amount the remainder gets credited towards the running bill. If I had have know this (i.e if it was explained to me when I opened the account) then I would have paid off the running bill bit by bit when I had spare cash.

Sigh. My own fault, just watch out for it, peeps.

Your monthly payment amount is based on your most recent consumption, your previous year's consumption and energy prices. An initial tolerance (typically 20%) is added for variations in your usage. This allowance is made to ensure you do not get into debt and your bills are always covered so no lump sum is required to be paid by you. If the calculated monthly payment varies by €20 we will adjust your monthly payment amount. We carry out reconciliation once per year. If you are in credit by more than €200 then you can claim a refund. If the amount is smaller than this then we will carry the amount forward to reduce your monthly payments for the next year. You don't pay anything extra for your gas by using this payment method.

We won't change the payment amount for small differences in your annual gas bill. But if your usage or the price rises or drops significantly, we'll increase or decrease your monthly payment amount accordingly, so no big amounts are owed or owing at any time.

In the unlikely case that there is no consumption history the monthly payment amount is set at €61

ShelTomato wrote: »

I really dunno what to say here, cos we were told differently on the phone! We called and asked for level pay having moved into the house in January. We were given the level pay of €56pm based on the usage of the last tenant in the house, we were told it would be recalculated every 3 months and it was recalculated in or around March, it was put up to €65.65. There was no mention of a running bill or, well, pretty much nothing else was mentioned. I'm not trying to get out of paying the bill. The lady on the phone when we rang to close the account explained to me about the running bill, that was the first it had ever been mentioned to us.