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British Gas EV Tariff - Smart Meter Issues

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 22, 2023
24 replies
4660 views

Good Evening,

I am looking for some support and this seems like somewhere that will be able to help - the information already consumed has been enligtening but I do have a specific issue which I am hoping I can get some support on.

I have been with British Gas since buying my property in Dec 2018 (in Scotland - that will come to life later in my story). I’ve always been on one of their tariffs which had a end time on it until the whole energy crisis put me onto the standard tarfiff which was seen to be the best for everyone - everything worked fine, I could sign into my account, I could use my in home display and all was well with the world.

In Dec 2022 British Gas informed me they were moving me to their ‘new system’ - I didn’t think much of it at the time but I thought hey ‘new system’ it’s gotta be better right? Around that time the gas side of my in home display stopped reading, didn’t think much of it at the time but after contacting them they advised it was this ‘new system’ that caused the issue and all would be recitified at some point in the future - I took them at their word.

Fast forward to March 2023 and the anticipation of my new EV car arriving I made enquiries on how to move onto their new EV tariff, no problem they said, we can do that, use this link. So I signed up for their EV tariff and then surprisingly got letters/emails saying ‘Sorry you are leaving us’ - erm I’m not….I contacted them and they said ‘you are moving from British Gas to Scottish Gas, it’s the same company, don’t worry all will be fine. When I tried logging into my account with the detials I had I get a message saying ‘we hope you come back soon’ or similar.

I’ve contacted them a few times and they’ve eventually given me a link which gets me to view my account online, although it says ‘your details are on our ‘new system’’ - but it does display that I am on Scottish Gas EV tariff, and they have said i’m back on their ‘old system’

I’ve contacted them a few times as I would have expected my in home display to suddently kick into life but it hasn’t. I also thought that my meter would have had a Rate 2 (it only shows Rate 1), and no matter how much I have fiddled with the E470 I cannot get it to change to Rate 2 (i’ve watched the guides here). I’ve contacted them again who say there are no issues, they are receiving my readings as expected and when I asked them about the in home display they said it was out of warranty and wouldn’t be replaced (I don’t think it’s faulty to be honest)

So looking for some advice, will I get a mammoth bill because I am not actually on an off peak/on peak tariff and my meter isn’t setup correctly. Should I call them again (about the 6th time) and force the issue. I also don’t know why I wouldn’t be showing a Rate 2 - is there some other method of the meter reading for them to calculate my bills?

Any help much appreciated. A photo of my electricity meter for giggles.

Best answer by BPLightlog

Updated on 14/03/25 by Ben_OVO

Hi @rscosworth and welcome to this customer forum.

It’s an interesting story although the system change would not have made any difference to your IHD. They connect directly to the smart meters and so somewhere that connection has been lost. The E470 seem a little awkward for operation but some have managed to conquer the manual access.

If you have sight of your account now , you would be best checking the readings recorded. If these don’t show dual readings and you expect to see them, I would think it worthwhile to continue to ask for some resolution. There is a defined time for past billing to be enforced but I would be cautious about waiting for anything like that.

Your account details, price per kWh and timings should be recorded so that you can confirm your own account details.
Hope that helps

BPLightlog

Solved

Super User

Updated on 14/03/25 by Ben_OVO

Hi @rscosworth and welcome to this customer forum.

It’s an interesting story although the system change would not have made any difference to your IHD. They connect directly to the smart meters and so somewhere that connection has been lost. The E470 seem a little awkward for operation but some have managed to conquer the manual access.

If you have sight of your account now , you would be best checking the readings recorded. If these don’t show dual readings and you expect to see them, I would think it worthwhile to continue to ask for some resolution. There is a defined time for past billing to be enforced but I would be cautious about waiting for anything like that.

Your account details, price per kWh and timings should be recorded so that you can confirm your own account details.
Hope that helps

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}

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rscosworthAuthor

Rank 2

My readings are all estimated on my account page although something just doesn’t look right between the British Gas and Scottish Gas side, they all show estimated although the agents I speak to are 100% certain it’s being recorded correctly. But I don’t have much faith in them to be honest.

I should probably add that my electricity appears to be providing readings but based on my old tariff (ie after waking up from charging the car for 5hrs it shows £15 rather than the expected £3.75 on the in home display - and the gas still doesn’t work.

When I raised a complaint I got the following response.

You have recently contacted us with regards to your In Home Display (IHD) unit for your smart meters not working correctly and only showing electricity usage.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this is causing you. I do understand your frustration.

To try and resolve the issue, unplug the Energy Monitor for 2 hours If possible, before switching back on move the energy monitor closer to the electricity meter (if possible use batteries and take the monitor to the electricity meter and see if it connects). Plug the energy monitor back in Allow 7 days for the fault to rectify itself (the Communications Hub resets after 7 days if it loses connection with any of the smart devices in the home).

I have reviewed your account and unfortunately as your IHD is over 12 months old, and therefore out of warranty, we would not be able to repair or replace your In Home Display unit if the above troubleshooting does not resolve the issue.
However, your smart meters are both communicating with us and providing smart reads so we will be able to keep your bills accurate.

As your reason for complaint does fall under our policies and procedures, we will be closing your complaint today under policy reason. However, although closed, your complaint will remain on your account as a sign of your dissatisfaction.

BPLightlog

Super User

That doesn’t really help you does it.
If the meter readings are shown as estimated I don’t see how they can be communicating correctly. The meter set up you have is know to be problematic but your IHD (what type do you have?) should work unless it’s faulty. Where they talk about switching off you should also remove batteries if you can for a decent time. If there’s somewhere close by when switching it back on its best to be as close as possible to the smart meter.
For your EV tariff it won’t necessarily be shown as a second rate - OVO for example monitor charging and charge accordingly. You may be expecting off peak anyway but I can’t see that in your notes.
I’m still confused by the British Gas / Scottish Gas part unless this is something that’s happened north of the border that we’ve not seen down south.

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}

Blastoise186

Super User

You have a WAN Failure.

Blastoise

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!

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rscosworthAuthor

Rank 2

That doesn’t really help you does it.
If the meter readings are shown as estimated I don’t see how they can be communicating correctly. The meter set up you have is know to be problematic but your IHD (what type do you have?) should work unless it’s faulty. Where they talk about switching off you should also remove batteries if you can for a decent time. If there’s somewhere close by when switching it back on its best to be as close as possible to the smart meter.
For your EV tariff it won’t necessarily be shown as a second rate - OVO for example monitor charging and charge accordingly. You may be expecting off peak anyway but I can’t see that in your notes.
I’m still confused by the British Gas / Scottish Gas part unless this is something that’s happened north of the border that we’ve not seen down south.

I am expecting a different peak/off peak charger (44p vs 10p).

Scottish gas and British Gas appear to be the same (ie when I try and log into Scottish gas it redirects me to British Gas). Emails come in titled British Gas but are headed Scottish gas - it seems a shambles!

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rscosworthAuthor

Rank 2

You have a WAN Failure.

Blastoise

Because the light isn’t lit? I think the pic just happened to be when it wasn’t flashing

BPLightlog

Super User

Ok - looking at the British Gas website, they say that their EV tariff doesn’t work with economy 7 and so you probably won’t see two rates on your meter. If your smart meter is sending readings then they can see what power is used when which is how you get the different rates.
It’s worth keeping check on your readings and account and especially double check on your billing.
They do say that they estimate EV usage to start with

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}