It’s true that British Gas has a name that suggests it is British owned and operated. It’s still the largest energy provider within the UK and is estimated to serve around nine million homes.
The company is an affiliate of Centrica, a multinational energy and services firm, which also owns utilities within Ireland. Republic of Ireland. It has taken on customers of Robin Hood Energy, People’s Energy and other smaller firms after they stopped trading.
It’s known in the UK as Scottish Gas in Scotland and says it will bring Britain the efficient homes of today and the future’. Alongside electricity and gas it also offers boilers, smart home products that are under the Hive brand, as well as HomeCare insurance.
The British Gas Rewards scheme offers customers personalized offers, which can include films on Sky or other channels, trips to UK attractions Tickets to live shows in The O2, Wilbur the Penguin toys, and restaurant vouchers.
The customers can get the British Gas app on iOS and Android devices. Through the app, you can transmit meter readings and pay bills in just a couple of taps. Smart meters allow customers to establish budgets and monitor their energy consumption.
British Gas customer review
British Gas is ranked joint 10th with Boost Energy among the 16 energy firms rated by 10,197 members of the public on the basis of the Which? customer survey.
A customer rating of just 52% implies this British Gas sits in the bottom half of the table. A number of other providers scored higher in customer scores like Octopus Energy (73%) and Utility Warehouse (67%).
British Gas was rated an average of three stars for the majority of the measures in our survey and just 2 stars in the other portion, which includes the accuracy of its payment system and information to customers regarding the energy market.
Customer feedback is mixed. One said, ‘very poor customer service and difficult to contact’, while another longstanding customer was happy, saying “I’ve worked with them for many years and have been extremely satisfied with the services offered’.
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Which? conclusion on British Gas
Results from the survey indicate that the accuracy of payments is fairly high.
Cons: Average customer service rating from our survey of customers; not the top in helping vulnerable customers.
Our British Gas supplier assessment
In November 2022 we examined three aspects of the suppliers’ business practices and practices – how they deal with complaints, how well they offer their customer service, and how they help those in need, including those who pay in advance and those who face financial hardship.
This was accomplished using a combination of our own observations and answers to a survey that we sent out to suppliers.
British Gas received a mediocre score of 5 out of 10 on its complaints performance and a higher score of 17-out of 23 in our evaluation of the support it provides for vulnerable customers.
British Gas customer service
British Gas was rated an average three stars for customer service by its customers. British Gas wasn’t the only company to be rated this way there were six other providers, including EDF Energy and Eon Next also received three stars.
In our study, 47% from British Gas customers said its service was satisfactory. This is more than the other large suppliers, but less than the 63% of customers who surveyed Utility Warehouse.
It scored higher on our supplier evaluation of its customer service, including the evaluation of capacity, contact options hours of operation and self-service assistance with a score of 13 points out of 17.
British Gas in the energy crisis
British Gas customers were fairly dissatisfied with the information it provided about changing energy costs during our poll, giving it with three stars, and even less so with the clarity of its communication about the energy market in which it was awarded two stars.
British Gas announced that it will not install prepayment meters forcefully until ‘at least after winter’ after a report said it was forced to impose these meters on customers who are vulnerable.
British Gas Energy Trust
The British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charitable organization that was established in 2004 to assist customers having difficulty paying their bill, whether they are customers of British Gas or another supplier. It funds advice services and grants eligible applicants in order to clear their debts on energy.
British Gas common complaints
When we asked British Gas customers, 5 percent of them said they’d last contacted the company to lodge a complaint.
The most common complaint customers filed with British Gas was about a problem with their bill 55% of customers complain about this, followed by cost of energy (33 percent) in addition to the quality of their meter (22 percent).
If you sign up to British Gas with a prepayment meter?
Yes. British Gas pay-as-you-go customers can top up at an Post Office or Payzone outlet. The company’s website states: “You’ll need to top up with at least PS5 and you’ll have replenish to the nearest dollar.’
It’s installing smart meters for prepayment. Customers who have them can top up their account using British Gas’s website, its app or British Gas website, its app , or by calling an automated phone line.
British Gas offers PS10 emergency credit for those who run out of fuel but are unable to top up. Friendly Credit can be activated automatically if you have either a smart or non-smart electric meter , and you run low on credit within the hours of 6pm between 9am and 6pm, or on a weekend or bank holiday. You can also make emergency credit available at other time slots using your smart meter, in-home display or using your card or your key using a traditional meter.
Any energy you use will be noted as debt on your meter. You’ll pay it back when you top it up.
The government will offer all households in Great Britain with an electricity supply a PS400 discount on their energy bills , spread over six months beginning in October 2022 until March 2023 through their Energy Bills Support Scheme.
If you’re an existing prepayment customer and have an electronic meter, the discount will be applied automatically to your credit each month. Customers who have traditional prepayment meters will be sent vouchers via post.
Does British Gas sell renewable energy?
British Gas buys some of the electricity generated by renewable sources that it sells directly from generators, as purchasing certificates that match the energy usage of its customers.
The proportion of renewable electricity is according to the 2021/22 British Gas fuel mix. Other responses based upon information from suppliers in August between September and August 2022.
In the months of August and September 2022 we surveyed energy companies for information about the sustainability of their operations in a variety of ways. We awarded them points based on their responses and information that they publish on their websites, which includes their annual Fuel Mix Disclosure (FMD). The factors we evaluated included how much of the power they use is renewable, as well as whether they produce renewable energy or buy direct from the generators.
Overall British Gas’ electricity fuel mix for the year 2021/22 comprised 48% of renewable, and 28% nuclear (from its share in EDF Energy’s nuclear power plants).
British Gas buys 0.4% of the renewable energy its domestic customers use directly from generators and a further 0.4% is matched with REGO certificates. More than two-thirds (70 percent) is matched with renewable power produced outside of the UK and in Europe through Guarantees of Origin (GoOs).
Customers who purchase British Gas’ Green Future Tariff will have their energy usage aligned with renewable sources for generation in the UK.
When we evaluated energy companies on their green certifications in November 2022, British Gas scored 35%. This places it at the bottom of our table out of the 21 companies that we evaluated.
British Gas in the news
British Gas in 2023
March: British Gas said it will not install prepayment meters until ‘at least at the very least, after winter’. A third-party company employed in conjunction with British Gas to persue customer for debts, imposed prepayment meters on the most vulnerable customers, as per the report.
British Gas in 2022
December: British Gas launched a new scheme that will pay customers to reduce their energy use during National Grid’s “turn-down” events. It announced that it would be sending emails to more than 100,000 smart meter users to join the scheme and would pay them around PS4 for each unit of electricity saved compared to the amount the normally use.
April: The provider of energy is being urged by YourMoney.com for an apology after the former People’s Energy and Neon Reef customers who switched to it as part of the Supplier of Last Resort process stated they received misleading emails regarding the cost they would have to pay for their energy use. YourMoney.com provided evidence to Ofgem and the Energy Ombudsman, calling on them to immediately examine the matter.
January: British Gas set up an initiative to protect the PS294m it has in credit balances, through direct debits made by customers. The money will be held in a separate bank account from the money the company needs for its day-to-day operations.
British Gas in 2021
December: The supplier announced that its brand new, British Gas Evolve, was changing their name from British Gas to British Gas.
December: British Gas became the new supplier for Bluegreen Energy, Neon Reef, Social Energy and Zebra Power customers, after the smaller firms stopped trading.
September October: Customers from MoneyPlus Energy, People’s Energy and PFP Energy were moved to British Gas after the smaller suppliers had stopped trading. The total number of customers moved was around 441,000. customers were transferred to British Gas.
March: British Gas will begin the supply of electricity and gas to Nabuh Energy’s 36,000 customers following the time it bought the smaller brand.