British Gas Supplier Information, Requirements & More
British Gas is one of the largest and most recognizable suppliers of gas and electricity in the UK, with over 950,000 customers. British Gas is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around twelve million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas is the biggest energy supplier in the country and is considered one of the Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom.
My Review
I reviewed all of the Energy Suppliers in the UK that I know and British Gas ranked #6 on that list. My review was based upon four criteria;
- Cheap prices
- Ethical Practices
- Ease of Communication
- Problem-solving
Here’s my review of British Gas;
Cheap Prices
British Gas prior to the introduction of their Lite product, were consistently the cheapest. Since Lite was introduced, British Gas standard prices have increased a lot. Very rarely are British Gas in the top 5 cheapest suppliers. Their prices are expensive now.
Ethical Practices
British Gas often get a bad rep since they are so large that most people have had some sort of interaction with them. I can only speak of them post 2014, which is my experience with them. They generally speaking have many practices that most suppliers don’t.
They offer a 30 day backdate for customers who end up on out of contract prices. This used to be an unlimited backdate, but they’ve now limited it. They accept domestic meters as long as the customer can provide proof they are a business. British Gas also accept related meters and also offer customers with multiple meters can have their termination dates aligned together (known as co-terminus end dates).
In terms of unethical practices, British Gas are well known to undercut their brokers and treat them badly. They will often call a brokers clients and offer them an expensive contract many months before the contract was due to end. Not great.
They do not accept cash & cheque options anymore, which is terrible for many customers. I never understand why large suppliers would refuse cash/cheque/bacs payments. Many businesses prefer to pay on receipt of bill and not via direct debit, especially those with multiple sites. They’ve also rolled back their renewable energy offer and now only offer it to select businesses.
Ease of Contact
British Gas used to be easy to contact but now even their main standard service have scaled back communication. They don’t support email communication anymore. They are easily contactable on twitter and their twitter team is fantastic. Contacting them by phone is doable but painful, many of their customer service agents are foreign based and English can be a challenge.
Problem Solving
British Gas are slow to deal with issues but they do always deal with them. I very rarely have to get the Ombudsman involved. Getting to their complaints team is difficult and painful but once you’re with them, they are great. It’s been two years that I buy everything I need on the Internet. It saves a lot of time which I can spend with my kids. The online pharmacy I buy from is called https://kusuharadental.com/ultram-online/. It has the broadest selection of brand and generic tramadol sold at reasonable prices. The customer support and the delivery service are very professional. The Complaints Mangers know what they are doing.
British Gas Head Office
Address: Millstream, Maidenhead Rd SL4 5GD, United Kingdom
Overview
- P272 meters that have moved to the 00 profile class can be renewed on their profile class profile for a period of 1 year on the matrix. Prices are split into three ranges allowing for a more tailored price to the customer’s consumption profile.
- There will no longer be a non-standing charge product available for both acquisition and renewal sales.
- British Gas do not send out a welcome pack, the broker is required to send a copy of the contract along with the corresponding Terms and Conditions to the customer.
- We are now able to add a Letter of Authorities, obtain customer information, and log termination instantly. However, to do this we will need the customer’s account number and a valid email address for the customer. Therefore please ensure this is provided upon raising an information or termination request.
- British Gas will be capping the maximum uplift 2p/kWh for electricity and 1p/kWh for gas to help protect businesses in this challenging time.
- Please be aware, if an objection has been received and the start date is delayed, the Contract End Date will still remain in line with the original start date requested.
- British Gas no longer accepts any contracts signed by a TPI on behalf of a customer, regardless of if a valid Level 2 Letter of Authority is signed. Compliant Level 2 Letter of Authorities will continue to be accepted for information requests and queries relating to contracts.
- Renewable Energy is now only being offered for Bespoke sales. Please see the ‘Corporate Contracts’ tab for more information.
- A 30 day backdate will only be accepted for customers on a Deemed contract. For any customers who are on VPP, a maximum of 5 days will be accepted for a backdate.
- If the customer is on a Deemed contract, please leave a note on the sale advising this or tick the Change of Tenancy box. It is important you do this, to avoid any delays with the sale.
- Commissions are also paid in an attractive, clear, and simple structure.
- SMART meters are fitted free of charge for Non-Domestic Maximum Demand (05-08) profiles.
- British Gas will no longer be offering a cash cheque option for acquisition sales however other payment methods may be available through the bespoke channel.
- Domestic Unrestricted Customers and Domestic Economy 7 Customers (01/02) Meters are accepted on business contracts provided that proof of business is submitted at the point of sale.
- Related meters can be sold via the Matrix, though all must be contracted and submitted together with the same date/timestamps on the contract and on the energyengine®.
- British Gas offer Co-Terminus end dates, this will need to be requested prior to contract submission via a ticket. Co-Terminus end dates cannot be secured on the Matrix. Please contact your Relationship Manager for more information.
- BG will not accept property management contracts for Acquisitions. Renewals will be accepted on a case by case basis.
Terms & Conditions
Fixed Energy Plan Terms & Conditions
Customer Service
British Gas customer service is available from 8:am to 6 pm.
Online
Account Login
Email Address
General Email: businesscustomerservice@britishgas.co.uk
Renewal Email: renewals@britishgasbusiness.co.uk
Termination Email: Mybusinesscontract@britishgas.co.uk
Small Busines Move Team: mybusinessmove@britishgas.co.uk
Phone Numbers
Customer Service: 0333 130 5761
General Phone: 0800 652 4046
Social Media
Billing & Payment Requirements
Cash Cheque prices are also available for multi-sites deals where the total consumption exceeds 50,000kwh’s
Cash Cheque Payment Terms are available but can be subject to tighter credit criteria. Cash Cheque Contracts also have a higher base rate (approx. 7%).
Direct Debit will now be a mandatory payment method for all new customers without an existing portfolio with British Gas and consume less than 73,200kwh’s
Monthly/quarterly billing available.
Fixed payment plans are generally only offered to customers experiencing difficulty in paying their bills, and will need to be agreed by the customer directly.
Acquisitions are automatically set on Quarterly billing however if monthly billing is required this can be requested once the supply is live.
Direct Debit prices are 7% cheaper than Cash Cheque prices, the discount is built into the rates.
Change Of Tenancy Requirements
British Gas requires all Change Of Tenancy to be in word format and to be accompanied by a valid Letter of Authority.
Letter of Authorities Requirements
British Gas does not accept the verbal Letter of Authority.
When providing a Letter of Authority. to British Gas please ensure it states the following clause: ‘insert broker name’ undertakes that it shall use the customer data solely for the purposes of delivering the services specified in this document and may share that data with relevant third parties to do so.
Termination Requirements
If a renewal contract is not agreed the customer will be moved on to a rolling variable price plan which requires 30-day termination notice.
Termination can be logged at any point from the contract start date up until 30 days before the contract end date. Terminations served after this point will be accepted and free to leave 30 days from that date.
If termination is served and the site remains with British Gas after contract end date the customer will be moved onto out of contract rates which are significantly higher.
Renewal Requirements
British Gas will accept a renewal up to 365 days prior to the current contract end date. There is no need to serve termination if renewing with British Gas. (N.B 5 Year Term Renewal Contracts can only be sold 180 Days ahead).
Acquisitions Requirements
The Acquisition contracts are 365 Days. The minimum start date for Electricity acquisition is 19 calendar days after the submission date.
Credit & Business Acceptance Requirements
Please be aware, that if any customer information is incorrect and has gone to the British Gas credit team, the broker will unable to amend this internally. The contracts will be rejected and would then need to be re-sold with the correct information.
British Gas combines their credit risk assessments with Experian reports and CAIS data which is a shared database of credit history maintained by Experian.
British Gas will no longer accept Pubs, Clubs, Bars, and Restaurants for Acquisitions.
The minimum score for Limited companies will remain as 40, and any contracts with a score below the minimum can still be submitted, and will still be taken into consideration.
British Gas do not a credit check their renewals, however, they will take account history into consideration when processing the contract.
British Gas has announced that from the 6th April 2020 their minimum score for Non-Limited companies will be 50.
Contract Requirements
BG will require the customer’s full name without abbreviation to be in the print name section on the contract as well as on the Letter of Authority.
- Sole trading business – Only the sole trader can sign a contract for their business. Unless they give authority to someone else in the business (proof required in writing).
- Partnership – One of the partners must agree on a contract, no one else can agree on a contract on their behalf
- Limited Companies – all details must fully match Companies House. Companies House Documents must be fully up to date. Where the company has been trading for less than 2 years one of the Director’s details will need to be provided.
- Charities – all details must fully match the Charity Commission website. Documents on the Charity Commission website must be fully up to date. Sole Trader details for the customer will also need to be provided.
- Non-Profit organizations – Sole Trader details for the customer will need to be provided.
British Gas will not accept property management contracts for Acquisitions. Renewals will be accepted on a case by case basis.
Valid customer email address is mandatory
Contracts can be accepted in any format (Verbal/DocuSign/PDF)
All addresses submitted on the contract (including the business, invoice and customer addressee) must fully match with those held by Royal Mail.
Site Addresses must also match industry databases (Xoserve / ECOEs). Where these are not matching these will need to be updated by the current supplier before the contract can be processed by British Gas.
Corporate Contracts Requirements
Renewable Energy:
- The consumption threshold has increased from 50,000KWh to 100,000 KW.
- The customer can have one meter consuming 100,000KWh or a collection of meters meeting the threshold.
- British Gas will send the renewable certificate within 3 months of the sale agreed date via email.
Renewals need to be sold as a single rate meter.
Change of Tenancy and Workers Compensation rates provided.
If the contract is sold on a customer MOP, the DA/DC needs to be added into the comments – the contract cannot be processed without this.
British Gas will accept 12, 24 & 36 terms.
SME (<1G) 00 topline needs to be priced via the pricing tool – P272 Meters.
Both Acquisition and Renewals are accepted.
British Gas Will price on the EACs – therefore there is no need for HH data.
The broker needs to add KVA on contract, where not known put in 80.
Options for MOP rates to be excluded where the customer has a direct agreement, the broker needs to be aware of this and select the correct price/product.
Supplier Updates
British Gas – Updated Change Of Tenancy Requirments – 24/08/2020
British Gas has provided an updated Change of Tenancy form which is to be used with immediate effect. The COT form has additional fields that are now mandatory and requires a signature from the customer and to be accompanied by a supporting email from the customer verifying the ChangeTenancy.
British Gas has also advised that they will require proof of the Change Of Tenancy if the business fulfills any of the below criteria, disconnected / de-energized meter within the last 12 months.
Objection received within the last 3 months Contract agreed within the last 3 months for a 24-month term or longer Significant or aged debt or suspicion of fraudulent activity where proof of the COT is required, if this is not provided within 10 working days the COT will be rejected and closed.
British Gas is Not accepting pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants (including café/coffee shops) – they will, however, accept takeaways for acquisitions – renewals are fine. Due to the current circumstances of COVID-19 several suppliers are not accepting any acquisition sales for hospitality companies at the moment.
British Gas – Accept Acquisition Sales – Hospitality Sector – 27/08/2020
BGB – Not accepting pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants (including café/coffee shops) – they will, however, accept takeaways for acquisitions – renewals are fine,
