How to claim a refund from your energy account

How to see if you can get a refund

Just visit your online account or open the app. If you pay by Direct Debit and your account is in credit, you’ll see the option to Check refund eligibility in your account dashboard and also in the billing section.

Open account

What we’ll check before giving a refund

To qualify for a refund, you must:

• Pay by Direct Debit

• Have credit in your account

• Have received a bill based on actual meter reads within the last 28 days

• Have no Direct Debit due within 3 days

How we might respond to a refund request

There are a few different ways we might respond if you ask for a refund.

Your account is on track

Having a small surplus in your balance is normal, especially during the summer. It helps keep your Direct Debit payments the same each month, even when you’re using much more energy in the winter.

So, if your payments look about right for your level of energy use, we won’t refund any credit in your account.

We’ll give you a refund

If we think you have more credit in your account than you need for your annual energy use, we’ll let you know how much of a refund you can get – and what your balance will be afterwards.

Just click to confirm and we’ll send your refund to the bank account used for your Direct Debit, usually within 5-8 working days.

We’ll change your Direct Debit

Sometimes a refund isn’t the best option, even if your account is in credit. A small surplus during the warmer months is normal, as it helps stop your account falling into debit later in the year.

However, we might recommend changing your Direct Debit if we think your current payment amount will leave you with too much – or too little – credit when winter comes.

We’ll give you a refund and change your Direct Debit

In some cases, this might be the best option if it helps keep your future payments on track with your energy use, while returning credit you don’t need to keep in your account.

If we recommend a Direct Debit change, you’ll be shown the Direct Debit Guarantee before being asked to confirm the new payment.

We won’t offer a refund straight away

Sometimes we might ask you to wait a while before making another request for a refund. This could be for a number of reasons. For example, we might need a more recent bill or meter reading, to make sure any refund is based on accurate information.

If you’ve moved home or switched supplier

We can only refund any credit left on your account once you receive your final bill, which can take up to 45 days after your account closes.

There’s nothing you need to do to claim this refund. If there’s credit left on your account after your final bill, we’ll refund it automatically.

If you’re moving home and staying with British Gas in your new property, we might be able to transfer the credit to your new account.

You can tell us about your home move and send us your closing meter readings online.

Where is my refund?

We’ll always try to refund money back to the bank account you use to pay your Direct Debit. If this isn’t possible, we might send a cheque instead – so please make sure the postal address for your energy account is correct.

Refunds to your bank account should take 5-8 working days. Cheques can take longer to arrive because of the processing and postage time.