British Gas
Our interest: we have no affiliate arrangement with British Gas and earn nothing if you switch to them. The link on this page goes to British Gas’s own site. We list it because it is one of the suppliers in this category, not because it pays us.
British Gas supplies gas at 7.97p per kWh with a 29.68p a day standing charge on its Standard Variable tariff, and publishes those figures itself as its October 2026 average. They are the Ofgem price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, to the penny. On the 11,500 kWh a year British Gas uses as a typical gas consumption, that is roughly £916 of gas and £108 of standing charge.
Being at the cap is not a criticism. It is simply the thing to know before you spend an afternoon comparing: the standard tariff from the UK’s largest gas supplier is the regulated maximum, so any saving has to come from a fixed deal, a payment method, or a different company.
What this page is actually for is the two questions a price comparison does not answer. Who is British Gas, legally and commercially? And what does its conduct record look like when you read the regulator rather than the advertising?
| Gas unit rate | 7.97p/kWh, Standard Variable, Oct–Dec 2026, includes 5% VAT |
|---|---|
| Gas standing charge | 29.68p a day — about £108 a year |
| Typical gas consumption | 11,500 kWh a year, British Gas’s own figure |
| VAT on gas | 5%, roughly £49 on a typical year |
| VAT on electricity | None from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 |
| Legal entity | British Gas Trading Limited, company 03078711, incorporated 6 July 1995 |
| Registered office | Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 5GD |
| Parent | Centrica plc, company 3033654 |
| Residential customers | 7.5 million, per Centrica — other British Gas pages say 7m and 8m |
| Ofgem, January 2017 | £1 penalty and £4.5m redress to the Carbon Trust, SLC 12 breaches |
| Ofgem, May 2026 | £20m redress and up to £70m of debt written off, prepayment conduct 2018–21 |
| Ofgem, open since July 2024 | Smart meter compliance engagement, still open |
| Energy Ombudsman trend | 49.5, 53.0, 58.1, 54.9 disputes per 100,000 accounts over four quarters |
| Signposting | 41% — lowest of eight suppliers, against a 53% sector figure |
| Emergency credit | £10 on every Pay As You Go meter |
| Friendly Credit | No disconnection Sundays, bank holidays, or 6pm–9am Mon–Sat |
| Warm Home Discount | £150 for winter 2026/2027, paid by 31 March 2027 at the latest |
Who you are buying gas from
“British Gas” is a trading name, not a company. The entity that supplies your gas is:
- British Gas Trading Limited, company number 03078711
- Incorporated 6 July 1995, status active, a private limited company
- Registered at Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 5GD
- Registered activity SIC 35220, distribution of gaseous fuels through mains, alongside 35130 for electricity
- Owned by Centrica plc, company number 3033654
British Gas states it itself in its tariff terms: “British Gas is a trading name of British Gas Trading Limited (registered in England and Wales No. 03078711).” The brand and the flame logo are registered trade marks owned by Centrica, and the terms define “we” as covering British Gas Trading Limited, British Gas Services Limited “and all other Centrica plc group companies”.
How many customers? That depends which British Gas page you read. Centrica’s investor-facing page says 7.5 million residential energy customers. The main energy page says over 7 million. The price-cap page invites you to “join over 8 million customers”. A fourth page says “more than 8 million homes and businesses”. Only the 7.5m figure is attached to a defined unit, which is why it is the one we would use.
The 5% you cannot avoid, and the one you are not paying
Domestic gas carries 5% VAT, and it is inside the 7.97p unit rate and the 29.68p standing charge rather than added at the end. On a typical 11,500 kWh year that VAT is roughly £49 of the gas cost.
Electricity, unusually, is currently carrying none. A temporary measure removed VAT from electricity between 1 October 2026 and 31 March 2027. Ofgem warns that this makes its own cap figures impossible to compare directly with earlier periods, and the cap rose 4% to £1,723 for a typical direct debit dual-fuel household for this quarter.
For a gas decision the useful implication is narrow but real: nothing published says what happens to electricity VAT on 1 April 2027, so a fixed deal that bundles both fuels is fixing one fuel against a known tax position and the other against an unknown one.
The Ofgem record, in date order
Three entries, all from Ofgem’s own enforcement and compliance pages rather than press coverage.
January 2017 — closed. An investigation into breaches of standard licence condition 12.18 and 12.21, covering advanced meters for non-domestic customers. The financial penalty was £1. The redress was £4.5 million to the Carbon Trust. That structure — a nominal fine and a substantial payment elsewhere — is how Ofgem has handled several of these.
May 2026 — settled. Ofgem’s investigation into British Gas’s treatment of prepayment meter customers, covering conduct from 2018 to 2021, closed with a £20 million payment into Ofgem’s Voluntary Redress Fund and up to £70 million of energy debt written off for vulnerable customers, plus the remainder of a £22.4 million voluntary support package launched in 2023. Ofgem treated it as “alternative action”, so there was no financial penalty.
July 2024 — still open. A compliance engagement into smart meter obligations covering British Gas, EDF, E.ON, Octopus, OVO and Scottish Power, under electricity SLC 39A and 49 and gas SLC 33A and 43. Ofgem closed the installation-target half in June 2026 but British Gas remains, with three others, in reduced engagement on smart-mode obligations. Ofgem is careful to state that this “is not a finding of non-compliance”, and the case header still reads Open.
Ofgem has separately acted against British Gas Business over customer service failings and over switching and renewal errors. Those concern the business arm rather than domestic gas.
If you prepay for gas, these protections are the point
British Gas’s prepayment terms are more generous than its tariff pricing, and for a gas customer they are the part that matters most in February.
- £10 of emergency credit on every Pay As You Go meter.
- Friendly Credit — no disconnection on Sundays, English bank holidays, or between 6pm and 9am Monday to Saturday.
- A free annual gas safety check through the Priority Services Register, subject to eligibility.
- Free meter relocation and quarterly meter-reading visits with an optional password, also via the register.
The Priority Services Register itself covers the over-65s, anyone with a disability or long-term illness, anyone reliant on medical equipment at home, families with children aged five and under, and people recently bereaved, separated or out of work. It brings bills in Braille, large print or audio, and a free SignVideo BSL relay weekdays 9am to 5pm. Sign-up is 0800 072 8625 for credit customers and 0800 294 8604 for Pay As You Go.
On top of that the Warm Home Discount gives a one-off £150 for winter 2026/2027. It is applied to the electricity account rather than the gas one, or issued as a Post Office voucher if you prepay. DWP letters run from 20 October to 31 December 2026; if nothing arrives by 31 January 2027, contact DWP, and every payment lands by 31 March 2027.
Where it falls short
Escalated complaints have been climbing. The Energy Ombudsman’s accepted-disputes rate for British Gas, per 100,000 domestic accounts, reads 49.5 in Q3 2025, 53.0 in Q4, 58.1 in Q1 2026 and 54.9 in Q2 2026. The last figure is the second highest of the eight suppliers the Ombudsman charts. Sector-wide, accepted cases rose from 40,068 in the first half of 2025 to 46,532 in the first half of 2026, so British Gas is not alone — but it is near the top of a rising table.
On signposting it is last. Of those eight suppliers, British Gas had the lowest signposting score at 41% against a sector figure of 53%. Signposting means telling a customer the Ombudsman exists when a complaint stalls. Being bottom of that particular table is a choice about process, not an accident of scale.
You cannot see its absolute complaint numbers at all. The Ombudsman publishes per-supplier figures only as labels inside a quarterly chart. The last standalone British Gas data file is from Q4 2019, and the last Centrica Residential one from Q1 2023. Every recent British Gas figure is a rate per 100,000 accounts, which is the fair way to compare suppliers of different sizes but means nobody outside the company knows how many complaints there actually are.
And the cheaper tariffs will not show you a price. British Gas advertises Fix and Fall, Fixed Tracker and Fixed Fixed by name and publishes a rate for none of them. You need to complete a quote to see one.
Where it wins
- Gas priced at the Ofgem cap, so the standard tariff cannot exceed the regulated maximum
- £10 emergency credit on every prepayment meter
- Friendly Credit blocks disconnection on Sundays, bank holidays and overnight
- Free annual gas safety check through the Priority Services Register, subject to eligibility
- Priority Services Register covers the over-65s, medical equipment users and families with under-fives, with Braille, large print, audio and a free BSL relay
- £150 Warm Home Discount for winter 2026/2027, with published dates and a 31 March 2027 backstop
- Legal entity, company number and parent all clearly stated in its own tariff terms
- The British Gas Energy Trust helps households regardless of supplier and has reached over 2.2 million people
Where it falls short
- The standard tariff is the price cap, so there is no saving in it by definition
- Accepted disputes at the Energy Ombudsman rose from 49.5 to 58.1 per 100,000 accounts across four quarters
- Lowest signposting score of eight suppliers at 41% against a sector figure of 53%
- Settled an Ofgem prepayment-meter investigation in May 2026 with £20m of redress and up to £70m of debt written off
- An Ofgem smart meter compliance engagement opened in July 2024 is still open
- No absolute complaint volume has been published for British Gas since Q4 2019 — only a rate per 100,000 accounts
- Fix and Fall, Fixed Tracker and Fixed Fixed are advertised with no published rate; you need a quote
- Its own customer count is given as 7 million, 7.5 million and 8 million on four different pages
Common questions
What does British Gas charge for gas?
7.97p per kWh with a 29.68p daily standing charge on Standard Variable, which is the Ofgem price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026. On British Gas’s own typical consumption of 11,500 kWh that is roughly £916 of gas plus £108 of standing charge. The 5% VAT is already inside both figures.
Who actually owns British Gas?
Centrica plc, company number 3033654. The supplier itself is British Gas Trading Limited, company 03078711, incorporated on 6 July 1995 and registered at Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor SL4 5GD. The British Gas name and flame logo are trade marks owned by Centrica.
Has Ofgem taken action against British Gas?
Yes, more than once. In May 2026 it settled an investigation into its treatment of prepayment meter customers from 2018 to 2021 with a £20m payment into Ofgem’s Voluntary Redress Fund and up to £70m of debt written off, taken as alternative action with no penalty. In January 2017 a closed case over advanced meters ended in a £1 penalty and £4.5m of redress to the Carbon Trust. A smart meter compliance engagement opened in July 2024 remains open.
What protections do I get on a prepayment gas meter?
£10 of emergency credit, and Friendly Credit, which stops disconnection on Sundays, English bank holidays and between 6pm and 9am Monday to Saturday. Through the Priority Services Register you may also get a free annual gas safety check and free meter relocation. Sign-up for Pay As You Go is 0800 294 8604.
How many customers does British Gas have?
Depends which of its pages you read: over 7 million, 7.5 million residential energy customers, or over 8 million. Only the 7.5 million figure, on Centrica’s investor page, is tied to a defined unit, so that is the one we would quote.
Our verdict
British Gas sells gas at the Ofgem cap, which means the price is neither a bargain nor a risk — it is the regulated ceiling, and any saving has to come from fixing, from a payment method, or from somebody else. What the price comparison will not tell you is on this page instead. The company is British Gas Trading Limited, 03078711, owned by Centrica, and it has an Ofgem record you should read before deciding: a £20 million redress settlement in May 2026 over its treatment of prepayment customers between 2018 and 2021, with up to £70 million of debt written off, and a smart meter compliance engagement that has been open since July 2024. Escalated complaints have been rising and its signposting score is the lowest of the eight largest suppliers. Against that, the support for people who are struggling is genuinely among the best available: £10 emergency credit, Friendly Credit, a free annual gas safety check, and a £150 Warm Home Discount with dates you can hold them to. If that describes your household, the service record matters less than the safety net. If it does not, the cap price is available from companies that answer the phone faster.
Figures were taken from each provider's own published terms on 7 October 2026. Variable rates can change at any time — confirm the current rate with the provider before applying.
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