British Gas

British Gas is British owned and based. It's the biggest gas supplier in the UK and serves more than 8 million homes and businesses with gas and electricity.

The firm is a subsidiary of Centrica, a multinational energy and services company, which also owns utility suppliers in the Republic of Ireland. It's known as Scottish Gas in Scotland.

It also sells boilers, renewable heating, smart home products from the Hive brand and HomeCare insurance. Its PeakSave scheme gives some smart meter customers 50% off electricity between 11am and 4pm on Sundays.

Looking for a new tariff? Use our tool to compare energy prices.

British Gas score 

We combine the results of our customer survey with an in-depth assessment of companies’ behind-the-scenes practices and policies to give you an overall view. 

Take a look at our table below to see our score breakdown for British Gas:

Here's how British Gas customer and policy assessments break down:

To find out how British Gas compares with other energy companies, see our full results of the best and worst energy companies.

Which? verdict on British Gas

• Pros Offers good support for customers who need it based on our policy assessment, along with reasonable options for contacting your supplier
• Cons Only received two out a possible five stars in all of our customer satisfaction ratings, and a dismal zero points for our assessment of how well it handles switching. 

British Gas customer review

British Gas performed poorly compared with most energy companies based on our annual survey of 11,945 members of the public.

Its customer score of 65% means that British Gas is well below the average of 72%; only Ovo Energy and Scottish Power got worse customer scores. 

British Gas star ratings were all below average too, and comments from customers were mixed. One said: 'The bills are not clear and direct debit payments are always set too high', with another complaining that 'The customer service department is quite inefficient. It is very hard to get through on the phone if you have a general query'. 

Feedback wasn't all bleak, though, with one more contented customer saying: 'I’ve not had any issues during the two to three years I’ve been with them. They were very professional during a smart meter installation.'

British Gas customer service

British Gas received just two-star ratings in a number of areas, including customer service and value for money. Most of the other big energy suppliers also got two stars for customer service, with the exception of Which? Recommended Provider Octopus, which got four stars out  of a possible five. 

British Gas common issues and complaints 

The most common issues experienced by British Gas customers over the last year were about incorrect bills or statements (8%), direct debit payments being set too high or too low (8%), and smart meters not sending readings automatically (8%). 

When we asked British Gas customers, 8% said they had engaged with the company to make a formal complaint in the past year.

Our British Gas supplier assessment

In September-November 2025 we looked at five aspects of suppliers' business practices and procedures. Examples of some criteria within each category are shown below:

• Complaints – how many complaints suppliers get and how quickly they resolve them
  
• Contacting your supplier – including how and when you can get in touch, call waiting times, and the quality of self-service help online
• Help for customers who need it – including those in vulnerable situations, those who use prepayment meters, those who need materials in languages besides English, and web accessibility 
• Smart meters – including performance against 2024 smart meter targets and the proportion of customers' smart meters actually operating in smart mode
• Switching – how well suppliers handle switching.

We did this using a combination of the responses to a survey we sent to suppliers and our own assessments.

British Gas came 14th out of 17 providers in our assessment with a supplier score of 52%. 

Although it received decent scores for contacting your supplier and helping customers who need it, it received some of the lowest scores for handling complaints and its performance in relation to smart meters. And it was the only provider to get a dismal zero points out of five for switching in our behind the scenes assessment. It was one of the poorest performers when we looked at how often providers paid compensation to customers for failing to meet the regulator's standards for switching.

British Gas Energy Trust and other energy bill help

The British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charity that helps customers who are struggling to pay their bills – and you don't need to be a British Gas customer to get help. 

You can get advice via local services that it funds, and it can give grants to some customers in financial hardship to help them clear their energy debt. 

In 2024 British Gas also announced We Pay: You Pay, a scheme where it matches the payments of eligible customers for six months. 

To qualify, you'll likely need to be in fuel poverty and facing debt (though there's no minimum debt level). British Gas will contact you to do an assessment if you're likely to be eligible. 

Does British Gas support prepayment meters?

Yes. Here's what you need to know:

• You can top up at a Post Office or Payzone outlet. If you have a smart meter, you can also top up on the British Gas website, app or automated payment phone line.
• You can get £10 emergency credit if you run out of credit but can't afford to top up.
• If you run out of energy during certain times, 'Friendly Credit' is available overnight, 6pm-9am Monday-Friday and 6pm Saturday-9am Monday, plus bank holidays. It's activated automatically on smart meters and newer non-smart electric meters if you run out of credit, but you can also activate it yourself. If your meter can't do this (no traditional gas meters can), British Gas has a 24-hour service for customers without gas or electricity supply. Friendly credit will only activate if there was at least £0.01 in the meter at 6pm.

Find out whether a prepayment meter is right for you.

How sustainable is British Gas?

Sustainability credentials when choosing an energy supplier are important for two thirds of those responsible for choosing their provider. That’s according to our online survey of 3,000 UK adults in August 2024.

So we factor in a range of sustainability criteria in our Eco Provider assessment.

Here’s how British Gas fared:

• Proportion of renewable electricity sold to customers: 20%
• Generates renewable electricity at two solar farms.
• Operates fossil-fuel generation: it has a gas-fuelled plant, which provides power on demand to maintain grid stability.
• Sells green gas comprising 0.01% of the gas it sells to domestic customers.
• Offers a range of time-of-use tariffs including discounted overnight EV rates, and half-price electricity during specific hours on Sundays.
• Offers installation of solar PV, battery storage, heat pumps, insulation and EV chargers.

Find out more about the differences between energy companies renewable electricity, and find out how we assessed energy suppliers for sustainability.

Based on information supplied by companies in August 2024 and their most recent published fuel mixes, where available.

Making your home more energy-efficient will save money on your bills in the long term and lower your carbon footprint. Get started with our guides to home energy efficiency.