Electric bill shock Direct Debit increase

tinacee1

I pay my electricity and gas monthly from the same supplier - British Gas - by Direct Debit. I got a letter yesterday informing me that after a 'review' my direct debits would be increased from £40 to £106 per month (electricity) and my gas from £30 to £40 from 4th November. I am in a state of shock. I am on Incapacity benefits and I had budgeted to the last penny as my income is low which left me with a small amount (£15 a wek for food) when all my bills were paid each month. This new amount of £106 will impact on by ability to meet my other Direct Debit payments to other companies.
I had my prepayment meter taken out a couple of months ago as I understood I would save in the long run by changing to paying my utilities by Direct Debit. A £5.00 token for electricity and a £5.00 token for gas each week during the spring and summer months and £10 in each meter during the winter was what I used beforeput I changed to credit meters. I have not increased my fuel consumtion since the meters were changed. I am frantic with worry. The increase in what they are asking me to pay each month seems like a HUGE increase.
Any advice and/or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

AndysDad

I think you need to let us know what your Gas/Electricity consumtion is before anyone can help.I must admit £106/month seems horrenous for electricity unless you have storage heaters.

Cardew

Almost certainly this is because you have been underpaying for some months, and/or under estimated meter readings have been used, and a debit balance has built up.

The increase for electricity will be to clear the debit balance and then it will drop. If you phone BG and explain your situation they might be able to reduce the payment, but it will take longer to clear the debt.

You could also ask them about their 'Essentials' tariff which is for people who are in 'Fuel Poverty' . If you don't qualify for that tariff, I hope you are on Click 6 and not their standard tariff.

tinacee1

I rang them a couple of months ago after the meters were changed and they told me that there was no outstanding balance and that i would start from scratch again.

KimYeovil

Essentials is for those on qualifying benefits. It is not for those in 'fuel "poverty" (sic)'.

tinacee1

I have no storage heaters.
I have only had my central heating system on (which heats my radiators) twice since my last bill. I have no immersion heater and since the council installed a new heating system in March my water heats up when I use it from the taps. I had a hot tank in my bedroom which was taken out and a baxi boiler pro-tec installed.

Cardew

KimYeovil wrote: »

Essentials is for those on qualifying benefits. It is not for those in 'fuel "poverty" (sic)'.

Kim,
Don't understand your post - or the (sic) comment???

This from the BG website:

Our initiatives for fuel poor and vulnerable customers

We take our commitment to alleviating fuel poverty and proactively caring for
vulnerable customers seriously. Our aim is to make life safe, warm and comfortable
for all our customers but particularly for those on low incomes, older people and
those with a disability.
Essentials Tariff

We have made a commitment to delay our recent price increase for customers on our
Essentials tariff until 1 April 2009. The tariff provides additional help to our more vulnerable
customers, particularly those who use prepayment meters, by ensuring they pay no more
than our lowest standard prices, irrespective of their method of payment. At the moment
we have 340,000 Essentials accounts and plan to extend this to 750,000 accounts.

Essentials Extra

In July we also announced the launch of Essentials Extra. In addition to protecting eligible
vulnerable customers from price increases until April 2009, this new programme offers a
home energy audit and energy efficiency measures to help reduce energy consumption
and cut future bills in a sustainable way.
For further information tel: 0800 072 7100

British Gas Energy Trust

The British Gas Energy Trust, an independent charity that helps customers who have the
greatest difficulty paying their household bills. Our customers can apply for grants and
advice to manage their energy payments. Over 12,000 awards totalling more than £5m
have been made. We recently extended our commitment to the Trust for a further four
years, taking our total investment to 21.3m since 2005.
For further information tel: 01733 421 050 or 01733 421 060 (applications)

Free Insulation to those Aged over 70

Insulating the home is one of the most effective ways to keep warm and cut energy bills.
British Gas customers over 70 years old or on income-related benefits may be able to get
their home insulated for free.
For further information tel: 0845 605 2535 (Textphone: 18001 0845 604 0345)

‘here to HELP’

This programme aims to tackle the root causes of household poverty by improving living
conditions and quality of life. Through a partnership with five key charities – Help the Aged,
Scope, RNIB, National Debtline and Save the Children – ‘here to HELP’ provides energy
efficiency products, benefits assessments, essential appliances and adaptors and home
security measures.

For further information tel: 0845 605 2535

knowsleyroader

tinacee 1, same thing happened to me so I phoned up to ask why the massive increase as I'd always been in credit on my DD's. The operator couldn't see why the payments had been virtually doubled (on both gas and electric) so put the DD's down again.

tinacee1

I have just contactd Briish Gas Home Energy Care Dept and have negotiatd that I pay £50 per month DDebit and not the £106 that they had said they were increasing it to.
I may change back to having a prepayment meter again.

I asked if someone could come out to check the credit meters which were installed when I got rid of my prepayment meters. The operator I spoke with was reluctant to do this and said it was a 'complicated process'. He advised me to do a daily check of meter readings to keep track of my daily consumtion. I am going to do this.

Magentasue

tinacee1 wrote: »

He advised me to do a daily check of meter readings to keep track of my daily consumtion. I am going to do this.

Good idea. It sounds as if you live on your own in a small property with has CH and hot water? Post your daily figures and people will compare so you can see if yours sound high, low or average.

lilac_lady

If you use an immersion heater for hours at a time and tumble dry all your washing maybe the DD of £106 is correct. If you don't then you should request that someone comes to check your meter.