Is Gas Pay-As-You-Go Scheme Good For Pensioners?

Truegho

My mum is contemplating switching to the British Gas Pay-As-You-Go scheme. What she wants to know is this:

With her being a pensioner, would it be worthwhile? She has previously been on the monthly plan, but this has now gone up to £70.00 per month, which she would not be able to afford.

Magentasue

But, if the annual bill for your mum's house is 12 x £70 = £840, she will still need to find this amount. Would it not be better to work out her annual consumption in kwh, put that into a comparison site and find the best tariff?

littletommytucker

No she would not be better off. If she is paying by Direct Debit she will lose her Direct Debit discount. And presuming your mother isn’t in debt on her account, the payment amount has increased to £70 monthly because she uses £840 a year gas. Which means it’s probably the case that she uses around £35 a month during the summer months, and £105 a month during the winter months. Paying £70 a month will balance that over the year for her, where as if she had a pay as you go meter she wouldn’t be able to afford to top up with £105 a month during the winter months. British Gas now offers a reduced rate tariff for customers in receipt of pension credits. Try speaking to them about this, although this may not have an immediate impact on her monthly payment amount.

kippen_noedel

tell her to phone 0800 072 7100 and ask to speak to the essentials team, see if she qualifies for their lower tariff.

it's a BG free phone number