British Gas nasty man?!?!

spiro

Your friend needs to do two things immediately:
1) Write out a details list of all her income and expenditure and then
2) Call British Gas explain she is suffering from depression and has been too scared to open their letters. (if thats true).

They will tell her they need to install a prepayment meter but she should discuss the 'debt recovery rate' with them (amount they reclaim per week) as OFGEM state this should be a manageable amount so could be as low as a few pounds per week.

The sooner she gets a prepayment meter in the sooner she will stop building up a debt and start repaying it.

Hope that helps.

kate1976

spiro wrote: »

Your friend needs to do two things immediately:
1) Write out a details list of all her income and expenditure and then
2) Call British Gas explain she is suffering from depression and has been too scared to open their letters. (if thats true).

They will tell her they need to install a prepayment meter but she should discuss the 'debt recovery rate' with them (amount they reclaim per week) as OFGEM state this should be a manageable amount so could be as low as a few pounds per week.

The sooner she gets a prepayment meter in the sooner she will stop building up a debt and start repaying it.

Hope that helps.

Thank you, she has bit the bullet and telephoned British Gas, apparently the man was coming to fit her with a prepayment meter and he should be back later today, she has her brother going round so he can be there as she felt terrified when the gas man was banging away and she also wonders why he didn't state why he was there instead of just banging on her door and window and shouting British Gas! She's calmed down a bit although she is wondering how much her electric will cost now as prepayment meters are an expensive business nevermind the moving of the furniture she'll have to keep doing!

Hopefully she'll be ok now, just got to keep my fingers crossed for her and my eye on her and I'll definitely be making sure she opens letters from now on! Bless her! :rolleyes:

Premier_2

kate1976 wrote: »

...prepayment meters are an expensive business ...

They are expensive compared to not paying anything at all, yes.

And they are expensive if you include debt repayment sums ... but that debt repayment is interest free.

Otherwise they may not be as bad as some will lead you to believe.

What's more, when you become aware of burning every fiver or tenner as it happens, it may make you more aware of what you are consuming, or more usually wasting.

kate1976

Premier wrote: »

They are expensive compared to not paying anything at all, yes.

And they are expensive if you include debt repayment sums ... but that debt repayment is interest free.

Otherwise they may not be as bad as some will lead you to believe.

What's more, when you become aware of burning every fiver or tenner as it happens, it may make you more aware of what you are consuming, or more usually wasting.

I agree with you, I find having my gas on pre pay makes it easier for me to keep on track although it does annoy me that I'm probably spending more than I would on a normal meter, I have read (can't remember where) that apparently the prepayment meters are going to become the same rate as normal ones, don't know how true that is but it would certainly help!

I wonder how long a tenner would last on her new prepayment meter, she'll probably use it up in about 2 days!!! :rolleyes::D

spiro

The reason the man will have been banging on the door is that most customers know why he is there (to fit a prepayment meter) and pretend not to be in especially in this case as your friend indiacte she was in but would not answer the door. If she had said 'give me 5 minutes to get dressed' he would probably have waited patiently.

On a happier note, we are the only country in europe that allows people to get into debt and have prepayment meters, live anywere else and you dont pay the bill they just cut you off until you have brought your account up to date.

dunloadin

If the van was United Utilities it will be someone wanting to change the meter, as they are one of the companies BG use. He was probably on a routine meter change as if access was required via a warrant a warrant officer would have been doing the knocking and they would get in as a locksmith would also have attended. Your freind would also have had plenty of notice this was going to happen, sounds like the guy has a bit of a 'policemans knock'.

If there are problems paying the bill get you freind to talk to BG and arrange for a key meter to be fitted, any debt will go onto the meter and be payed off gradually. She should be able to negotiate how much is repaid each week, most seem to have £5 to £12 on them.

They are not expensive to run...BG charge the same as their standard rate for key meters, in fact at the moment they are slightly cheaper (ony by a few quid a year mind).

spiro

dunloadin wrote: »

If the van was United Utilities it will be someone wanting to change the meter, as they are one of the companies BG use. He was probably on a routine meter change as if access was required via a warrant a warrant officer would have been doing the knocking and they would get in as a locksmith would also have attended. Your freind would also have had plenty of notice this was going to happen, sounds like the guy has a bit of a 'policemans knock'.

If there are problems paying the bill get you freind to talk to BG and arrange for a key meter to be fitted, any debt will go onto the meter and be payed off gradually. She should be able to negotiate how much is repaid each week, most seem to have £5 to £12 on them.

They are not expensive to run...BG charge the same as their standard rate for key meters, in fact at the moment they are slightly cheaper (ony by a few quid a year mind).

UU carry out all meter work for BG in parts of the country. They will always try a couple of times to fiit a prepayment meter without going for a warrant as that only adds £100s (warrant, baliff, locksmith etc all have to be paid for) onto what the customer owes.

kate1976

Thanks for all replies, now another teensy question, I've been looking at how pre payment meters work for her and have found a few scary stories of people in debt on low incomes having to pay back £40 a week through the meters, she owes just under £300 and is now panicking about the thought of trying to scrabble around for money just to end up in the same position as she's in now or left in the dark...literally!!!

Any ideas as to what she would do if she couldn't afford the repayments, I've read it's mainly a couple of quid but we need to get a plan B in action if the repayments are too high for her.

Cardew

The differential between pre-pay and normal(i.e. Standard rates) has reduced a lot; although they are not as cheap as some of the internet tariffs.

On a £300 debt they might agree to £20 a week being paid off.

brightonman123

if in a real pickle, and needing help with the arrears, check out the british gas energy trust (link s/be on the site).. about 5/6 page (simple) form- send off with copies of latest bills, and meter readings..

some of the water co's have a similar setup.

get in quick, to avoid xmas post delays etc!