REFUND ON GAS/ELEC - Very Much In Credit

Pimpslider

I've had a browse on MSE but cannot find anything relating to this. I'm currently browsing the interweb and BG Site for info too, but I thought I'd hammer this on here incase anyone has had similar, or is in a similar scenario...

Basically, I am massively in credit on both my Gas and Electricity with British Gas. I was on a Price Guarantee until December 2009, but have now changed it to Web Saver 5, which is considerably cheaper. I have dropped my monthly payments to suit, but they are still higher than recommended by BG as I don't want to go into the red.

I am £305 in Credit on my Electricity, and £180 in Credit on my Gas (next bill is due April (quarterly by DD)).

Can I ask them to refund some of that Credit back to me, via bank transfer or cheque? Say £100 from each? I'm not sure if they do it. I know they lower your DD's to compensate for being in Credit but I'd be happier just pocketing a bit of cash and keeping the DD's the same.

Any ideas?

Pimpslider

Looks like I get to answer my own question...

Finally found something on the British Gas Website:


My bill is showing a credit balance, can I have a refund?
To do this we will need to have a confirmed meter read to ensure that your account is billed correctly. The outstanding credit can then be fully refunded. We'll also take the opportunity to assess whether your direct debit has been set correctly, and look to adjust it if we believe the payments are set too high.


So it looks like I can...:T...so that'll help pay for the holiday with the kids!!

Mikki

Good luck with that! I'm in a similar position credit wise, and have asked them umpteem times for a refund, and reduction in my dd which is obviously set too high, to no avail!

It is tantamount to theft really - they are making interest off MY money - meanwhile I am scrimping & saving every last penny while I have a few hundred tied in to BG!:mad:

I know it is usually cheaper to pay by dd, but next time I will just ask for quarterly bills and only pay the correct amount.

Pimpslider

Are you with BG?

I have never had a problem dropping or changing my DD payments. I just call them up and tell them what I want them to be.

spiro

The answer to how much to ask for and if you should depends on a couple of things you have not mentioned.
1) What date is the actual reading used as the last reading on both your last bills (gas & elec)? and
2) How much per month are you currently paying for each by DD?

At a guess the last bill you had runs to around xmas/new year so you have all the potentially high gas usage during Jan-Mar given the current weather to consider.

Regardless of anything else I would presonally wait until I got my next bill (after the cold weather hopefully) and then claim back to the point your balance on both fuels is almost £0, then you can recalculate you the next 12 months.

RedBern

as long as you're usage has been correctly set on your bill, so you've got correct up to date meter readings, then you should just ring BG and confirm that you are £x in credit, and that you'd like a refund of.... into the account you pay your DD from asap. I 've never had a problem with this - usually leave a few ££ in credit and then reduce my monthly payments at the same time, and leave say the equivalent of a months 'credit' on account. It is your money - get it back!!

Pimpslider

Totally agree spiro , hence why I asked BG when my next Bill was due, which was April, and they are meter reading mid March.

And yeah Redburn, agree with the 'leaving a bit of money in there', hence why I only wanted a ton from each, still leaving me in good credit.

spiro

Mikki wrote: »

Good luck with that! I'm in a similar position credit wise, and have asked them umpteem times for a refund, and reduction in my dd which is obviously set too high, to no avail!

It is tantamount to theft really - they are making interest off MY money - meanwhile I am scrimping & saving every last penny while I have a few hundred tied in to BG!:mad:

I know it is usually cheaper to pay by dd, but next time I will just ask for quarterly bills and only pay the correct amount.

If you pay by DD you should be a few hundred in credit between gas and elec at this time of year espcially as you use several times more gas per month in the winter than the summer, thats the whole point of paying by DD.

If you dont like them having you money in advance you could always go onto a tariff where you pay for what you have used every month/quarter buts thats not very money saving and also means you have large spikes in your bills.

Pimpslider

Well I got a refund.

I was around £350 in credit on my electric, so asked for a £200 rebate. They wanted an up-to-date meter reading, which I gave them, and they happily credited my bank with the £200 (took about 4 days to go through from time of request).

Afterwards, as I was still £150 in credit, I saw my DD payments had dropped from £50 to £11!! I asked them to put them at £45. He said £40. I said £43. He said 'Deal'. I know it is still fairly high, but I'd rather stay in credit than get a fat winter bill burn my pockets. Eventually I will work it down more.

spiro

Given that we have just had the worst winter, take you last four bills (1 years worth) check how much they add up to (assuming oldest bill started on an actual reading) and that will show how much you need to pay over the next 12 months and will give you an idea of how much credit you will have next spring based on the credit you left on the account plus the total of a years worth of DD. Maybe the deposit on next summers holiday.

Pimpslider

spiro wrote: »

...Maybe the deposit on next summers holiday.

Good thinking!

However, after getting a 'requested' rebate of £200 on my Elec...I just checked my bank and saw that British Gas had credited me 'ALL' of my Gas (I was about £150 in credit, so am now at £0). They did this without even telling me or without me asking, so I was a little annoyed.

I called them up and explained the situation, about me requesting the Elec rebate but not the Gas. They said that every 12 months they 'assess' your account and will automatically credit you if you are above £100 in credit! First I'd heard of it. I told them I'd rather be a little in credit, but they said it was automatic. I told them I was still £150 in credit on my Elec so why hadn't that 'automatically' been credited back to me. They said it was because I had already asked for one. They then asked, if I wasn't happy, if I'd like to credit the Gas account again. Erm...no.