Can british gas refuse to bill you monthly instead of quaterly, just because of debt?

Firey668

Im with british gas, currently owe £280 for 6months of electricty,
but as only get sent 1 huge bill every 3months, it was extremely hard for me to keep ontop of it.

Im going to get Debt relief order within the next 2-3months to have all that debt written off,
however i wanted to switch to getting sent a bill every month from this month onwards,
so that i i won't endup getting deeper in debt again till i switch away from them (as i wont be able to add any extra debt onto the debt relief order once its been started).


So i sent them an email requesting that they send me a bill every 1month, instead of every 3months, starting from this month.

Since im using the electricity every month, pay all my other bills on a monthly basis, and so see no reason why british gas shouldn't also bill me every month if i wish.



However they replied with this email-


Thank you for the email you sent earlier today about being billed monthly.

Our monthly billing service is called EnergySmart. I'm sorry I'm unable to switch your account to monthly billing, as there's an overdue balance of £159.84 on your account. You need to pay this balance before you could sign up for EnergySmart.

Once you pay the outstanding balance, please sign up for EnergySmart online. Alternatively, you can call us on 0800 048 0505* to discuss EnergySmart and we'll be happy to help. (Lines are open 7am - 11pm Monday to Saturday and 12pm to 6pm on Sundays.) With EnergySmart, you can pay by debit/credit card, monthly fixed direct debit or monthly variable direct debit.

Thank you for contacting British Gas.


Regards

Sanket Nene

britishgas.co.uk - Looking after your world




Im currently on their ''Standard'' tarriff.
(Electricity only/and not economy 7)

And when i look at that tarriff's profile on Uswitch i see nothing saying that its a ''Quarterly-Only'' tarriff! :mad:

It actually says on there that they offer a discount for customers aying by monthly direct debit or monthly standing order.



Yet they are refusing to bill me monthly, and instead saying they will ONLY send me the bill every 3months,
to cover those previous 3months in arrears!



So my questions are-

1. Is it actually legal to refuse to bill a customer monthly, and instead only be willing to bill them 3-monthly for something they use monthly,
if the customer requests it??

And

2. If it is does anyone have the link to any template letter that i could use (which included the legislation that states it's a breach of consumer law).





Thanks

Mojisola

Can't you use last year's bills to work out approximately what your monthly bills will be and put that aside? It will be a lot less hassle than getting into a war with BG.

Cardew

Firey668 wrote: »

Im with british gas, currently owe £280 for 6months of electricty,
but as only get sent 1 huge bill every 3months, it was extremely hard for me to keep ontop of it.

Im going to get Debt relief order within the next 2-3months to have all that debt written off,
So my questions are-

1. Is it actually legal to refuse to bill a customer monthly, and instead only be willing to bill them 3-monthly for something they use monthly,
if the customer requests it??

I would like my bill sent to me every 17 days;)

Of course it is legal to send you bills within the terms and conditions of their tariff.

As you owe them £280(which you apparently don't intend to pay!) perhaps they will install a pre-pay meter and then you will have no 'difficulty keeping on top of it'.

I despair at times!

BargainGalore

How nice so because you cant budget properly or indeed be proactive in doing something about it you rather worm you way out of it and expect others to pay your debt. Who pays this debt not BG us the customer.

What stopped you putting money away especially as you must have had bills before so can get a rough idea.

Charming lets hope no one touch you with a bargepole and you have to pay in future for what you owe or beter still get a pre paid meter

CharlieBilly

Great work there. One way out do know once you get bankrupt most energy suppliers wont touch you unless you pay in advance as they do a credit check on you before hand so no good deals for you in future

Cardew

Just read a few of the OP's post and it very much seems like he is the resident troll(if the accusations from other posters are to be believed - and they have merit!!) he is unemployed, has his £1,500+ rent a month paid!! and is the expert on all benefits etc. Either that or he is a fantasist.

I suspect our reaction is just what he wants and feeds upon!

I for one have been 'had' and so have the others?

spiro

Cardew wrote: »

Just read a few of the OP's post and it very much seems like he is the resident troll(if the accusations from other posters are to be believed - and they have merit!!) he is unemployed, has his £1,500+ rent a month paid!! and is the expert on all benefits etc. Either that or he is a fantasist.

I suspect our reaction is just what he wants and feeds upon!

I for one have been 'had' and so have the others?

Pity we can't have a 'Flame' button as well as a 'Spam' button, get burnt 3 times and your off.

Firey668

!!!!!!?!

All ive done is ask a perfectly logical reasonable question!!


Im not cheating the system, as Debt Relief Orders are 100% legal and there are 10,000s of threads on this webiste explaining and promoting DROs to people who qualify for one!!


Im not even going to get into a debate on my Housing benefit, as everyone else is entitled to claim the rate in the area they choose to live in, and so im 100% entitled to claim my rate for my area.



And all i was asking in this thread was about how to get them to bill me monthly to help me manage my finances!!
(Which is what this website is about helping people to do!)


Yes they can refuse to sent me bills every month, and instead say they will o0nly send me me 1 bill every 3months.

But if they do that all thats going to happen is that i will do the exact same thing back to them, and refuse to pay them any money untill 3months after they send me that bill!


As if they take 3months to bill me, then i will take 3months to pay them.

spiro

Why do you think that just because they send you a bill every 3 months you can take 3 months to pay?

Hopefully a supplier will take the easy route out and fit at ppm meter and then you will have no excuse because you wil have to pay for what you use before you use it. Once smart meters are fully rolled out this will happen instantly.

Plushchris

A PPM is what the OP needs, that or he needs to start investing in candles, warm clothes and an open fire...

NeverInDebt

But you are trying to get out of paying

"Im going to get Debt relief order within the next 2-3months to have all that debt written off"

Just because YOU cant budget properly many others can possible with less money than you, most pay by Direct Debit, put money aside each week or pre payment meter

Guess you will be one on PP soon and pay over odds because You cant keep control of your money

You owe them money fine then get debt written off but life aint rosy taking that route and it will serve you right when utility companies then ask you for money upfront or PP meter and pay over odds, either way utility companies wont loose out