any advice, cant afford bill??

pearljam1988

last year i was rather nieve in the world of utility bills.... first house i was responsible for such things. anyway after paying direct debit for several months for electric when i moved house i was given a final bill of almost £1000 bieng a student i do not have this money after talking to british gas the best they can do in terms of a payment plan is 12 monthly payments of around 75 pounds after an initial payment of about the same. my budget is already stretched and i have no means of finding this money is there anything i might be able to do to lower this amount or is a debt collection agencey inevitable?? this does sound like a scary prospect for me and have heard many things about it affecting my future credit rating??

any advice?

one last note i have already contacted brittish gas who have looked into the amount of the bill and stand by their initial bill.

spiro

You dont say if the place was all elec or elec and gas because it had gas another £1000 seems high.

In terms of repayment the problem is that you have moved and BG may no longer be your supplier (you dont say). Most allow you as long to repay as incur so if you ran the debt up in 12 months they will give you 12 months to repay. You can try and get them to lower it but you will need to detail income/outgoings and they will normally not allow you to include things like Sky/cable tv, mobile phones etc in outgoings as these are not essentials.

t0rt0ise

If you are not now a British Gas user then this is just a normal debt and as such you should suggest a regular amount that you can afford. If they refuse their only option is to go to court and as long as you respond to the court and have tried to negotiate with BG, the court will undoubdedly set a low figure if you are not earning or cannot afford much. They often set figures of just a pound a week or some such. British Gas should know this but you could remind them.

SwanJon

As above, there's loads of help on these boards about managing your budget.
Run through one of these to determine exactly where you stand - you can then use this to back up the amount you would like to pay.
Once you have decided this, begin to make payments (even if they are small). This will show that you are not trying to dodge the debt, and taking responsibility.

Both of these things will help you if if ever does get as far as court.

Premier_2

pearljam1988 wrote: »

...after paying direct debit for several months for electric when i moved house i was given a final bill of almost £1000...

one last note i have already contacted brittish gas who have looked into the amount of the bill and stand by their initial bill.

Hi pearljam1988, and another warm welcomne to yet another new user here on MSE :hello:
Getting popular around here aint it? Footy must have been crap.

A £1000 bill on top of what you were paying monthly for just a few months??? :eek:

BG may stand by their initial bill, but do you think it's correct.?
You are a student, so presumably one of the elite of our educational establishment (well in the top 50% by todays standards) and it ain't rocket science to work out ... but you will need accurate start & end meter readings.

pearljam1988

hi thanks for all your comments sorry with all the other things i have going on at the moment i have realised that my post was vague in places. my direct debit was set to about 65 quid a month anyway to answer that question i payed these for about 9 months only lived in the property for a year and during christmas easter was not living there was not in the house from june through till august when my tenancy ended, it does still seem high to me but the start reading and finishing reading do appear to match my records (not sure if there is an issue here), im not sure what would be classed as essentials but iv added up rent, utilities (electric, heating and water), groceries working out come in at around £550 a month which i feel is good going since over half of that is rent, i do however have another 12 months left on a contract phone which allthough only 20 pounds a month (and not seen as essential im guessing despite havinig to be payed or im simply transfering owing one ompany moey to oweing another) does mean i have about 20/30 quid left for anything else i might want to do that month which i was told would make the length to pay back too long through british gas..... however they did mention about a longer term bieng negotiable through the debt collection agency.... but this reali does scare me.

i didnt when on the phone to them last have a definate picture of how much 'spare' cash i would have at the end of each month so couldnt offer them an amount i can pay except knowing it wasnt as much as 75 pounds, and it took me a while for them to offer that it was initially in the hundreds.

would you think its worth me ringing them and saying look ive checked my finances cut my budget to bare minimum and i have just 20/30 quid a month which i could use to pay you back but thats it and seeing if they go for it.

Premier_2

If the debt accrued over 12 months, then the best they will usually offer is to repay over a similar period i.e. 12 months.

That would mean £83.33 p.m.
They've already seemed to offer you £75 per month which seems extremely generous in the circumstances since (a) you are no longer their customer (b) it doesn't appear to be all their fault (for some reason you only paid 9 of the 12 monthly DDs) (c) it would take over 12 months to repay the debt.

You can try and offer them whatever you want, but don't be too surprised if they don't accept such a low offer.

I suggest you try the Debt Free Wannabe board, or perhaps the CAB ... you may need others help in managing your debts and a DMP compiled by the CAB for example will often be taken more seriously than a self made proposal.

pearljam1988

hi i decided to stop paying by direct debit as i was no longer IN the property for the final 3 months of my tenancy since it was the summer as it was un occupied i thought at the time this made sense as i would not clock up any extra debts anyway (so i thought).... the only reason i didnt close the account at that point is that the landlord requires me to show i have been responsible and dealt with bills for the length of the tenancy. I understand they are bieng generous with their offer and am continuing to browse through these suggested areas all your help has bieng great, i basically was just unsure what my options realy where so every bit of info is fantastic cheers!!!

mikeswann

i was out of work for about a six months and clocked up a 1000 pounds to npower, three years later and paying 160 pounds a month i still owe 1000 pounds, just got my new bill today and the average this house a year cost on gas/electric is 2200 pounds. the cost has gone thought the roof at the moment and its the low end earners and students that are bing hit the hardest.

just think you could have a brand new car or a two weeks excotic hoilday the amount we give the energy compaies in the uk each year.

So good on you! keep fitting your corner, if i did not have children at home i would be fitting to, but they come first. can you imagine a teenage without a xbox these days lol

t0rt0ise

Premier wrote: »

If the debt accrued over 12 months, then the best they will usually offer is to repay over a similar period i.e. 12 months.

But as has been pointed out, as the OP is no longer a customer of BG these sorts of deals don't apply. The OP can offer what they can afford and the company will no doubt accept as they know that they will not get any more by going to court.