British Gas

SwissT0ny

Hello all, British Gas want to charge my sister inlaw £70 each for gas and electricity if she wants to swap providers which I find is an extortionate amount. Has anyone changed from BG and paid to do so, I swap whenever the bills start to rise and have never paid to change is this just BG ripping people off and can they legally do it as her freedom of choice is being abused.

many thanks.

notbritishgas

SwissT0ny wrote: »

Hello all, British Gas want to charge my sister inlaw £70 each for gas and electricity if she wants to swap providers which I find is an extortionate amount. Has anyone changed from BG and paid to do so, I swap whenever the bills start to rise and have never paid to change is this just BG ripping people off and can they legally do it as her freedom of choice is being abused.

many thanks.

If your sister in law signed up to a tariff that had a charge for leaving before the end of the contract then the charge is quite justified. There are many such tariffs from all suppliers these days.
I have no idea if BG did have a tariff with a £70 charge as that does seem high, most are about the £30 mark.
What tariff is she on?

neilmcl

notbritishgas wrote: »

I have no idea if BG did have a tariff with a £70 charge as that does seem high, most are about the £30 mark.
What tariff is she on?

Probably £35 per fuel. OP, tell your SIL to read her contract in future.

Airmike23

No it is a £70 charge for gas and I think you'll find £30 for electric and she is on one of their fixed deals, probably automatically put on it in either 2009 or 2010 when a previous cap of fixed deal with BG had ended. Look at her bill from BG and it will tell you, from memory they have 2 Fixes that expire in 2011 and 2 in 2012 - both are extremely expensive when compared to the current BG Standard rate, and when looking at the other tariffs available in the market, if she can afford the £100 to cancel early she will be saving far more by changing supplier. Also if she is in credit the £100 may well be partially or fully absorbed, depending how much credit are on the gas and the electric.