Am i allowed to ask for DD not to go up?

bigmomma051204

I am with British Gas for electricity and gas.... have just received my latest direct debit letter/statement and the monthly costs have gone up phenomenally!! Now they read the meter on 15th Feb so i can't really dispute the increase though i cannot believe that we are using THAT much more leccy and gas over the last year as there is no difference :eek:

My DD for electricity has gone up from £21 a month to £67!! And the gas has gone from £40 a month to £60 a month!

I am apparently in major debit to them (and i havent the lump sums to pay the amounts off!) of leccy = £182 and gas = £136! Nightmare :eek:

So basically i am going to HAVE to ring them and try to plead poverty (well not quite but nearly there eeek!) .... i am facing redundancy in next couple of months and my hubby is registered disabled and unable to work at the moment...... should i mention these factors or will they look at me facing redundancy as a bad thing and want to put it up MORE cos i may not be able to pay as well if i become unemployed in future???

I am so stressed and with redundancy etc it is just the worst time this could have happened (yeah, i know everyone is in a crappy boat at the moment but i feel a bit sorry for myself lol!)

So - do i ring them and see if they will make my payments a bit smaller?

And am i able to randomly ring up over next couple of months and pay off a bigger chunk if i can - ie if i find i have a bit of money left over at end of Feb, could i ring them and pay off £50 towards the debit amount? If i offered to pay off the debit over next 3 months in installments, would they consider doing a new direct debit NOT including the debit amount??

macman

You can pay off lump sums any time you like, they should then reduce your DD accordingly.
The reason your DD has gone up is not because of an increase in usage or unit price, but because you have not supplied actual meter readings, and so have been receiving estimated bills which do not reflect your actual usage. Now you have been hit with a big catchup bill based on actual readings.
In future supply your readings at least every quarter, so that your bills and reflect your actual usage.
If the debt has built up over x months, you should be able to negotiate x months to pay it off.
You should also ensure that you are on the cheapest BG tariff. (i.e. not standard tariff), as you won't be able to switch until the debt is cleared.
If they didn't put the DD's up, then the debt would increase, as it's probably not now covering your ongoing usage, let alone the debt.

spiro

Look at the figures like this. They have increased your elec DD by £46 when you owe £182 so they are giving you 4 months to repay and they have increased your gas DD by £20 when you owe £136 so they are giving you nearly 7 months to repay.

That is not taking into account the fact that the original DD was not covering you useage or the recent price rises. On a DD tariff they expect the account to balance every 12 months with some suppliers using 12 months after you join and others using the spring (end March, for account year purposes).

You also need to remember which have just had the coldest winter (more to come) in over 50 years.

Unfortunately as has already been said if you have had estimated bills previously and not phoned you supplier with an actual reading then this issue is of your own making. This forum is littered with threads along a similar lines.

SwanJon

Firstly I work for British Gas, but not involved with DDs.

I'd give them a call and see what they can do, especially in light of your husband's circumstances. The worst that can happen is that they say no.

Have you had a look at their website? I thought I saw something there last time about taking more control of your DDs (including taking a month off), but still paying the same over the year.

As above, look at other tariffs to see what suits you better. (If you can clear the balance/pay the balance off in the next few months it's also worth looking at other suppliers. If you leave British Gas they will ask for all the balance back in a shorter time.)

KimYeovil

If you expect a dip in your income in the future then it is far better to grasp the nettle and pay for the power just now. The more you pay now the less you will have to pay when things really do start to bite. You do not want to be trapped with a debt to pay off and unable to change supplier.