Stitched up like a Kipper by British Gas

catcatcat23

I am at a complete loss about what to do but please take my advise and avoid British Gas unless your life depends upon it.

Firstly our business failed 3 yrs ago so we had to go bankrupt. We have been ensuring no further damage to our credit files and working hard. Thanks to Martin we realised we were paying over the odds to utilities so switched. Bgas then tried to add back onto our account a few hundred quid that had been written off in the br. So i did not pay them anything else till this was resolved. In the meantime they put late payment markers onto credit file. They then admitted what they were trying to do is illegal (chasing for money written off in a br). There was no electric to pay and £60 for the gas. Satisfied that they were not charging me incorrectly I rang up to pay and they said do you want to pay in instalments. I had not requested this but thought that it would be handy so why no. So I let them arrange for me to pay 3 lots of 20. On the last payment of 20 it was one month late because I was out of the country and forgot plus they wouldnt do dd so I was supposed to ring in to pay.

Consequences are that I now have 3 months of late payment markers for gas and 1 for electric.

This has ruined my financial future forever and I will never ever be able to get a mortgage (or at least for another 6 yrs) like I am not being punished enough.

I have complained to british gas who will not budge and take them off bearing in mind the elec one is completely unjustified as the balance was nil.

I have emailed the ombudsmen and am praying they can help. Nobody would ruin their future credit following a bankruptcy for the sake of £20 especially since it was their idea to pay in instalments not mine. I had the card in my hand I should have just paid it there and then. Talk about act in haste repent at your own leisure.

Nada666

So you went abroad and did not pay your bill. YOU have caused your credit history to be correctly marked. YOU have affected your future cost of a mortgage.

DragonQ

Yeah, I'm not sure what the OP wants anyone to do. Why didn't you just pay the £60 and be done with it??

quailpower

Nada666 wrote: »

So you went abroad and did not pay your bill. YOU have caused your credit history to be correctly marked. YOU have affected your future cost of a mortgage.

Read my mind lol!

fightyfish

In terms of late payment markers BG will rightfully report any late payments on accounts - if these are incorrect they will remove them but will never remove a correct marker. With that in mind it sounds unfortunately like they would be correct in placing one mark against your gas account for the missed £20 payment when on holiday. There is nothing the ombudsmen will do to remove this as it is factually correct.

What were BG's reasons for the other markers? If you were in a payment agreement and the other 2 payments of £20 were made on the correct date there should not have been any late payment marks as you paid when agreed.
Like you i don't understand why there is mark against the electric account if nothing was owed - did they offer any explanation for this?
It may be worth writing to the BG formally if you can't get satisfactory answers over the phone. If you initiate a formal complaints process BG have to offer at least an explanation for the charges but as all-ready stated will not remove if they are correct.

chanz4

Your lucky they are even giving you a credit meter, a lot of supplier once they write money off enforce pre-pays so I wouldnt rock the boat

catcatcat23

quailpower wrote: »

Read my mind lol!

Nasty bunch arent you - I did not say I went on holiday. These forums are great for people jumping to conclusions and getting !!!!!y.

catcatcat23

quailpower wrote: »

Read my mind lol!

Im pleased you are laughing out loud you freak

catcatcat23

fightyfish wrote: »

In terms of late payment markers BG will rightfully report any late payments on accounts - if these are incorrect they will remove them but will never remove a correct marker. With that in mind it sounds unfortunately like they would be correct in placing one mark against your gas account for the missed £20 payment when on holiday. There is nothing the ombudsmen will do to remove this as it is factually correct.

What were BG's reasons for the other markers? If you were in a payment agreement and the other 2 payments of £20 were made on the correct date there should not have been any late payment marks as you paid when agreed.
Like you i don't understand why there is mark against the electric account if nothing was owed - did they offer any explanation for this?
It may be worth writing to the BG formally if you can't get satisfactory answers over the phone. If you initiate a formal complaints process BG have to offer at least an explanation for the charges but as all-ready stated will not remove if they are correct.

The late payment markers were there for the period of time when I was waiting for them to issue a correct final bill. The bill they had issued had an unexplained amount for a few hundred pounds and they did not even know what it was. This was the period of time they put late payment markers on.

So the last one out of the three was factually correct however they said because the last one was late it covered the whole period prior to that. Its confusing.

The electric one should be gone. I will contact them again via the correct channels to see what can be done.

Thanks for a sensible and informative reply without prejudice.

schrodie

catcatcat23 wrote: »

Nasty bunch arent you - I did not say I went on holiday. These forums are great for people jumping to conclusions and getting !!!!!y.

You find that on forums "nasty" people say things they'd probably never dream of saying to your face but they can hide behind they keyboards.

catcatcat23

schrodie wrote: »

You find that on forums "nasty" people say things they'd probably never dream of saying to your face but they can hide behind they keyboards.

I'm beginning to notice that. It is a way to bully and offend in secret. Conjures up the image of very sad ppl sitting in their homes dishing out mindless remarks. I had posted this out of frustration and for advise. Bankruptcy is not something people do out of choice and we were victims of the recession, our business failed. I guess it is my fault for overlooking the final £20 however I have not gone into the rest of my personal circumstances therefore those 'nasty' ppl are totally out of order and unjust.

I have submitted the complaint again and hopefully they will remove incorrect markers.

thanks