£14+ xtra charge for not paying bill in one go not having direct deb

turnbui

hi evrryone,
i have just had a call from India British Gas's phone centre to tell me that I will be charged £14.54 if I don't pay my bill immediately.

They again offered to help me set up a direct debit. I don't have DD's set up as being a state pensioner the money isn't always there when they take it and I get charged. What I normally do is this, freeze over the winter, when the bill comes in I pay roughly half when my next state pension payment comes in and don't eat that well that week. Then I wait approx a month and pay the other half to settle the bill. I like this, it works for me and British gas always get their money. I find it difficult to get to the shops and would opt for a Key meter/card but for this.

Is this £14+ allowed? I mean I don't use the electricity all in one go, so I don't see what the problem is? Maybe I'm just a ...

Richie-from-the-Boro

turnbui wrote: »

hi everyone,
i have just had a call from India British Gas's phone centre to tell me that I will be charged £14.54 if I don't pay my bill immediately.

They again offered to help me set up a direct debit. I don't have DD's set up as being a state pensioner the money isn't always there when they take it and I get charged. What I normally do is this, freeze over the winter, when the bill comes in I pay roughly half when my next state pension payment comes in and don't eat that well that week. Then I wait approx a month and pay the other half to settle the bill. I like this, it works for me and British gas always get their money. I find it difficult to get to the shops and would opt for a Key meter/card but for this.

Is this £14+ allowed? I mean I don't use the electricity all in one go, so I don't see what the problem is? Maybe I'm just a ...

HiYa turnbui,

- your energy supplier is not remotely interested in, or even aware
- that you have no money, or whether can get to the shops or not
- they only care that you have used something and not paid for it

You could have an online account and keep up to date with your use and payments there.

You could have a key meter fitted and pay to top it up online.

Without more details about your arrears and tariff its difficult to comment on the surcharge penalty. Best of luck.

pjread

Just FYI, the key meters are generally going to cost you a lot more than £14 more than any decent credit meter tariff... Have you compared to see if there is a cheaper supplier/tariff ?

Wywth

British Gas to not apply any surcharge as far as I know for paying a bill late. (although charges may eventually be applied if debt collectors are involved, etc)

You may be entitled to a prompt payment discount (if you pay promptly) but I think this is applied to the following bill, or a discount for agreeing to pay by Direct Debit.

If you are in breach of the terms of a particular tariff, (e.g. you agree to pay by direct debit, but don't, or the direct debit is returned unpaid) the supplier may move you to an alternative, more appropriate tariff (usually their standard tariff which I think BG refer to as their Clear & Simple tariff)

Nada666

You are not supposed to pay your winter bills out of your weekly/fortnightly pension payments. You are supposed to put money aside all through the year (particularly now, summer) and use those savings to pay for winter bills.

If you do not have the discipline to do this yourself then the easiest way to manage this is to switch to paying by direct debit. What is your opposition to doing this? It gives you the most flexibility and the best prices.

Alternatively British Gas do allow you to credit prepayment meters online - you do not need to go to the shops. But how do you get the cash from your pension payments? You must go somewhere sometime - you can top-up meters then (it is permitted to top-up by more than a tenner at a time, you know.)

You say you are a state pensioner rather than on a private pension - does this not mean you are paid the full whack of more than £140 per week - or are you caught between two stools and receive very little?

Joyful

British Gas DO charge you for paying late and it is in the terms and conditions of supply. If you cannot afford to pay the bill in full when it arrives and cannot set up a direct debit I would suggest once this bill is cleared to ask for a card to pay at the paypoint fortnightly or monthly.

You have to remember that you have already had 3 months of energy before paying so the idea is to have enough payments to clear your bill when it arrives. If you are on a payment plan there may be times when you build up a credit and likewise build up a debt. This way there will be no charges as it should break even at the end of 12 months.. Also this way you will not panic at a 3 monthly bill coming through. Another option is to register online where you can have the option to pay in full monthly.

If you did opt for a prepayment meter you can top up both online with the Home top up.

Wywth

Joyful wrote: »

British Gas DO charge you for paying late and it is in the terms and conditions of supply. ...

3.6 If you do not pay your bill for gas or electricity (or both) when we remind you, we can start charging you interest at 3% a year above HSBC Bank's current base rate. We can from 28 days after we sent the original bill to you.

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/termsandconditions

Note the word 'can' rather than 'will'

Assuming HSBC base rate is 0.5%, to be charged £14.54 means a bill of over £415 has been owed for at least 13 months.

Or a bill of £4980 has not been paid for 2 months since billing :eek:

Or some other combination