urgent help needed

Lia84

Long story short, I'm on JSA currently and living with my partner. British gas have billed us £528 for gas/electricity and want payment for the 4th February. There is no way we can pay so much in such a short time.

I rang British gas and they suggested going on a 12 month payment plan of £157 per month which will pay off this current bill and any additional will be put as credit on future bills, which seemed a reasonable option and the lady was nice.
I really don't want to go onto a 12 month payment plan and wondered if anyone else has any other options for me, desperate for help.

I have never been late paying any bills before and don't want to get into serious debt or anything.

Please help. Stressing out here.

matelodave

The alternative is a pre-payment meter which will put you onto their standard tariff and try to recover the debt as well. You could ask BG if they'll spread it over a longer period but in the end it has to be paid and the longer it takes the longer it will be before you are out of debt or able to get onto a better deal. Ask BG if you are on their best deal rather than just on their standard tariff, they may allow you to go onto a cheaper deal which would help
You should be reading the meter regularly and checking your bills - is this bill based on a reading or an estimate. If it's an estimate, go and read your meter now and hope that they've over estimated rather than under, then tell BG what it is and make sure you get an accurate up to date bill.
You should also put some effort into saving energy which will help your arrears go down a bit faster

Nada666

If you are paying quarterly then an alternative is to inform them you intend to clear the balance by the next bill. This may be more manageable than committing to the twelve-month plan (but tough as you will have ongoing winter usage as well as the balance so could easily be £250 per month.

If you want to pay quarterly in future then in future keep an eye on your meters and put aside or make an extra payment as you go along instead of waiting for the bill. Or you can switch to paying by direct debit (although you may want to clear this current balance before doing that to avoid committing to a too high instalment.) Paying be direct debit will also be cheaper (especially if you also shop around for a cheaper tariff.)

You could also apply for a budgeting loan from the social fund (but if you do do that then make sure you also separately start saving up a couple of hundred pounds for an emergency.)

System

another option is to get in contact with the social and ask them if they will take money out of your jsa and make direct payments direct to bg and its also a lot bettter than having a card meter, they did that with me and it was much better

Nada666

mackemps3 wrote: »

another option is to get in contact with the social and ask them if they will take money out of your jsa and make direct payments direct to bg and its also a lot bettter than having a card meter, they did that with me and it was much better

Horses for courses but I suspect many would think that to be far worse than a prepayment meter. Your debt repayment may only be £3.60 but you also have deducted at source your historical usage - with a prepayment you get to adjust your usage (and spend) in real time.

If it is a one-off problem and they just did not think to read their meter this year there is no need for payments direct.