PAYG Meter Installed But Repayments Too High - Who To Complain To?

samsmoot

Hiyas,


My friend had a PAYG meter installed and despite verbal promises of a £3.60 p.w. repayment and reduced charges (at the time of installation) the repayments have been set to £6.50 per week and disputed charges have not been removed.


I understand that the maximum amount that should be taken if on benefits (which they are) is around £3.60 per week, and the added charges concern court warrants and costs and for visits to the property. These charges are disputed as the PAYG meter was requested to be installed in 2012 by the occupier - the reason it couldn't be installed was because the owner of the property failed to erect a cover for the existing meter, which is on an outside wall. British Gas knew this from their first visit yet still applied for more warrants of entry - and encountered the same situation (until they erected a cover themselves). Can they legally recover costs for warrants after they have been invited to come on to the property? It does sound very unreasonable and unnecessary, and especially as they knew a PAYG meter could not be fitted unless a cover was installed.


The gas supplier, British Gas, have received a recent email stating the facts but have failed to respond - my friend got a letter today which seems to have added more charges.


As far as the added charges are concerned, that could possibly be addressed at a later date - for example: once the agreed amount was paid off any more money taken through the meter could be subject to a civil claim - which is how my friend suggested British Gas deal with the disputed charges. The amount owed for gas usage is around the £1500 mark but they want around £2000 in total. It will obviously take a while to reach the point where disputed charges will be taken but it would be better to get it resolved quickly rather than leave it hanging.


It's the repayment amount that is the problem at the moment - my friend receives JSA, leaving (after deductions for a Budgeting Loan) less than £50 per week to live on.


The main question is, then, how do they get the repayments reduced? The bloke in charge of the installation of the PAYG meter wrote down that repayments should be at the minimum and promised to get the added charges for visits etc wrote off - he was not telling the truth by the looks of it.


As British Gas will not acknowledge the emails and the fact that the charges are disputed, and that they have said that the £6.50 deductions are 'as agreed' it would seem to be a waste of time contacting them again.


What's the best course of action?

misterbarlow

An agreed debt repayment amount usually is not inclusive of any weekly standing charge, which could be another £1.50-£3pw, depending on the supplier.. maybe this accounts for the extra they have to pay??

samsmoot

misterbarlow wrote: »

An agreed debt repayment amount usually is not inclusive of any weekly standing charge, which could be another £1.50-£3pw, depending on the supplier.. maybe this accounts for the extra they have to pay??

Don't think so - they say 'we'll now collect £6.50 a week to pay back your outstanding balance'.

SwanJon

I think you need to treat the two things seperately.
The weekly recovery rate is an absolute minimum (not maximum) of £3.60(ish - changes each year), but more normally the minimum is £6.
At £6.50 it will take four and a half years to pay off the debt, then another year and a half to pay off the charges.

Best bet would be to phone in (0800 048 0303 or 0330 100 0303) and talk it through with someone - this is often quicket than emails back and fore.
Depending on how the negoitiations go, you could ask for it to be put down to £3.60 for the winter, and back up in the summer when consumption is less.

You can check what the meter is programmed to recover by looking at screens 25, 26 and 27.

As you say, you can look into the charges once the WRR is sorted.

samsmoot

Thanks SwanJon. Yes, phoning would hopefully get it sorted more quickly and I will suggest it.