British Gas increase

pollyanna24

I've just received an e-mail from British Gas saying they are putting my monthly payment up by £17 as I am £22.82 in debit.

Can I just keep my payments what they were as in the spring time I won't be using as much gas through the heating?

Cardew

Why won't you be 'using as much gas through the heating'? For most people the heaviest consumption of gas will be over the next few months.

The reason your DD has increased is because for normal consumption patterns you should be well in credit at this time of year, and you have a debit balance.

If you have some other form of heating e.g. a wood burning stove, you can get BG to keep your payments the same as at present. Or you can insist your increased payment is reduced, but you are likely to finish up £hundreds in debt by Spring.

SwanJon

If you log onto the British Gas site you can adjust your DD amount within certain levels - I've not looked for a while but you used to be able to adjust each month individually so long as the total was the right amount.

The new amount will cover a projection of how much they think you will use until the end of your DD plan, not just the £22.87 that you are behind now- giving them an up to date reading will make sure this is as accurate as possible.

matelodave

It's likely that if you are £22 in debit now that by the end of March that debit will have increased by another £200 or more.

Most people use 60-70% of their energy in the winter and so you should ideally be around £150 in credit rather than in debit already.

If you feel that the £17 increase is unjustified, then ask them to change it back but start saving at least £20 a month yourself for when the big bill comes in early next year.

It might also be a good idea to start reading your meters and checking your bills to make sure that the bills are actually reflecting your consumption any estimates may make it worse, so get them corrected and make sure that your direct debit is covering your consumption (which it obviously isn't if you are in debit already)

pollyanna24

Cardew wrote: »

Why won't you be 'using as much gas through the heating'? For most people the heaviest consumption of gas will be over the next few months.

The reason your DD has increased is because for normal consumption patterns you should be well in credit at this time of year, and you have a debit balance.

If you have some other form of heating e.g. a wood burning stove, you can get BG to keep your payments the same as at present. Or you can insist your increased payment is reduced, but you are likely to finish up £hundreds in debt by Spring.

in the spring time I won't be using as much gas through the heating. You missed off the first part of the sentence.

Fair enough. Thanks for your help.

Cardew

pollyanna24 wrote: »

in the spring time I won't be using as much gas through the heating. You missed off the first part of the sentence.

Fair enough. Thanks for your help.

It is the period before Spring time where the heaviest consumption is for most people i.e. now until end of March.

pollyanna24

Cardew wrote: »

It is the period before Spring time where the heaviest consumption is for most people i.e. now until end of March.

Yes, I'm aware of that, hence why I said "in the spring time I won't be using as much."

I thought that it would all balance itself out. I get that I'm in debit by £22.92, but this is over the whole of last year, so less than £2 a month.

I use more in the next few months and hardly any in Spring and Summer.

matelodave

OK then, are you on a fixed deal. When did it start and when does it finish.

If you've got a good grasp of what you are using and how your consumption and payment profiles work out then you should be OK. However if you want to change suppliers in say April, then you'll have around £200+ to pay off before you can swap. If it's around September next year then you should just about balance out.

Some energy companies will allow you to ramp up a big debit, some wont. Just ask them to re-instate your original DD and tell them why. If they don't like it then go somewhere else.

pollyanna24

matelodave wrote: »

OK then, are you on a fixed deal. When did it start and when does it finish.

If you've got a good grasp of what you are using and how your consumption and payment profiles work out then you should be OK. However if you want to change suppliers in say April, then you'll have around £200+ to pay off before you can swap. If it's around September next year then you should just about balance out.

Some energy companies will allow you to ramp up a big debit, some wont. Just ask them to re-instate your original DD and tell them why. If they don't like it then go somewhere else.

I'm on British Gas fixed till next October. I have sent an e-mail asking for the payment to be the same, I will see what they say.

Going from what people have said though, even if they do keep my payment at the lower amount, I think I will stick the £19 in an account every month and if it is surplus next year, I'll spend it! Yay!

Cardew

If you are well in debt to any energy company, at the end of a fixed term, that company can prevent you switching to another supplier.

That has always been the case, however there is now a new twist to be considered. Many companies are now preventing existing customers from moving to their cheapest tariff.