British Gas cancelled my direct debit and says it's my fault!

Takmon

FraserR wrote: »

To clarify...
British Gas set up the direct debit when I joined them and set the amount.

It ran smoothly for a year

British Gas cancelled my direct debit in error, but did not tell me - I now know this happened when they tried to increase the DD amount after my fixed tariff ran out, but they didn’t tell me my tariff had increased either.

Hence the higher bill of £800.

Hopefully you will take this as a good warning that your finances are out of control and you need to sort them out ASAP. You have made many mistakes here by not keeping an eye on your tariff or checking your energy account and not having any kind of budget and just spending every penny you have in your bank account.

I have a separate bills account so if this happened to me the money would just build up and it would all be there waiting to pay them when they asked for it.

mcmullank

Takmon wrote: »

Hopefully you will take this as a good warning that your finances are out of control and you need to sort them out ASAP. You have made many mistakes here by not keeping an eye on your tariff or checking your energy account and not having any kind of budget and just spending every penny you have in your bank account.

I have a separate bills account so if this happened to me the money would just build up and it would all be there waiting to pay them when they asked for it.

Good on you for believing that you finances are in order but your post is just sanctimonious claptrap. From what the OP has posted, you have made some massive assumptions which offer no solution to the problem that the OP has (as opposed to the problems that you are telling them they have).


OP: Write to BG telling requesting that they provide evidence that they notified you about the end of your Fixed Rate Tarrif and request that you pay the arrears over x months. If BG have not notified you of the expiry of your tarriff, write back to them calculating your debt based on the tarriff that you were on and let them know that any charges above this will be disputed.

Takmon

mcmullank wrote: »

Good on you for believing that you finances are in order but your post is just sanctimonious claptrap. From what the OP has posted, you have made some massive assumptions which offer no solution to the problem that the OP has (as opposed to the problems that you are telling them they have).

What assumptions do you think I have made ?

mcmullank

Takmon wrote: »

Hopefully you will take this as a good warning that your finances are out of control and you need to sort them out ASAP. You have made many mistakes here by not keeping an eye on your tariff or checking your energy account and not having any kind of budget and just spending every penny you have in your bank account.

I have a separate bills account so if this happened to me the money would just build up and it would all be there waiting to pay them when they asked for it.

These are all assumptions.



I wouldn't say that receiving an £800 electric bill is indicative of finances being out of control. Nor would I assume that the OP does not have the orginal £450 and that it is the additional £350 being requested that constitutes "financial hardship". The last highlighted assumption doesn't even need explaining.


Don't assume that your own finances are directly comparable to someone elses.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

OP can you send me £50 a month please as you obviously would not miss it!

Takmon

mcmullank wrote: »

These are all assumptions.

I wouldn't say that receiving an £800 electric bill is indicative of finances being out of control. Nor would I assume that the OP does not have the orginal £450 and that it is the additional £350 being requested that constitutes "financial hardship". The last highlighted assumption doesn't even need explaining.

Don't assume that your own finances are directly comparable to someone elses.

Well if they are running a household and don't even have an emergency fund that is a serious warning sign to start with. The fact this causes them "financial hardship" is enough alone to say their finances are out of control.

They also admitted they had no idea that the payment was not being taken and have no idea how much their energy usage costs them per month so that shows they have no budget.

To be in control of your fiances the minimum requirement is to:
-Know income and outgoings
-Have a Budget
-Have an emergency fund
-Check regularly that all payments are correct

It's so easy to work it all out and have separate accounts for bills, spending etc so you can see within seconds if everything is correct that there is no excuse not to be organised with your money. It's even more important when an £800 bill will cause you financial hardship.

mcmullank

Takmon wrote: »

Well if they are running a household and don't even have an emergency fund that is a serious warning sign to start with. The fact this causes them "financial hardship" is enough alone to say their finances are out of control.

They also admitted they had no idea that the payment was not being taken and have no idea how much their energy usage costs them per month so that shows they have no budget.

To be in control of your fiances the minimum requirement is to:
-Know income and outgoings
-Have a Budget
-Have an emergency fund
-Check regularly that all payments are correct

It's so easy to work it all out and have separate accounts for bills, spending etc so you can see within seconds if everything is correct that there is no excuse not to be organised with your money. It's even more important when an £800 bill will cause you financial hardship.

Ah, I think I understand you now. You think everyone has excess income that they can squirell away for a rainy day. I think you may be wanting to post on the debt-free wanabees threads rather than preaching to someone looking for advice on a specific issue.

RelievedSheff

mcmullank wrote: »

Ah, I think I understand you now. You think everyone has excess income that they can squirell away for a rainy day. I think you may be wanting to post on the debt-free wanabees threads rather than preaching to someone looking for advice on a specific issue.

The specific issue though is one that the OP has brought on themselves by not being more organised with their bills.

They try to blame BG but in reality it is their own fault that they have racked up £800 of debt.

Hopefully this will be a lesson learned. It may be a bitter pill to swallow but if they have used that energy then they need to pay for it.

matelodave

It really needs the op to have been checking his bank account regularly to see whether the correct DD are being taken and that no one else is having a dip.
Keeping an eye on your money really is your responsibilty. It's not ever so hard to check your bank account and energy bills once a month or so to ensure that everything is in order.

It also allows you to identify a problem before it gets out of hand.

Just have a look at most of the "my bill is too high", "xxx has quadrupled my gas bill"," I've just had a ginormous final bill", "my DD hasn't been taken and I now owe £££'s" and they nearly all come down to the same couple of causes.

Meter not being read regularly, bills not being checked regularly and bank accounts not being monitored. For some reason these are all someone else's fault.

It's your bill, your money so it's up to you to take charge of it.

Takmon

mcmullank wrote: »

Ah, I think I understand you now. You think everyone has excess income that they can squirell away for a rainy day. I think you may be wanting to post on the debt-free wanabees threads rather than preaching to someone looking for advice on a specific issue.

Prevention is much better than cure. So the OP needs to realise how bad their financial situation is and sort it out before it's too late. I would much rather tell someone they are in trouble early so they can sort it out than wait until they get thousands of pounds in debt.

Everyone needs to have a budget and know their income and outgoings so they can effectively manage their finances. If they are spending more than they earn they need to adjust their spending so they don't get into increasing debt.

The majority of people actually do have excess income to be able to save once they keep to a strict budget. Most people spend every penny they have nudt because its paid into their bank and are then waiting for the next payday. But if you think about it how likely is it that they earn the exact amount they need without 1 penny spare for saving?.