Peoples Energy to British Gas - Standard Tarriff

chris1012

I have just received an email from British Gas to advise my move from Peoples Energy to British Gas on the verge of completion and encouraging me to set up  Direct Debit monthly payments (go-live will be quarterly manual payments).

The current plan is on their default standard Gas and Elect. Based on MSE, there is no other better options either with BG or elsewhere.
Should I opt for Direct Debit payments to obtain their discounts?
A little concerned as the costs are for around £190 a month...

MWT

You are on what is currently the cheapest tariff, and DD payment is the cheapest way to pay it.

If you don't setup a DD it is just going to cost you more so why wouldn't you do it to reduce the cost a little?

Astria

Yes the cost of £190/month does seem a little high, but if you go for DD you'll get the DD discounts and then in the summer if you are in credit you can always request a refund or negotiate a lower DD.

bagand96

Rather unusually, for all of their recent SoLR tariffs - including The People's Tariff - BG have applied the same rate regardless of payment type.  So in effect everyone is getting the DD rate, even if you choose to pay on receipt of bill.

So as long you remain on that tariff, there's no financial benefit to setting up a DD, although you still can if it will help with budgeting etc.

MWT

bagand96 said:

Rather unusually, for all of their recent SoLR tariffs - including The People's Tariff - BG have applied the same rate regardless of payment type.  So in effect everyone is getting the DD rate, even if you choose to pay on receipt of bill.

So as long you remain on that tariff, there's no financial benefit to setting up a DD, although you still can if it will help with budgeting etc.

I may be remembering a different situation, but didn't BG put a time limit on that though?

I thought they were requiring people to set up a DD by the end of January or they would revert  to the higher charges for the cash & cheque payment method.

bagand96

MWT said:

bagand96 said:

Rather unusually, for all of their recent SoLR tariffs - including The People's Tariff - BG have applied the same rate regardless of payment type.  So in effect everyone is getting the DD rate, even if you choose to pay on receipt of bill.

So as long you remain on that tariff, there's no financial benefit to setting up a DD, although you still can if it will help with budgeting etc.

I may be remembering a different situation, but didn't BG put a time limit on that though?

I thought they were requiring people to set up a DD by the end of January or they would revert  to the higher charges for the cash & cheque payment method.

I haven't seen anything regarding a time limit (although I was PFP and not PE).  The tariff information labels make no mention of a time limit, but I guess it could change.

QrizB

MWT said:

I thought they were requiring people to set up a DD by the end of January or they would revert  to the higher charges for the cash & cheque payment method.

I'm pretty sure that's EDF and ex-Zog customers (like me). And the cut-off is 22nd Jan IIRC.

MWT

QrizB said:

MWT said:

I thought they were requiring people to set up a DD by the end of January or they would revert  to the higher charges for the cash & cheque payment method.

I'm pretty sure that's EDF and ex-Zog customers (like me). And the cut-off is 22nd Jan IIRC.

You are probably right, so many SoLR to keep track of

MWT

bagand96 said:

MWT said:

bagand96 said:

Rather unusually, for all of their recent SoLR tariffs - including The People's Tariff - BG have applied the same rate regardless of payment type.  So in effect everyone is getting the DD rate, even if you choose to pay on receipt of bill.

So as long you remain on that tariff, there's no financial benefit to setting up a DD, although you still can if it will help with budgeting etc.

I may be remembering a different situation, but didn't BG put a time limit on that though?

I thought they were requiring people to set up a DD by the end of January or they would revert  to the higher charges for the cash & cheque payment method.

I haven't seen anything regarding a time limit (although I was PFP and not PE).  The tariff information labels make no mention of a time limit, but I guess it could change.

Yes, looking back at it again, the BG approach has been that they put everyone onto the same quarterly tariff while they try to move the DD agreements from PE for those who already had a DD set up.

So for now there is no price advantage in setting up a DD, but if you want to move from quarterly to monthly billing you will need to set up the DD to avoid a price increase.

MWT

QrizB said:

MWT said:

I thought they were requiring people to set up a DD by the end of January or they would revert  to the higher charges for the cash & cheque payment method.

I'm pretty sure that's EDF and ex-Zog customers (like me). And the cut-off is 22nd Jan IIRC.

Looks like Neon Reef people are getting this message:

"Hello XXXXXXXYour transfer to British Gas is nearly complete.

We've set up your payments as quarterly cash/cheque as we haven't received the necessary information to set you up on Direct Debit. But you can set one up right now and take control of your energy payments. It's the cheapest and easiest way to pay, as you receive a Direct Debit discount

Please note: although we have set you up on cash/cheque payments, we have currently given you Direct Debit prices - if you don't set up a Direct Debit you will lose this discount and the price of your energy will be going up. If you've already set up your Direct Debit, you can ignore this email.

We also wanted to let you know that if you are waiting for a credit from your previous supplier, we're still in talks with the administrators to get this moved over for you - we'll be in touch when it's all been finalised."

No specific date mentioned but clearly BG are not intending to keep the DD discount in place without a DD...