£400 DISCOUNT USED FOR DEBT

[Deleted User]

MWT said:

SammiJxx said:

I don't pay by Direct debit - I have a payment card that I take to a Payzone & pay cash each month.
I presumed I would receive a £66 or £67 voucher as stated but they have told me that the £400 will just get deducted from my debt.

I don't think this is allowed but can't find any advice

I do understand your concern, there is no DD involved here and as far as we know at the moment, that should mean that nothing changes in the way you pay each month and you should get the vouchers so you can reduce your payment by the amount of the voucher.

It is possible that the BG person you spoke to is just assuming it will come off the debt, so just going to have to wait a bit longer to get more clarity on how this will be handled.

God forbid - what a terrible thing to say. Are you really suggesting that CS will make things up to get people off the line? 

I suspect that this is the modus operandi for most CS teams given that they are just trotting out answers from a FAQ script.

SammiJxx

pochase said:

Post was deleted

I have not seen anything that would hint that they are allowed to use the £67 against a debt in the government information, and what has been posted about the BG information email also had no information that this is possible.

You have a fixed agreement with BG that you will pay £24 per month, I don't think they can just say there is another £67 we are just using it against the debt. Also the grant is for energy use, not to pay of debt - at least I don't see anything in the documents.

But why are you saying you would be worse off than without the grant? You would have to pay exactly the same as you would have to without the grant, but you would have £400 less debt.

Edit
OP has now said he is on prepaid.

Usually the debt collection on prepaid works the way that a percentage of a top up will be used.

A fixed monthly amount is at least for me new. How can you have a £201 usage on prepaid? Prepaid works the way that you top up whatever you need and not a monthly amount.

Are the saying they will not send you the vouchers?

I don't have a prepay meter, it is a repayment plan but I don't use direct debit, I have a card and pay each month at a Payzone outlet.
I have a prepay gas meter.
As far as I am aware, I should receive vouchers to put towards this payment & it shouldn't be used as a total amount deducted from my debt

MattMattMattUK

SammiJxx said:

I have set up a monthly payment plan which is £201 usage & £24 for my debt, repaid over 5 years.

I will let others cover the situation with the £400 credit, but one thing to look at is that your electricity seems very high, at this time of year, and being a gas property for hot water for showering etc. then your electricity usage seems very high unless there is a particular reason you are consuming so much?

MWT

SammiJxx said:

I don't have a prepay meter, it is a repayment plan but I don't use direct debit, I have a card and pay each month at a Payzone outlet.

That changes things a bit, if it is not a prepayment meter you should not be getting vouchers.

I don't think I've seen any clear statements on how your situation will be handled, but I would expect your monthly payments for your current use to be reduced by the £66 and there to be no change in your payment towards the debt.

On a related point, is it possible that you could change to paying by DD? I ask as it is likely that you would be paying a little less if you could do that as BG generally charge more for a payment method other than DD....

MattMattMattUK

SammiJxx said:

pochase said:

Post was deleted

I have not seen anything that would hint that they are allowed to use the £67 against a debt in the government information, and what has been posted about the BG information email also had no information that this is possible.

You have a fixed agreement with BG that you will pay £24 per month, I don't think they can just say there is another £67 we are just using it against the debt. Also the grant is for energy use, not to pay of debt - at least I don't see anything in the documents.

But why are you saying you would be worse off than without the grant? You would have to pay exactly the same as you would have to without the grant, but you would have £400 less debt.

Edit
OP has now said he is on prepaid.

Usually the debt collection on prepaid works the way that a percentage of a top up will be used.

A fixed monthly amount is at least for me new. How can you have a £201 usage on prepaid? Prepaid works the way that you top up whatever you need and not a monthly amount.

Are the saying they will not send you the vouchers?

I don't have a prepay meter, it is a repayment plan but I don't use direct debit, I have a card and pay each month at a Payzone outlet.
I have a prepay gas meter.
As far as I am aware, I should receive vouchers to put towards this payment & it shouldn't be used as a total amount deducted from my debt

By not using Direct Debit you are probably adding around £50-100 a year to your energy bills, it might be worth looking at changing over. 

SammiJxx

MattMattMattUK said:

SammiJxx said:

I have set up a monthly payment plan which is £201 usage & £24 for my debt, repaid over 5 years.

I will let others cover the situation with the £400 credit, but one thing to look at is that your electricity seems very high, at this time of year, and being a gas property for hot water for showering etc. then your electricity usage seems very high unless there is a particular reason you are consuming so much?

Electric shower, lighting, general day to day usage, washer & dryer (hardly used in the summer). As my bills have been estimated previously, the usage is based over 12 months and as prices have risen, so has my monthly cost.
I also have a very old light fitting that has a heat lamp round it in the bathroom and my grandchildren have a habit of leaving it on !!! - trying to find a way of disconnecting the heater or just replace the light with a more energy efficient one.

SammiJxx

MWT said:

SammiJxx said:

I don't have a prepay meter, it is a repayment plan but I don't use direct debit, I have a card and pay each month at a Payzone outlet.

That changes things a bit, if it is not a prepayment meter you should not be getting vouchers.

I don't think I've seen any clear statements on how your situation will be handled, but I would expect your monthly payments for your current use to be reduced by the £66 and there to be no change in your payment towards the debt.

On a related point, is it possible that you could change to paying by DD? I ask as it is likely that you would be paying a little less if you could do that as BG generally charge more for a payment method other than DD....

BG class this as a direct debit even though I pay it cash so I believe that I should either receive vouchers or they reduce my £201 usage payment by £66 / £67 over the 6 months

Mobtr

I’m sure I read somewhere when it was first announced that if you were in debt the £400 would be used to reduce the debt but can’t remember where & can’t find it now 

SammiJxx

MattMattMattUK said:

SammiJxx said:

pochase said:

Post was deleted

I have not seen anything that would hint that they are allowed to use the £67 against a debt in the government information, and what has been posted about the BG information email also had no information that this is possible.

You have a fixed agreement with BG that you will pay £24 per month, I don't think they can just say there is another £67 we are just using it against the debt. Also the grant is for energy use, not to pay of debt - at least I don't see anything in the documents.

But why are you saying you would be worse off than without the grant? You would have to pay exactly the same as you would have to without the grant, but you would have £400 less debt.

Edit
OP has now said he is on prepaid.

Usually the debt collection on prepaid works the way that a percentage of a top up will be used.

A fixed monthly amount is at least for me new. How can you have a £201 usage on prepaid? Prepaid works the way that you top up whatever you need and not a monthly amount.

Are the saying they will not send you the vouchers?

I don't have a prepay meter, it is a repayment plan but I don't use direct debit, I have a card and pay each month at a Payzone outlet.
I have a prepay gas meter.
As far as I am aware, I should receive vouchers to put towards this payment & it shouldn't be used as a total amount deducted from my debt

By not using Direct Debit you are probably adding around £50-100 a year to your energy bills, it might be worth looking at changing over. 

If paying Direct debit is the only way of having the £66 / £67 deducted from my monthly payment, I may consider  setting it up for 6 months

pochase

As I said before, I have not seen anywhere that the £400 can be allocated by the supplier against existing debt. Maybe somebody can correct me if they are allowed to do that? If I am correct you should receive the £400 in some form, vouchers or reduction of your monthly payment.

Some other points that come to mind.

Are you on a fixed tariff? Otherwise the £201 you keep mentioning will be increased soon by more than the £67. If the £201 is correct and not taking you into credit or debt you are using 8000KWh in a property that has also gas. That is a ridiculous high electricity use for a single person. What is the current situation with your account, are you submitting regular meter readings, are you in credit or debt (apart from the amount you have a payment plan for).

Based on the current prediction and 8000KWh usage your annual electricity cost would be £4410 or £367 + £24 = £391. If the predictions are right that will go up to almost £450 average you would need to pay in January (excluding the £24).

You will need to find where you are using the electricity. How many watt does the heat lamp have? How long are you using it for normally? How long is it on when your grandchildren are around?

Are the £100 for gas based on last years cost? If so that will also go up drastically, expect here mor ethan %250% increase.