British Gas Outgoing Payment

sparky0138

Just in case anyone finds themselves in the same situation as me, and to save you having to make unnecessary contact, I thought I'd create a post which explains what an "outgoing payment" is in relation to British Gas.

I noticed £10.33 had been credited to my bank account so I checked my BG online account to see if I could find out why. Under "view your payment history" which can be found on the "view payment plan" page, the £10.33 was listed as an outgoing payment.

Having no idea what it was for, I searched on here and also on Twitter to see if anyone else had experienced the same thing. Apart from a couple of people asking on Twitter (with no answer) I couldn't find anything so I contacted BG and asked them.

It turns out that on every annual reassessment (when they recalculate your direct debit) they hold a maximum of £75 credit on the account and any remaining credit is refunded so it's a very simple explanation but if you have no idea what it's for, it can be rather confusing.

I think it would be helpful if BG informed their customers, perhaps with a small note on everyone's bill if they get the refund (or when they first sign up) to avoid confusion or unnecessary contact with them to find out what it is. I said as much to them and they've passed on my feedback.

Hopefully, an explanation will be provided to customers in the future but in the meantime, this post should help anyone searching for an answer.