British Gas

KrisztinaB

Good morning All, I had the shock of my life on Thursday to find that British Gas took £578 from my bank account by direct debit instead of the usual £54 per month! 

I am aware that the energy prices are rising but surely not by this much! Ten times more for a month! 

Shocking. 

I have been trying to get hold of them and when I eventually managed to speak to someone I was told that they can't help me at ordinary customers services as my account was moved to their online system and there is a specials number for them. Been trying to get through but impossible and after severe rounds of holding for nearly an hour at a time, I gave up! 

I have logged an official complaint and asked the bank to reverse the payment - I am not sure that was the right thing to do but don't have 579£ for just one bill, it pushed my bank account into overdraft and I can't have that. 

Has anyone experienced anything similar? 

What do I do? 

Thanks in advance for any support and experience shared
Krisztina 

Astria

Have you just come off a fixed rate?

My DD went from £50/month to £340/month.

They would have typically told you in advance, maybe via email.

Whats your annual usage of gas and electric?

MattMattMattUK

KrisztinaB said:

Good morning All, I had the shock of my life on Thursday to find that British Gas took £578 from my bank account by direct debit instead of the usual £54 per month! 

I am aware that the energy prices are rising but surely not by this much! Ten times more for a month! 

Shocking. 

What is your actual usage in kWh? What tariff are you on? Do you have a smart meter, is it working, or are you submitting regular meter reads? What does your latest bill say about the Direct Debit? In all likelihood the £54 pcm was far too low and you will have accumulated significant debt as well as it not covering your ongoing usage. 

KrisztinaB said:

I have been trying to get hold of them and when I eventually managed to speak to someone I was told that they can't help me at ordinary customers services as my account was moved to their online system and there is a specials number for them. Been trying to get through but impossible and after severe rounds of holding for nearly an hour at a time, I gave up! 

What does your latest bill and/or statement say when you log in?

KrisztinaB said:

I have logged an official complaint and asked the bank to reverse the payment - I am not sure that was the right thing to do but don't have 579£ for just one bill,

If they notified you in advance then there is not a lot to complain about, check your bills/statements/online accounts messages/letters section. The bank will not reverse the payment if it is legitimate.

KrisztinaB said:

it pushed my bank account into overdraft and I can't have that. 

When you say "and I can't have that" do you mean because you do not want that to happen, or for a wider reason (eg. a mortgage/rent payment will bounce)? Can you transfer additional funds into the account?

KrisztinaB said:

Has anyone experienced anything similar? 

What do I do? 

Thanks in advance for any support and experience shared
Krisztina 

Other people have, that is not relevant. What you need to establish is, is the bill correct, were you notified about the change in Direct Debit amount in advance and what will be your ongoing payments. 

macman

Your DD is not a 'price' for actual usage, it's just a contribution to your annual total bill. It will only have gone up because a) your previous readings are under-estimated and now you have a big catch-up bill, b) your meter readings are wrong, or c) you have a lot of debt on the account which is now being recovered.
You haven't told us what fuel this is for, or how your house is heated and hot watered, but £54 a month is absurdly low at present prices for almost any property.
You should have been advised in advance of the DD hike by email or letter-so what does your online account say?

Novice_investor101

£50 a month was my monthly DD when on my old, pre-crisis tariff & actually covered my electric & gas for the year. But I’m in a 2 bed mid terrace which I was rarely ever in, so barely used any electricity at all. The shower is electric & the heating & hob are gas. I usually used 1 unit of gas all summer & naff all electricity because I was out of the house all the time. 

On the current price cap, my electric bill has been just under £53 for October & November. 

 This sounds like there’s been a catch up bill issued. 

ariarnia

hi Krisztina. 

just to pull a few things together from other posts. what you need to do is to work out why they took such a large amount. (that could be they made a mistake or it could be that you haven't been paying enough for your use until now. then you know what you are actually complaining about (the lack of warning or the mistake)

the easiest way to do that is to look at your meters and your bills (copies of your bills should be on your online account to check). 

on the bills does it say estemated or 'e' next to the numbers they use to work out what you owed? does the meter readings on your latest bill match your meters in your house? does the bill say there is any debt on your account or do you have credit? (you really should have credit at this time of year if your dd has been set to the right level for your annual use)