Goverment discount energy Scheme and British Gas

DanH1974

Hi

Hope someone can help and explain how the scheme works as Ive been stuck with the British Gas chat bot for a few hours now and they have again just closed the chat and wont answer the phone

Ive just got my latest statement from British Gas, however on the statement it shows something strange

I have my direct debt going out of the account as agreed £100 on the 1st of the month

I then get a refund via the scheme again as the government scheme 4 days later being £66 direct to my bank account

I then get a charge added to my British Gas account 3 days later for £66 

So £66 gets credited back to my bank but then added back onto my British gas statement as an additional charge is this correct?

This therefore makes no difference to my bill as whatever government refund I get British gas add this onto my account as a debt

As a result of this my Direct Debt has now been increased by British Gas to £176 per month

So what is the government energy scheme as it would appear to be on my account a refund that you have to pay back via your energy bill and no reduction in my bill

This is totally different to EDF which my mum is with as they dont add the refund onto the bill as hers is the Payments made less the Charges for electric and gas and then less the government scheme making her bills £400 less overall by the end of the scheme 

Im working and dont have any benefits so Im not sure if this effects the payment but I had thought it was £400 off everyones bills paid in monthly payments till march

Any help to explain how this works or if this is the same with all British Gas customers would be apricated as currently I dont seem to have any benifit of the goverment energy scheme and would appear that moving to EDF would be better

Thanks
Dan

Stompa

On my BG bill the £66s are each listed twice, so something like:

6 Oct 2022 Government discount Energy Bills Support Scheme £66.00 CR
6 Oct 2022 Refund £66.00

So they add it on, then take it off again, goodness knows why!

DanH1974

Stompa said:

On my BG bill the £66s are each listed twice, so something like:

6 Oct 2022 Government discount Energy Bills Support Scheme £66.00 CR
6 Oct 2022 Refund £66.00

So they add it on, then take it off again, goodness knows why!

Thanks for the reply at least its not just me thought I was going mad

But it does show the issue that I have, basically the £400 scheme is not free money its just deferred and added to your bill which you have to pay back and in my case increased my direct debt

So as a simple explanation if I have a Bill of £100 and pay a direct Debt of £100 I have a balance of £0.00, 3 days later I recieve a credit to my bank account of £66 (gov Scheme), then 3 days later BG add £66 to my account meaning a balance owed of £66. While overall I would be exactly the net position ie £66 in my bank and owe BG £66 extra I had thought I would be £66 better off

Is my understanding of this correct?

The problem is like most people I had budgeted that I was getting this as free help from the government but if its just added to the bill I dont really see the point in it espically as my DD has increased to cover these additional charges 

Ive also rechecked my mums EDF bill and it is the same as BG they add the credit and then add the same as charges 

Jyana

What happens is BG take your direct debit, say £100. Then once that is on your energy account, they add the £66 to your account too, so in effect £166 has been added to your energy account. Then the £66 is taken off your account and sent to your bank. So, no, you are not being having to pay back the £66 in any way, you are in fact £66 up and that amount has also been added to your energy account too. 

hopperdennis

Has anyone received their January payment yet? I’m with Boost energy who usually credit it at the beginning of the month, but nothing so far 

MattMattMattUK

DanH1974 said:

Stompa said:

On my BG bill the £66s are each listed twice, so something like:

6 Oct 2022 Government discount Energy Bills Support Scheme £66.00 CR
6 Oct 2022 Refund £66.00

So they add it on, then take it off again, goodness knows why!

Thanks for the reply at least its not just me thought I was going mad

But it does show the issue that I have, basically the £400 scheme is not free money its just deferred and added to your bill which you have to pay back and in my case increased my direct debt

That is not the case. The amount is added to your account, the £66.00 credit, the amount is then refunded to your bank account and that is why the £66.00 is taken from your energy account. At the end of it the same amount is in your energy account, but they have paid £66.00 into your bank account.

DanH1974 said:

So as a simple explanation if I have a Bill of £100 and pay a direct Debt of £100 I have a balance of £0.00, 3 days later I recieve a credit to my bank account of £66 (gov Scheme), then 3 days later BG add £66 to my account meaning a balance owed of £66. While overall I would be exactly the net position ie £66 in my bank and owe BG £66 extra I had thought I would be £66 better off

Is my understanding of this correct?

That is incorrect.
Day 1: Bill of £100
Day 2: Direct Debit paid £100, balance is zero
Day 3: Credit added to the account, balance is £66 in credit.
Day 4: Credit is refunded to your bank account, balance goes back to zero and your bank account has an extra £66 in it.

DanH1974 said:

The problem is like most people I had budgeted that I was getting this as free help from the government but if its just added to the bill I dont really see the point in it espically as my DD has increased to cover these additional charges 

Ive also rechecked my mums EDF bill and it is the same as BG they add the credit and then add the same as charges 

It is not, they credit the amount to your energy account, then when they refund that amount to your bank account it is removed from your energy account. You are £66/67 pcm better off because of this scheme.

DE_612183

The £66 is in your bank account not your utility account

Mstty

Hi Dan,

No energy company was ready to easily accommodate the government £400 payment so they have had to wedge it in. Some have done this better than others.

However you are not out of pocket with this and BG are not doing you out of the payment it just looks strange as their billing system was not designed for this.

Plenty of good info above.

DanH1974

Thank you everyone for the comments it has helped, the way the bill is set out makes it seem like your not getting the £66 per month 

So how I understand it just in case anyone was like me 

The £66 is shown on the BG bill as going on and off leaving a £0 balance and the £66 is shown in your bank account with a 3 days between each process

Again thank you everyone for your help