British gas AFP

Tombyrne500

Hi all,

I've just received my £200 AFP today. I use LPG but  British gas supply my electricity and the money has gone in my account as credit so it won't be paid to me.  As far as I was aware the £200 is supposed to help me pay my horrendous gas bills, not to sit in British gas's bank account earning them interest. I can't believe they're allowed to do this. My current BG Direct debit is £93, so I am going to cancel my DD for 2 months to level it back out. I have more than enough in credit on my account to cover my next bill. I have a feeling BG will be jumping up and down telling me I can't do that but I'm sick and tired of been !!!!! over by the energy firms.  Can anybody see anything wrong with this?

Thank you.

Mstty

You can request the AFP is now paid into your bank account from your electricity energy account. It really is the best way to get it out quickly.

Tombyrne500

Great, did not know that. Thank you.

pochase

If you cancel your direct debit you are going to lose your direct debit discount and you will be paying 7 to 9% more as your unit rates will be higher.

hazeofvenuss

Tombyrne500 said:

Hi all,

I've just received my £200 AFP today. I use LPG but  British gas supply my electricity and the money has gone in my account as credit so it won't be paid to me.  As far as I was aware the £200 is supposed to help me pay my horrendous gas bills, not to sit in British gas's bank account earning them interest. I can't believe they're allowed to do this. My current BG Direct debit is £93, so I am going to cancel my DD for 2 months to level it back out. I have more than enough in credit on my account to cover my next bill. I have a feeling BG will be jumping up and down telling me I can't do that but I'm sick and tired of been f*&#@d over by the energy firms.  Can anybody see anything wrong with this?

Thank you.

Yes, I think its another example of how this Government fail the most disadvantaged in our society.

EDF have refused to refund my AFP, despite my account being £383.17 in credit. Despite having promised to do it when it arrived, they are insisting on another meter reading before releasing it. I gave them a reading on 4th Jan & I'm not due another bill until April. 

Having read the Government guidelines to suppliers on the AFP, the Government are allowing energy suppliers to use the AFP to offset against account arrears.

Even though this doesn't apply to me, I find it shocking that the AFP isn't actually going to be given to customers in order to pay their AF bills if they are in arrears with their electricity bills. In effect, this means that people could be without heating if they have historical debts. It really upset me today to think about it :-(

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1130933/domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-scheme-suppliers-guidance.pdf

Well done to the suppliers that have chosen to pay out the £200 to their customers rather than profit from it themselves. 

richiek

I've just queried my AFP with British Gas. It was credited to my account yesterday & shows in the balance online, but not as a payment. So I am now £300+ in credit. Apparently I may be able to claim a refund if I'm still in credit when my next bill is done (quarterly, next week). Also, they don't seem able to put me on monthly bills yet, so I have been confused snice being transferred from PFP last year. It doesn't seem right to me either!

MattMattMattUK

richiek said:

I've just queried my AFP with British Gas. It was credited to my account yesterday & shows in the balance online, but not as a payment. So I am now £300+ in credit. Apparently I may be able to claim a refund if I'm still in credit when my next bill is done (quarterly, next week). 

That is correct, they will not pay it out of the account is negative after a bill.

richiek said:

Also, they don't seem able to put me on monthly bills yet, 

That is correct, they are not currently able to change people's billing cycles whilst they migrate everyone across from their old system to their new system. It is unclear if they will offer monthly billing again once they have finished the migration though.

richiek said:

so I have been confused snice being transferred from PFP last year. It doesn't seem right to me either!

What have you been confused by and we may be able to clear it up for you? What do you not thing is right?

richiek

I think I now understand how this works with BG, though some suppliers have handled it differently I think. Hopefully, their new system will be an improvement as my confusion has been caused by multiple bills/revised bills (none of them have been quarterly) since being transferred to them. I've adjusted my prompt dates for giving them monthly meter readings anyway, so things can only improve.
Thanks for your responses.

maisie_cat

I claimed mine as a refund and got it the next day BUT it wasn't the entire £200, they reduced it by the £9 debit that they forecast my balance would be in December 2023. 
Given that they are simply acting as an agent for HMG and that the forecast changes all the time I personally think that's wrong.

EssexHebridean

hazeofvenuss said:

Well done to the suppliers that have chosen to pay out the £200 to their customers rather than profit from it themselves. 

Can you confirm how you think suppliers are profiting from the AFP? As far as I was aware it's either being refunded to customers banks, or being retained on customer energy accounts. Are you suggesting that some suppliers are choosing not to distribute it?

t0rt0ise

EssexHebridean said:

hazeofvenuss said:

Well done to the suppliers that have chosen to pay out the £200 to their customers rather than profit from it themselves. 

Can you confirm how you think suppliers are profiting from the AFP? As far as I was aware it's either being refunded to customers banks, or being retained on customer energy accounts. Are you suggesting that some suppliers are choosing not to distribute it?

It is wrong that suppliers are keeping this money to cover electricity bills. It's supposed to help the customer pay their alternative heating fuel.