Alternative fuel payment British Gas 22 February at 12:08PM in LPG, heating oil, solid & other fuels 28 replies 1.2K views

skyhigh100

I have received a £200 credit in my British Gas energy account this morning as expected as I use oil and wood to heat my house. They have just confirmed that they will not be transferring to my bank even though I am a direct debit customer and that instead this credit will be used against future energy costs. I am assuming they will be doing this with all qualifying customers? This seems wrong on so many levels,  apart from the obvious point about it not being available for the consumer to use use to buy alternative fuel. I am in credit already so there is no justification for holding it in their account until at some point in the future it can be offset against electricity costs.  Other companies are passing this payment on to the customer - any thoughts on how to get this money from British Gas? 

MattMattMattUK

skyhigh100 said:

I have received a £200 credit in my British Gas energy account this morning as expected as I use oil and wood to heat my house. They have just confirmed that they will not be transferring to my bank even though I am a direct debit customer and that instead this credit will be used against future energy costs. I am assuming they will be doing this with all qualifying customers?

It depends on their billing cycle, are you on variable monthly or fixed/budget Direct Debit and if on the latter what is your billing cycle? It would not be unusual to appear in credit when you are in the billing cycle, but that does not mean one actually is.

skyhigh100 said:

This seems wrong on so many levels,  apart from the obvious point about it not being available for the consumer to use use to buy alternative fuel.

The point is it is a bung from the government, it is not really meant for anything specific as such, just another handout, despite the name.

skyhigh100 said:

I am in credit already so there is no justification for holding it in their account until at some point in the future it can be offset against electricity costs.  

It depends where in the billing cycle you are, if you are on quarterly or six month billing your account will almost always appear in credit until they apply the costs at the end of the billing period.

skyhigh100 said:

Other companies are passing this payment on to the customer - any thoughts on how to get this money from British Gas? 

Some are, some are not, others are requiring a bill be generated to see if the account is actually in credit first, there is no one implementation. 

Archie_Duke

skyhigh100 said:

I have received a £200 credit in my British Gas energy account this morning as expected as I use oil and wood to heat my house. They have just confirmed that they will not be transferring to my bank even though I am a direct debit customer and that instead this credit will be used against future energy costs. I am assuming they will be doing this with all qualifying customers? This seems wrong on so many levels,  apart from the obvious point about it not being available for the consumer to use use to buy alternative fuel. I am in credit already so there is no justification for holding it in their account until at some point in the future it can be offset against electricity costs.  Other companies are passing this payment on to the customer - any thoughts on how to get this money from British Gas? 

Poor decision by BG here, I feel. ShellEnergy just paid mine by Faster Payment transfer straight to the account I have my electricity DD paid from. 

I hope Shell don’t pull out of the consumer energy market, as it’s rumoured they might. I’m quite getting to like them!

skyhigh100

Thanks - I have just had my bill so will be another 6 months before next bill. I am always in credit by around £50 -100 depending on time of year so no justification for extra £200 credit sitting there. Feel it should be easier 🤨

MattMattMattUK

skyhigh100 said:

Thanks - I have just had my bill so will be another 6 months before next bill. I am always in credit by around £50 -100 depending on time of year so no justification for extra £200 credit sitting there. Feel it should be easier 🤨

You could always ask them to generate another bill, I believe if you are not on a smart meter with BG you can get them to generate one by submitting a meter read, at which point you could get them to process a refund.

The_Unready

Hi

I'm with BG and my address is on the 'off-gas' s/s, but I've neither had an email or seen a credit to my account as of this morning.

Is anyone else in the same position?

Spoonie_Turtle

The_Unready said:

Hi

I'm with BG and my address is on the 'off-gas' s/s, but I've neither had an email or seen a credit to my account as of this morning.

Is anyone else in the same position?

The next criterion for the automatic payment is that your area predominantly uses something other than electric for main heating.  If you use an alternative fuel and don't get it automatically, you'll have to apply next month via gov.uk

The_Unready

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The_Unready said:

Hi

I'm with BG and my address is on the 'off-gas' s/s, but I've neither had an email or seen a credit to my account as of this morning.

Is anyone else in the same position?

The next criterion for the automatic payment is that your area predominantly uses something other than electric for main heating.  If you use an alternative fuel and don't get it automatically, you'll have to apply next month via gov.uk

Thanks for the info - I use oil, but I presume that I'm in a minority in my postcode.

sgun

I'll be asking BG to transfer it out. I'm always in credit and know exactly what I use each month so they have no need to hold onto it. I need some oil so I'd like to use the payment for what it was intended. If they're funny about it I'll just raise a complaint which is what everyone in credit should do if BG refuse to transfer it, it's not their money.

dunstonh

The_Unready said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The_Unready said:

Hi

I'm with BG and my address is on the 'off-gas' s/s, but I've neither had an email or seen a credit to my account as of this morning.

Is anyone else in the same position?

The next criterion for the automatic payment is that your area predominantly uses something other than electric for main heating.  If you use an alternative fuel and don't get it automatically, you'll have to apply next month via gov.uk

Thanks for the info - I use oil, but I presume that I'm in a minority in my postcode.

If you are a minority in your postcode then your postcode wouldn't appear in the list.  To be on the postcode list, every property in that postcode needs to be off the gas grid.  If there is even just one property on the gas grid, the postcode isnt in the list.

The_Unready

dunstonh said:

The_Unready said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The_Unready said:

Hi

I'm with BG and my address is on the 'off-gas' s/s, but I've neither had an email or seen a credit to my account as of this morning.

Is anyone else in the same position?

The next criterion for the automatic payment is that your area predominantly uses something other than electric for main heating.  If you use an alternative fuel and don't get it automatically, you'll have to apply next month via gov.uk

Thanks for the info - I use oil, but I presume that I'm in a minority in my postcode.

If you are a minority in your postcode then your postcode wouldn't appear in the list.  To be on the postcode list, every property in that postcode needs to be off the gas grid.  If there is even just one property on the gas grid, the postcode isnt in the list.

Ok - thanks.

That's strange, then, as my postcode is definitely on the 'no gas' spreadsheet. That is likely to be correct as to my almost certain knowledge none of my 'neighbours' have mains gas.

However, when I searched for my postcode on the link to the census data that has been posted on a similar thread the extent of the postcode on the accompanying map was much larger than my 'actual' postcode and contained a number of houses on a nearby street that does have mains gas connectivity.

I think the census data made reference to an 'OA' that is apparently the smallest 'unit' that could be shown, so I suppose it will come down to whether BG are using the spreadsheet, the census data or a combination of the two (or something else).

I'll wait until the end of the month and see whether the AFP materialises in my account.

Thanks to all for the help.