Alternative fuel payment British Gas

Spoonie_Turtle

D4rkS4v4nt said:

ceh209 said:

2 minutes on live chat tonight, the agent confirmed my account was eligible for the £200 and would send it to my bank account straight away (fingers crossed that actually happens!). Even though I couldn't see it on my online account - he said I wouldn't see it there. Odd we're being told different things but hopefully everyone will get it sorted out one way or another

Nothing showing in my online electricity account with British Gas. Just been on live chat with an agent who pointed me to the .gov website telling me to apply for the AFP there and that I wouldn't receive anything from British Gas...

I smell scam, how are these companies continually allowed to get away with ripping off their customers year after year!

Officially they have one day left to make the payment so I will make a complaint later in the week if I've still not heard anything.

Anyone from MSE picking up the stories around the AFP? it seems that some of these companies are using it as another means to make huge profits by holding on to money they have been given by the Government which is supposed to be paid out to customers!

Quick question, hope do you know you are definitely on the list given to suppliers?

You not only have to be on an area off gas bit also in an area where the census data shows the predominant form of heating is not electric.

If you're not on the list of automatically qualifying accounts then they cannot give you a payment, they WON'T have got money from the government for you, and you will have to apply just as the CS agent told you …

D4rkS4v4nt

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Quick question, hope do you know you are definitely on the list given to suppliers?

You not only have to be on an area off gas bit also in an area where the census data shows the predominant form of heating is not electric.

If you're not on the list of automatically qualifying accounts then they cannot give you a payment, they WON'T have got money from the government for you, and you will have to apply just as the CS agent told you …

I live in a tiny little hamlet in remote countryside which has no mains gas, everybody here uses LPG or oil for heating. Do you have a link to the census data which shows the predominant forms of heating for different areas?

I do love it when people stick up for large corporate companies with questionable practices

The_Unready

Quick follow up to my previous post - I've just now received an email from BG saying that they're paying me the AFP, so I won't have to claim directly from the government after all.

Now I just need to work out how to get them to pay it into my bank account! ☹️

MattMattMattUK

D4rkS4v4nt said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Quick question, hope do you know you are definitely on the list given to suppliers?

You not only have to be on an area off gas bit also in an area where the census data shows the predominant form of heating is not electric.

If you're not on the list of automatically qualifying accounts then they cannot give you a payment, they WON'T have got money from the government for you, and you will have to apply just as the CS agent told you …

I live in a tiny little hamlet in remote countryside which has no mains gas, everybody here uses LPG or oil for heating. Do you have a link to the census data which shows the predominant forms of heating for different areas?

The raw data is not available, however XOServe, on behalf of the government have published a list of addresses that are "off gas" however that also includes those who predominantly use electricity, there is then different data correlated against that for if alternative fuels are used or not but that data is far from complete, hence the automatic as well as the application process.

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

https://www.xoserve.com/media/fadn4tnc/off-gas-live-postcodes-2022.xlsx?term=Off-gas

D4rkS4v4nt said:

I do love it when people stick up for large corporate companies with questionable practices

I do love it when people presume that everything is "questionable" without understanding how things actually work.

Spoonie_Turtle

D4rkS4v4nt said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Quick question, hope do you know you are definitely on the list given to suppliers?

You not only have to be on an area off gas bit also in an area where the census data shows the predominant form of heating is not electric.

If you're not on the list of automatically qualifying accounts then they cannot give you a payment, they WON'T have got money from the government for you, and you will have to apply just as the CS agent told you …

I live in a tiny little hamlet in remote countryside which has no mains gas, everybody here uses LPG or oil for heating. Do you have a link to the census data which shows the predominant forms of heating for different areas?

I do love it when people stick up for large corporate companies with questionable practices

I'm not sticking up for anyone, just for not jumping to conclusions without all the facts.

There is a census data tool here for England and Wales https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/census2021howhomesareheatedinyourarea/2023-01-05  click on 'electricity'
Although I cannot be 100% certain it uses exactly the same areas as the government are using - info about that on page 8 here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1130933/domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-scheme-suppliers-guidance.pdf
You may be interested to know that the guidance also specifies that suppliers have to account for all of the money they've received from the government for the AFP and anything they've not been able to get to customers for whatever reason has to be returned.

One last point, just in case, if you were with a different supplier on the 1st February it would be them responsible for paying out that automatic payment, if you are on the list.

And for some additional context, I know British Gas have been absolutely terrible with the EBSS vouchers, there is no excuse and I would not be at all surprised if they managed to mess this up as well - but I'd be more inclined to attribute it to incompetence and them just generally being useless rather than a deliberate scam, because they would not benefit from holding onto money that would be a liability not theirs to use as they wish as it would have to be paid out or paid back.

D4rkS4v4nt

Spoonie_Turtle said:

D4rkS4v4nt said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Quick question, hope do you know you are definitely on the list given to suppliers?

You not only have to be on an area off gas bit also in an area where the census data shows the predominant form of heating is not electric.

If you're not on the list of automatically qualifying accounts then they cannot give you a payment, they WON'T have got money from the government for you, and you will have to apply just as the CS agent told you …

I live in a tiny little hamlet in remote countryside which has no mains gas, everybody here uses LPG or oil for heating. Do you have a link to the census data which shows the predominant forms of heating for different areas?

I do love it when people stick up for large corporate companies with questionable practices

I'm not sticking up for anyone, just for not jumping to conclusions without all the facts.

There is a census data tool here for England and Wales https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/census2021howhomesareheatedinyourarea/2023-01-05  click on 'electricity'
Although I cannot be 100% certain it uses exactly the same areas as the government are using - info about that on page 8 here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1130933/domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-scheme-suppliers-guidance.pdf
You may be interested to know that the guidance also specifies that suppliers have to account for all of the money they've received from the government for the AFP and anything they've not been able to get to customers for whatever reason has to be returned.

One last point, just in case, if you were with a different supplier on the 1st February it would be them responsible for paying out that automatic payment, if you are on the list.

And for some additional context, I know British Gas have been absolutely terrible with the EBSS vouchers, there is no excuse and I would not be at all surprised if they managed to mess this up as well - but I'd be more inclined to attribute it to incompetence and them just generally being useless rather than a deliberate scam, because they would not benefit from holding onto money that would be a liability not theirs to use as they wish as it would have to be paid out or paid back.

Thanks for that it shows that 3.2% of households in my postcode area have mains gas.

Just after I posted I received an email from BG to say I would be receiving the £200 AFP paid as a credit into my electricity account.

As others have pointed out this is wrong as the payment is supposed to be for alternative fuel payments! The clue is in the name, how BG are getting away with this is beyond me.

I shall be contacting them after the credit has been made to request a transfer to bank account, failing that I shall lodge an official complaint with them, and follow up with ofgem if required.

Spoonie_Turtle

D4rkS4v4nt said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

D4rkS4v4nt said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Quick question, hope do you know you are definitely on the list given to suppliers?

You not only have to be on an area off gas bit also in an area where the census data shows the predominant form of heating is not electric.

If you're not on the list of automatically qualifying accounts then they cannot give you a payment, they WON'T have got money from the government for you, and you will have to apply just as the CS agent told you …

I live in a tiny little hamlet in remote countryside which has no mains gas, everybody here uses LPG or oil for heating. Do you have a link to the census data which shows the predominant forms of heating for different areas?

I do love it when people stick up for large corporate companies with questionable practices

I'm not sticking up for anyone, just for not jumping to conclusions without all the facts.

There is a census data tool here for England and Wales https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/census2021howhomesareheatedinyourarea/2023-01-05  click on 'electricity'
Although I cannot be 100% certain it uses exactly the same areas as the government are using - info about that on page 8 here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1130933/domestic-alternative-fuel-payment-scheme-suppliers-guidance.pdf
You may be interested to know that the guidance also specifies that suppliers have to account for all of the money they've received from the government for the AFP and anything they've not been able to get to customers for whatever reason has to be returned.

One last point, just in case, if you were with a different supplier on the 1st February it would be them responsible for paying out that automatic payment, if you are on the list.

And for some additional context, I know British Gas have been absolutely terrible with the EBSS vouchers, there is no excuse and I would not be at all surprised if they managed to mess this up as well - but I'd be more inclined to attribute it to incompetence and them just generally being useless rather than a deliberate scam, because they would not benefit from holding onto money that would be a liability not theirs to use as they wish as it would have to be paid out or paid back.

Thanks for that it shows that 3.2% of households in my postcode area have mains gas.

Just after I posted I received an email from BG to say I would be receiving the £200 AFP paid as a credit into my electricity account.

As others have pointed out this is wrong as the payment is supposed to be for alternative fuel payments! The clue is in the name, how BG are getting away with this is beyond me.

I shall be contacting them after the credit has been made to request a transfer to bank account, failing that I shall lodge an official complaint with them, and follow up with ofgem if required.

Because that's a main method of how it's being paid - also detailed in the guidance.  Generally the idea is that it can then be refunded from the credit on your account, as you naturally intend to do.

[As a point of pedantry it's not about how many in your area have gas (because postcodes on the gas grid are excluded from the automatic payment) but how many have electric heating.  Compare that with the other methods of heating and you should see that it's not the predominant one.]

Like I said I have no affinity for British Gas at all but ire is more productive when it's directed at things *actually* being done wrong - like the EBSS prepayment voucher debacle.

beefturnmail

British Gas have royally messed up my £200 AFP.  I got an e-mail saying I was eligible for it and it appeared in my account, however they would not actually pay it to me despite my account being ~£350 in credit.  So I complained, and got nowhere - they just closed the complaint down without asking with no deadlock letter (I'm waiting 8 weeks to go to ombudsman). 

Meanwhile I've put in a switch to Octopus for early next month, and cancelled the British Gas dd (another £180 was due to come out, which would just put me even more in credit).  Just checked my BG account this morning and the AFP has now vanished!

I agree this is likely incompetence rather than a scam.  I will just go to the obudsman and get compo, but the whole thing is a fiasco - I could be really relying on that £200 to pay for my heating!