British Gas: Senior Citizens with no support - payment methods

Annemos

There is something very poor about this for certain Senior Citizens. 

It has become obvious to me after the recent gas leak example. 

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80 year old. Has no family at all. 

Never goes into her British Gas Account. Cannot follow the Smart Meter Information which is in there. Unable to understand things like usage and kWh rates. Only understands when a bill is sent to her in the post. She notices if it has suddenly increased in pounds terms. (She is on a small pension.)

She went over to a Direct Debit system in April 2022. That would possibly give her better billing price rates, than if she had stayed on the quarterly billing system (which she had been on for years, called "Pay by cash/cheque"). 

But the problem that then occurred is that they only started billing her every 9 months, on the Direct Debit system ...... 

She was suddenly presented with a huge bill for the period 22 September 2022 to June 25, 2023, because a major gas leak had been going on for 9 months (with the gas-fire). 

Furthermore, the Direct Debit amount only shot up on the May 9th, 2023 direct debit. 86 pounds before that. 301 pounds from May 9th,2023.

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My point is this. I am wondering if all the Energy Companies should allow Senior Citizens to go on quarterly payment regimes WITHOUT suffering the penalty of poor price rates (because one is not on Direct Debits). 

That way, the more vulnerable seniors who cannot deal with the on-line billing systems would be alerted after 3 months, that there is a potential gas leak problem. 

Gerry1

If dozy Ofgem were any good they'd mandate monthly billing with Monthly Variable Direct Debit (Pay Whole Bill) being the default.

That would eliminate most of the problems with catch-up bills and would have flagged up the dangerous and expensive gas leak much sooner.

[Deleted User]

My point is this. I am wondering if all the Energy Companies should allow Senior Citizens to go on quarterly payment regimes WITHOUT suffering the penalty of poor price rates (because one is not on Direct Debits). 

With respect you are making this into something of a personal crusade. Suppliers such as Octopus offer monthly billing and, if a variable DD is set up, they will just take the cost of the monthly bill with no extra charge. They will also send statements by email to a nominated person. BG’s failings in this respect shouldn’t be seen as an indication of widespread problems in the domestic energy sector. Extra charges for non DD payments reflect the cost of doing business.

The gas leak described in your other post had nothing to do with the supplier. If she had been on monthly billing with a supplier that does consistently provide monthly bills, she would have noticed the cost increase sooner. That said, the question that I would be asking is this ‘when did the lady last pay for an appliance safety check’? In my experience this is similar to a boiler servicing where the engineer checks and cleans the appliance. A device such as this would have also detected any natural gas leak. Available online for less than £20:

I post the above as someone who has been on the PSR for some years! Having said that, if the lady needs specific help then you should talk to her supplier. Most will provide a paper statement where there is a genuine need.

Annemos

I respect your comment, Dolor. 

I am just trying to prevent such things happening to others. I found this to be such a shocking case.

PS She told me she had all her appliances checked out the month before the huge gas use spike. In September 2022. Neither she nor I have any evidence that that service was faulty or if he dislodged something. And we cannot pursue that route. 

Also, the gas was going up the chimney. Which adjoins the neighbour's chimney. (Semi-detached 1930's home.) 

[Deleted User]

Annemos said:

I respect your comment, Dolor. 

I am just trying to prevent such things happening to others. I found this to be such a shocking case. 

I know that you are trying to help: that is what good people do. That said, energy suppliers should not be expected to take on the role of social services when it comes to helping the elderly. 

Annemos

When Society and Companies begin to act like that, with no social responsibility, we are all doomed. Everyone (usually), gets old and the new systems start to escape them.

pseudodox

How do you define Senior Citizens?   The majority of 70 year olds & under have spent decades in the tech age.  I have many 80 year old friends who are totally au fait with internet, mobiles, technology etc.  I think we have to stop lumping all over retirement age into being incapable of managing their finances etc.  The "Senior Citizen" of today is not a throwback to the 50s, when women did not work, men took charge of family finances, children lived with Mum & Dad until they married (yes there were exceptions).  There will be less capable people in any age group, through no fault of their own.  Where would BG draw the line?

What we do need a throwback to is taking more care of each other - watch out for the vulnerable & offer help instead of throwing the problem at society in general & no-one in particular.  There have been some excellent posts on MSE where someone has helped out their struggling aged relative or neighbour. During COVID crisis we saw small shops going the extra mile to get goods to local people, where the large supermarkets were just not on the radar.  

Anyone in receipt of state pension gets paid every 4 weeks, not quarterly, & the majority in employment are paid monthly. There are even historic pensions still paid weekly & some workers likewise. So what is the issue over paying monthly instead of quarterly for the majority? I only stuck on quarterly out of habit, monthly is no problem.

[Deleted User]

pseudodox said:

How do you define Senior Citizens?   The majority of 70 year olds & under have spent decades in the tech age.  I have many 80 year old friends who are totally au fait with internet, mobiles, technology etc.  I think we have to stop lumping all over retirement age into being incapable of managing their finances etc.  The "Senior Citizen" of today is not a throwback to the 50s, when women did not work, men took charge of family finances, children lived with Mum & Dad until they married (yes there were exceptions).  There will be less capable people in any age group, through no fault of their own.  Where would BG draw the line?

What we do need a throwback to is taking more care of each other - watch out for the vulnerable & offer help instead of throwing the problem at society in general & no-one in particular.  There have been some excellent posts on MSE where someone has helped out their struggling aged relative or neighbour. During COVID crisis we saw small shops going the extra mile to get goods to local people, where the large supermarkets were just not on the radar.  

In fairness to the OP that is what he has been doing. However, I do agree that the bad experiences of just a few should not define how we deal with the elderly in our Society - or any other struggling people for that matter. 

 

[Deleted User]

Everyone (usually), gets old and the new systems start to escape them.

I am clearly not as up to speed on computer-related things as my 24 year old grandson who has a 1st Class Degree in Computer Science. That said, sending an email; talking to the kids on FaceTime; online banking etc are basic skills. I could probably work out how Twitter and Facebook work save for the fact that I have no interest in using them.

Generalisations on age don't help. I remember 'defending' a 20 year old who had just got his first cheque book and was being taken to task by his Bank for being overdrawn. His excuse was that he could not be overdrawn as he still had cheques left in his chequebook.

Qyburn

Annemos said:

PS She told me she had all her appliances checked out the month before the huge gas use spike. In September 2022. Neither she nor I have any evidence that that service was faulty or if he dislodged something. And we cannot pursue that route. 

Also, the gas was going up the chimney. Which adjoins the neighbour's chimney. (Semi-detached 1930's home.) 

If I recall correctly the leak was at the back of an insert gas fire. How could that have been caused, or prevented for that matter, by her supplier?

I'm not sure what the point is about the chimney. Mains gas is lighter than air so in this case, fortunately, the leaked gas did not accumulate.

QrizB

Qyburn said:

I'm not sure what the point is about the chimney.

A gas alarm would not have detected the leak, unless the alarm was installed in the flue.