British Gas want my dd to go from £75 a month to £520!!

chubsta

Farway said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

chubsta said:

 Hopefully will be able to get through quickly and sort it, otherwise I'll just cancel the direct debit and look elsewhere. 

Don't do that. 

By all means look elsewhere , but don't put your costs up through choice.

Certainly do not cancel the DD, that way can lead to long term hazards with your credit reports, which could turn a minor hassle into a major headache

I had to cancel the dd or they would have taken £520 off me and I wasn't going to let that happen! Anyway, I have never had any interest in credit ratings as I don't like to have any debt - I have a credit card with a £13500 limit and zero balance - I pay off anything I use it for that day - and that is the closest I get to debt.

Farway

chubsta said:

Farway said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

chubsta said:

 Hopefully will be able to get through quickly and sort it, otherwise I'll just cancel the direct debit and look elsewhere. 

Don't do that. 

By all means look elsewhere , but don't put your costs up through choice.

Certainly do not cancel the DD, that way can lead to long term hazards with your credit reports, which could turn a minor hassle into a major headache

I had to cancel the dd or they would have taken £520 off me and I wasn't going to let that happen! Anyway, I have never had any interest in credit ratings as I don't like to have any debt - I have a credit card with a £13500 limit and zero balance - I pay off anything I use it for that day - and that is the closest I get to debt.

Fair enough, but even though credit rating is a made up number credit reports are factual, and a missed payment will show up, as many find out too late when they apply for a new phone contract or worse case, renting a house or mortgage

la531983

I suspect BG reporting a missed payment in this incident would be dealt with by the Ombudsman anyway, given the circumstances. 

chubsta

I am sure the fact I had over £450 in credit in my account would not matter to BG when it comes to taking payment but there is no way in hell I was going to give them another £520!. As I said, I don't have any debt, and don't intend to get any so the risk of a record being made that I missed a payment is inconsequential to me and a risk I am willing to take under the circumstances.
A missed dd when the payment is in dispute and I have already contacted them half a dozen times, being told each time that they acknowledge the large payment is a mistake and that 'this time' they have managed to put the dd down to the correct amount, would surely be of interest to the Ombudsman because attempting to force a payment that they themselves acknowledge is incorrect and unreasonable under threat of recording an adverse credit report would perhaps be seen as coercion/blackmail.

Still, it's all a moot point now, I should be with Octopus from two days time so BG will not be attempting to take any money from me. Will be interesting to see how quick they are to refund my balance though!

DigSunPap

Your situation suggests a significant overestimation of your energy usage, resulting in a proposed direct debit increase. Contact them ASAP, see if a mistake has been made, and if not negotiate a more reasonable monthly payment that aligns with your actual consumption. 

QrizB

DigSunPap said:

Your situation suggests a significant overestimation of your energy usage, resulting in a proposed direct debit increase. Contact them ASAP, see if a mistake has been made, and if not negotiate a more reasonable monthly payment that aligns with your actual consumption. 

  I don't wish to sound rude or unwelcoming, but did you read the thread at all before posting your wisdom? Because it sounds very much as though you didn't.

Spoonie_Turtle

QrizB said:

DigSunPap said:

Your situation suggests a significant overestimation of your energy usage, resulting in a proposed direct debit increase. Contact them ASAP, see if a mistake has been made, and if not negotiate a more reasonable monthly payment that aligns with your actual consumption. 

  I don't wish to sound rude or unwelcoming, but did you read the thread at all before posting your wisdom? Because it sounds very much as though you didn't.

It's a bot.

ArbitraryRandom

Farway said:

chubsta said:

Farway said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

chubsta said:

 Hopefully will be able to get through quickly and sort it, otherwise I'll just cancel the direct debit and look elsewhere. 

Don't do that. 

By all means look elsewhere , but don't put your costs up through choice.

Certainly do not cancel the DD, that way can lead to long term hazards with your credit reports, which could turn a minor hassle into a major headache

I had to cancel the dd or they would have taken £520 off me and I wasn't going to let that happen! Anyway, I have never had any interest in credit ratings as I don't like to have any debt - I have a credit card with a £13500 limit and zero balance - I pay off anything I use it for that day - and that is the closest I get to debt.

Fair enough, but even though credit rating is a made up number credit reports are factual, and a missed payment will show up, as many find out too late when they apply for a new phone contract or worse case, renting a house or mortgage

As far as I'm aware, a missed DD on an account in credit shouldn't be reported to the credit reference agencies as a 'missed payment' - the account should be switched to payment on bill (at the higher rate) and a bill issued (with the balance being taken from the payment).

The only time it 'should' be reported would be if the account was in debt and the account holder didn't pay within the term stated on the issued bill. 

QrizB

Spoonie_Turtle said:

QrizB said:

DigSunPap said:

Your situation suggests a significant overestimation of your energy usage, resulting in a proposed direct debit increase. Contact them ASAP, see if a mistake has been made, and if not negotiate a more reasonable monthly payment that aligns with your actual consumption. 

  I don't wish to sound rude or unwelcoming, but did you read the thread at all before posting your wisdom? Because it sounds very much as though you didn't.

It's a bot.

Reporting the account as a bot was Plan B.

Maybe I need to make it Plan A in future!

chubsta

To be fair, he was a very polite bot!

All switched over this morning - the email from Octopus says that I can expect a wait of between 8 weeks and 8 months for my balance to come back to me from BG - so at least I still have something to be very annoyed about!