Help Needed With British Gas, Can They Cut Me Off

ruthb1

Hi,

I have a 1/4ly electricity bill with BG for £146.47 this bill was dated 1st november, unfortunatly due to xmas and other bills i have overlooked this as i have 2 small kids, christmas to pay for a high mortgage and bills coming out of my ears. I have had a reminder but stupidly i have ignored it, yesterday i received a letter from them dated 18th december stating that the bill is now 160.00 and if i dont pay the will send a representitive round and possibly the police . i am really in a quandry i have contacted them today to advise that i will be able to pay the bill shortly but this was an automated service. i just dont know what happens next or if i can appeal the extra charge


thanks ruth

SwanJon

Bad news first - they can cut you off.
good news - you don't have to pay it all in one go, just call them and ask them to set up a plan and they should be able to spread it over the coming year, along with ongoing consumption.
The charge is for the various reminders, and the longer you leave it, the bigger it gets (I think if it goes all the way to the warrant/ forced removal stage it can be as high as £330). Just telling them you are going to pay it isn't enough to stop this, you need to either pay it all or make an arrangement.
Hope that helps,

Joyful

Call Monday morning and get a note put on your account. The charge will not normally be waived but you are quite a bit away from a visit. They will not cut you off with 2 small children over the winter but would fit a prepayment meter.If another reminder is issued there will be a higher charge If you have not had a payment plan I would suggest setting one up to include this. This will stop any more charges going onto the account.

stimpo

Joyful wrote: »

They will not cut you off with 2 small children over the winter but would fit a prepayment meter.

Under 5s is the threshold. First intention anyway will be to fit a PPM.

wornoutmumoftwo

I would just ring them up, I had lots of problems for a year and although I've ended up on a Prepayment Meter now they were very good at making arrangements, unfortunately I couldn't keep to them as other things kept popping up!

Make sure they know you have children under 5.

Also, try the British Gas Grant as they can help with one off arrears, they cleared my previous bill of £1000

http://www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/