British Gas credited my account in error and now they want the money back

LadyoftheSea28

Hi everyone, 
Please can anyone give me some advice about my current situation with British Gas.
Back in January, they informed me that they had credited my account with £570. This credit was then used to pay my monthly gas bills until August when they informed me that they credited my account in error and they should have only given me £5. 
My account has gone from being nicely up to date every month to being £553 in debit. 
They are now hounding me for the money (I received a nice solicitor's letter). 
I sent BG a complaint and their only solution is for me to set up a payment plan to pay off the debt. 
I am already paying quite a large amount to my electric company to pay off the debit which incurred when the prices were sky high and my rent has just gone up, so this is really an expense I cannot afford. 
Can BG actually do this to me and put me in financial difficulty?
Many thanks in advance for your kind replies. 

la531983

Did they not offer a reason for the £570 credit, and/or did you not query it at the time?

Placitasgirl

If they had debited your account with £570 I'm pretty sure you'd be pretty keen to get it back. 

Of course they're going to seek to recover it.. and I'm there within their rights to do so. You must have realised you weren't in credit by this amount and that it wasn't yours to spend. It probably would have been wise to have checked your bill and set it aside for them to recover when the mistake was realised and they'd be in touch about it. 

This money wasn't a gift and yes, believe they'll persue it on the basis that you must have realised it wasn't yours and your account wasn't in credit by a large amount at the time. 

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, it's not meant to, but realistically this was always going to be realised and steps to recover it taken. You may perhaps have a chance of a repayment plan, but it will have to be repaid. 

PRAISETHESUN

BG have a right to correct their error (the bill credit) and ask for it to be repaid. You might have some success if you make a formal complaint and explain the hardship it will cause you, but ultimately you will still need to pay it back. I'd start negotiating a payment plan, making it clear what you can/cant afford. If you post on the DFW boards you might get some better advice there on putting together a SOA to provide to BG

LadyoftheSea28

Well, to be fair, I didn't question it as I didn't think they would be this negligible with such a large amount of money and my bills had been very expensive the months previous. 
It took them 7 months to realise their mistake. I thought I was being sensible in not withdrawing the money as some people do. 
It's just annoying as I am now paying for their mistake which will put me in financial difficulty at a time when the energy prices are about to rise again and during the autumn/winter period. 

Kim_13

Given that it is going to put you into financial difficulty as you say, I would be looking for a compromise. Had they noticed their error in a timely manner, some of the money would still have been there for them to reclaim, while it would have told you that you needed to make extra efforts to use less. As they did not, your bill is now higher than it otherwise would have been.

You should be entering monthly readings so that you know exactly what you're using in pounds and pence and whether that is affordable and leaves you with an amount to chip away at the debt - have BG and the electricity company provided a working system for you to do this? 

It isn't wrong for BG to recover overpaid monies, but they should be more understanding in doing so. Any money available for repayments ought to be split between the electricity company and British Gas proportionate to the amount you owe them; you should advise the electricity company of the position that BG's error and the rent increase has left you in. Clearly you cannot pay everything at once so being open with them is the key. 

Usage is naturally higher in winter so it would be reasonable to expect repayment of a higher amount in the new year than you can manage in the next few months; you need to make sure that you aren't getting further into debt.

molerat

There is really no reason not to sign up to a fixed rate, they are still available at around the July cap prices - I am currently fixed with another supplier at £5 below the July cap and BG are offering £14 below that - and prices are unlikely to return to the July rate anytime soon.

To get to a solicitor letter means this must have been going on for some time.  As others have said, raise a formal complaint and they will likely allow pay back over an extended time as well as a goodwill gesture.

Hoenir

If you knowingly spent money that was credited to your account in error. The argument that you are being placed in financial difficulty doesn't stand up. Nor are BG aren't going to write the money off. The fact that it has reached the stage of a solicitor's letter. Suggests that you have failed to engage in agreeing to a suitable repayment plan. 

born_again

LadyoftheSea28 said:

Well, to be fair, I didn't question it as I didn't think they would be this negligible with such a large amount of money and my bills had been very expensive the months previous. 
It took them 7 months to realise their mistake. I thought I was being sensible in not withdrawing the money as some people do. 
It's just annoying as I am now paying for their mistake which will put me in financial difficulty at a time when the energy prices are about to rise again and during the autumn/winter period. 

Energy price rises have no effect on the £570 owed to them. As you are not paying for any energy, simply paying their error back.

EssexHebridean

I'm honestly not convinced that having a pile-on of people all telling the OP how foolish they have been is helpful. Sure, it's easy to say with hindsight that it should have been checked more carefully, but I bet when finances are really tight, a lot of people would have said "thank goodness" and used the money to patch a financial leak elsewhere!

OP - looking forwards now, you must make a payment plan with them, and do it quickly allowing for how far down the process you are. If you are able to fix your tariff now, that is probably also a good idea, as you will secure better prices than you are likely to be getting later in the winter.

This has also probably underlined to you that you need to get a bit more engaged with your energy bills - so start by making sure you check each one carefully when it comes through - check the use shown on the bill against the readings that either you have supplied, or that have been sent by a smart meter/ Make sure that your predicted annual use is about right - as if it is too low you will be underpaying and if too high, you may be paying too much. If you have a smart meter, it's good practise to still take a reading ideally monthly, but certainly once a quarter so you can pick up quickly if there are any problems. Remember too - fixing your rates doesn't mean "all you can eat" on the energy side, it just means that your unit rates and standing charges won't change for the period of that fix - you will still see costs increasing if you use more than was predicted though! 

If you are still struggling financially then maybe think about posting over on the debt free wannabe board where people will be able to loo over your income and outgoings and perhaps make suggestions of savings that you haven't identified.

debitcardmayhem

sensible and empathetic words from @EssexHebridean