British Gas Fixed Rate Contract for Gas & Electricity Account Holder Passes Away

LouiseAH

Does anybody know what happens when the account holder passes away and they are on a fixed rate contract for their gas and electricity. Would their wife be able to take over the account and the fixed rate contracts. I know the best option would have been if they were both on the account in the first place. 

Robin9

Don't know -  the supplier will advise.

My business accounts are in the name of the businesses.

LouiseAH

Robin9 said:

Don't know -  the supplier will advise.

My business accounts are in the name of the businesses.

I posted on the forum as I wanted to get some feedback from the knowledgeable forum members before one of my family members contacts British Gas about the matter.

Robin9

Appreciate that @LouiseAH

This predominately a domestic site and the numbers of members who have business utility accounts  is limited. 

I don't even know if business suppliers have a bereavement dept. 

Hopefully someone will come along and be more specific 

la531983

Robin9 said:

Appreciate that @LouiseAH

This predominately a domestic site and the numbers of members who have business utility accounts  is limited. 

I don't even know if business suppliers have a bereavement dept. 

The OP hasnt said its a business contract, have they? Unless I am going blind.

molerat

Is this a domestic or business account, the waters have been muddied there ?

The big problem is that all energy suppliers are incompetent, some more so than others and BG come high up in the incompetence scale, so what you would expect and what would actually be done are often worlds apart.

In a domestic situation does anything actually need to be done for the period of the fixed rate ?  If there is on line access and someone else has access then things will just plod along, if the bank account is staying the same then DDs will carry on being taken, e-mails can continue to be received.  E-mail and bank details can be changed if necessary.  The only problem could be that anything will be addressed to Mr ..... which may cause some distress.

la531983

I would be inclined to agree with the above, if nothing is actually changing in terms of how the bill is being paid, and the online account can still be accessed, I would just leave it and then deal with it once the cheaper rate ends.

QrizB

LouiseAH said:

Does anybody know what happens when the account holder passes away and they are on a fixed rate contract for their gas and electricity. Would their wife be able to take over the account and the fixed rate contracts. I know the best option would have been if they were both on the account in the first place. 

British Gas won't mind who pays the bills, so long as they're paid. The account could continue in the current name but be paid by someone else for the remainder of the fixed-rate term, and BG won't object.

However, if you should need to contact BG customer service during this period, the first question they'll ask is "am I speaking to the account holder?" potentially followed by some other ID verification questions. It's likely that the wife will know these answers - they're typically address, postcode, date of birth - but it's still going to need a degree of decpetion if you go down this route.

It might be better to contact BG's bereavement team - they will have one, they have enough customers that this happens thousands of time a year for BG - and explain the situation. They will have a process for this situation.

Grizzlebeard

la531983 said:

I would be inclined to agree with the above, if nothing is actually changing in terms of how the bill is being paid, and the online account can still be accessed, I would just leave it and then deal with it once the cheaper rate ends.

The only potential problem is if it's paid by DD from the deceased's closed bank account.

Should be easily solvable by changing this, but our experience with BG after a bereavement was frustrating (for other inane/insane BG reasons.)

Gerry1

QrizB said:

However, if you should need to contact BG customer service during this period, the first question they'll ask is "am I speaking to the account holder?" potentially followed by some other ID verification questions. It's likely that the wife will know these answers - they're typically address, postcode, date of birth

The usual insanity from idiotic organisations that should know better.

They break all the Golden Rules of Passwords, namely:

• Use something that only you would know
• Don't share them
• Change them frequently.

One's address, postcode, date of birth are known by thousands and can't be changed.  If only we had some oversight organisation that would force them to do better...

LouiseAH

Robin9 said:

Appreciate that @LouiseAH

This predominately a domestic site and the numbers of members who have business utility accounts  is limited. 

I don't even know if business suppliers have a bereavement dept. 

Hopefully someone will come along and be more specific 

There was absolutely no mention of business accounts in my original post.