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

LouiseAH

molerat said:

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.

The bank account is not staying the same as the bank account was in a sole name. If the bank account paying the energy costs had been in a joint name it wouldnt have been a problem as it could have just been left until the end of the fixed rate deals. 

victor2

Some years back I had to deal with the energy account in a similar situation for a deceased person. It wasn't with BG, but was with one of the big suppliers. They had a bereavement team, who were very understanding, but not much help as it turned out. Without telling me, they terminated the fix as of the date I called them, which wasn't the date of passing away, which they never asked me. So the account went onto the more expensive standard tariff.

It was being paid by DD from a joint account in the name of the deceased person and his wife. In hindsight I should have left it until the tariff ended.

But in your case @LouiseAH, it looks like you have little choice but to call BG Bereavement team (with the wife present) and see if you can move the tariff over to her name.

northernstar007

not long ago ive went through the same thing
fortunately there was no exit fee and account closed with a refund
all i can say is make sure the account goes into the name of the "estate of the deceased" as what was done with mine and nobody else as that will start to effect there credit file if theres any problems 

Bigphil1474

OP, I dealt with my dads BG account after he died in 2022. The BG bereavement team were really good to be honest, which was a bit of a surprise. Contact them. BG may just create a new account or continue the same just switching over. If they won't honour the original fix, you can leave anyway, so be surprised if they don't. The bank account will stop paying stuff out once they are notified, so don't leave it too long or there may be a debt built up. 

LouiseAH

Thanks for your replies. I will update the forum after its been resolved.

Scot_39

When dad died, switched his accounts in to mums name- whomremained at property - via bereavement teams at respective suppliers.

Simple call no docs required etc.  But did have to move DD to a new account opened at bank when dad's closed - wasnt joint - when notified.

One was iirc a 2 yr fix with I think sp - we ran those back to back for years - variable with sg though.