british gas essenitals tarriff

oldhag1702 · 19th December 2007, 00:25

hi my name is jean i live in caerphilly.pleased to meet you all.anyone had probs with the essenitals tariff from british gas.

make them aktiv runners · 19th December 2007, 00:59

Can you expand a little more please?

oldhag1702 · 19th December 2007, 01:12

essentails tariff from british gas if you are on benefits you can claim a refund of gas you have brought over a period of 3months .recieved letter saying i had been accepted as i am on tax credit i was told by b g that my rebate was £26.00 pound this would be appiled to my gascard end of nov .letter stated if it couldnt be applied to gascard payment would be sent via postal order.when i phoned again was told that i would have 2 payments in may.so if it cant be appiled to my card in may then i would have to wait a further 3 months.if you go to b g website you can get info.

make them aktiv runners · 19th December 2007, 01:32

Basically you buy gas on a card and pay the higher rate. At the end of the quarter BG calculate the equivalent cost for a direct debit customer, so there is a balance owing.

I cannot see why they cannot credit your card with £26.00 at the end of November, or at the very latest, the end of February. Waiting for May does seem unreasonable, especially when you have a letter stating they will pay by postal order.

make them aktiv runners · 19th December 2007, 01:47

Just had another thought as to why "May" might have been mentioned.

If you are claiming certain benefits (eg tax credits) then your true income and eligibility cannot be assessed until the end of the tax year, and May is the earliest date for assessment. I have not seen their full terms & conditions, but would assume that if you are on Income Support then you are eligible throughout that claim (although I would guess that they would need to check you are still claiming at the end of the quarter, resulting in a delay).

oldhag1702 · 19th December 2007, 16:34

hi i wondered if it was a rip off by bg .i dont know of any people i know having recieved it.the weather is so cold it would be most welcome.thinking of contacting x ray about it

make them aktiv runners · 20th December 2007, 01:42

I am by no means an expert on BG. Their adverts will probably be set to appeal to potential customers, and the smallprint will show the reality over the illusion (ie the advert does not actually say what happens) of immediate repayment at the end of a quarter.

I have made a couple of suggested reasons why they may have not repaid already. I can, from a business sense see their logic in applying the rebate after the following quarter, ie you will only get the rebate if you do not run off to another supplier. Equally, if it due to tax credits and they paid you now, then come next May discovered you had not actually qualified afterall, how would they then recover an overpayment (especially as you may have changed supplier by then)?

At the end of the day they will honour rebates due, so if you know you definately qualify irrespective of circumstances changing before 5.4.08, then itis safe to use their direct debit charges for comparison to other suppliers.

Having said all that, due to the letter you did receive, I would go through their complaints procedure.

CAG Products - We think that these will help you to make your claim or Reclaim your Right These sales also help us to keep helping YOU and keeps this site free of third party adverts!

Small Claims Kit	Small Claims Court Guide New Edition	CallBurner - Skype CallRecorder Review	Last Will & Testament Kit	Fight a Motoring Ticket

Alternatively you could purchase a CAG email address here, or maybe you'd prefer our address labels here
UPDATE: Consumer Forums ConsumerWiki is now LIVE - click here: ConsumerWiki N.B. Please note - due to postage costs these products are only available in the U.K.