| Basic Account Customer |  British gas told me not to pay now they're charging me for letters - some advice please
Hi Folks.
Like many people at the moment, I'm facing some real financial hardship. I'm actually having to move out of my apartment and overseas because I cant afford to live here anymore - so when I got a call from british gas the other week asking for £120 or so - there is just no way I could pay it. That day I had deliberatley taken a detour on my walk to steal toilet paper from the local pub because I couldnt afford to buy any - So thats how broke we're talking. Its not that I dont work, I just got myself into a bad situation, and a few other things have gone wrong recently and the situation has really come to a head.
Anyway, the british gas lady calls up, and we talk for a bit. She seems polite, and explain my situation, that if I could pay, I would, instantly, that I hate my situation and that I havent used the gas in my flat for ages, apart from to heat water for a bath/shower - I ask about payment plans, but I didnt think I could afford the price she mentioned, and then things took a different route - she mentioned that if I didnt pay, they'd keep sending me letters, and that eventually they would come and install a coin or prepay card type meter in the property. They'd do this for free, too, and it usually costs £250 or something silly. But if I didnt pay for long enough, they'd do it for free. Then, when I topped up the card, 25% or so would go toward paying off my debt, and the rest would go toward the gas meter.
Ok, I thought. That sounds like my best bet. I can afford repayments of £100 a month right now, I sure as hell dont have £250 for a gas meter install, I'll just have to sit and bear these phone calls.
I got a letter, with big red, "URGENT" written on it - and opened it, read it briefly. I was expecting these letters, she'd told me they'd arrive - so I wasnt particularly worried.
However, I got another one today, and read it in more detail - it says "We have charged you £14 for this letter!!!" and on the other one, too! so thats £28!!
As it happens, I am now able to afford to pay my outstanding balance. I got a little extra odd job to do that gave me a bit of extra cash, and it is not with pride that I admit the extra is being offered by my mum, who says she can pay the bill on her card for me.
The thing is, the woman I spoke to before *told* me I'd be better off not paying (surprise surprise this isnt on their 'notes' but more about that in a moment) - she didnt mention anything about charges or legal action - and frankly I'll be dammed if I'm having my dear old mum pay £28 in charges when they told me not to pay. Its not like she's rolling in loot either.
So I rang them up and got through to some woman in a call centre in india who clearly must have been having a bad day as she was thoroughly short and confrontational all the way through.
I advised her of the situation, and told her that I wanted the charges refunded before I'd pay. She said they wouldnt refund them. I said I wouldnt pay the bill in that case, that "I dont acknowledge the debt" and it was almost with delight that she power-trippily said "ok then I will make a note of that on your system and someone will come to visit your property after the 5th of june and you will be charged an extra £50". How rude!! Its not like I'm waving money at them going "naah naah" I'm seriously broke here! That £28 is a fortune to me!! 2 weeks food, at least!
Anyway what she said about the bailiffs made me angry. I know they're not allowed to threaten me with bailiffs, especially if I am offering to pay in full, which I sort of was. (I said I'd pay in full immediatley if the £28 was refunded) I didnt shout and I dont think I was rude, but as far as I understand it they're not allowed to threaten me with bailifs when I'm offering to pay, and if it does go to a DCA then it has to go to county court first, and they decide if bailifs are warranted ? Am I right? So I figure she was in breach of some ofcom rule or whatever, I told her those 3 points (not allowed to threaten, no ccj yet, ofcom) and asked to speak with her supervisor. On hold for 10 minutes, then she comes back to say the super won't take the call because he does not see any reason to.
I talked with her a bit more and she can see that I spoke to someone about the bill, discussed a repayment plan but I couldnt afford it, discussed a coin meter and that I'd call back (callback part untrue - Its here that she advised me not to pay)
So what are my rights here? What can I do, what can I reasonably expect?
I'm leaving the country inside of 3 weeks so in theory I can just run away and leave all my debts, but I dont want to do that, I do want to sort it out legally as much as I can. Also if I skip off and leave a lot of debt, who ends up paying for it? Exactly, you lot - and that doesnt seem fair either.
So can someone please let me know what my rights are? Surely they cant advise me not to pay, and then charge me £14 for a letter?
The <deleted> on the phone on the call I just had tried to say those charges were late fees - but it doesnt say that on the letter. It says these exact words "We have charged you £14.00 for this letter". So its not late fees!
Please help. I've got this and about a billion other things to worry about, where do I stand on this? |
