Scottish Gas Late Payment Charge

[edinburghscott36]

Hi everybody,

This is my first time on CAG so forgive me if the questions i am going to ask in this posting have already been answered as i have been unable to find the answers while looking through the threads so far.

I have had a bill outstanding from Scottish Gas of just over £200 and had already paid £50 of this off it a couple of weeks ago.

I had told them at the time that i would be paying off the balance today as i have just been paid and at the time the man at the call centre(which took approx 30 mins to speak to) told me if i didnt pay all then i would be liable to be charged for late payment.

Today when i phoned (another 30 mins hanging on the phone!!) i was told the charge was £14 for this late payment! I refused to pay it and paid off the bill i was due.

The girl at the call centre said to write to the address at the top of the letter about the charge as she couldnt remove it from the account and she also said it will continue to accrue charges until it was either paid or removed from my account.

So, my questions are these:-

1. Was i correct in not paying that charge?
2. Is there a standard letter that is on CAG site i can send to Scottish Gas about this charge?
3. Would this be classed as an unlawful charge just as with bank charges?

Many thanks in advance for any advice or help anyone can give me and keep up the good work.

Its great to see everyone working to stop us all being ripped off with these disgraceful charges! I hope we all continue to spread the word and get them all back!

All the best

Scott

[gondukin]

If you do not pay the bill within 36 days of receipt you get a £10 charge. There is no £14 charge, however there is a £40 charge but this is only levied when a dept rep visits your property.

With regards to legality, you should write in demanding a break down of the charge similar to the way in which you would ask from a bank. If they can justify the charge then it would be legal, if not then it would be an unlawful penalty.

[edinburghscott36]

Thanks for that Gondukin.

Since i posted this morning i have received a letter from them which is headed in red large bold type saying URGENT TELEMESSAGE.

What on earth is a telemessage??? Is this Scottish Gas way of describing what the rest of us call a letter??!!

Its threatens all the usual about warrant to cut off gas etc and fees i would incur and the police may be present when they call.

All irrelevant now as i have paid the bill in full now.

However, it says at the bottom that they have charged me £14 for the letter. Thats what the girl at the call centre was talking about.

£14 FOR A LETTER??? Are they taking the P*** or what??

I am assuming that its an unlawful and disproportionate charge?

Can someone let me know what their thoughts are and have they had a so called "TELEMESSAGE" like this and what they did about it?

Many thanks

Scott

[gondukin]

Sorry, it used to be a tenner. Didn't realise it had gone up.

Write to them and demand a break down of the penalty.

[edinburghscott36]

Yeah already done that and will send registered post tomorrow.

Maybe i should charge them for the cost of my time and the registered letter as well as having being on hold for around 30 mins each time i phone them.

I wonder how much all that could possibly add up to? Possibly £14.00????

Cheers for the advice gondukin