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£14 Charge for Late Payment of Gas Bill


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British Gas are threatening to charge me £14 because I have not been able to settle my bill, despite paying £10 weekly. As this is less than they have demanded, they have taken me off their instalment plan and are demanding I pay the balance in full and have given me ten days to do so.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Is the £14 charge legal, or is it something that needs to be taken to the courts in the same way as excessive bank charges have beeen?

 

2. How can I, and others in the same situation, launch a legal challenge against British Gas over their excesssive charges?

 

3. How the hell can tBritish Gas expect anyone to pay their penalty charge if they do not provide proof that the amount asked for actually represents the true cost to them of sending out a reminder, etc? I believe that £14 is a grossly exaggerated charge and that they are cynically and immorally trying to extort unjustified extra profits from people who are genuinely unable to pay.

 

3. I intend to complain to British Gas, telling them that I refuse to pay the £14. If they refuse to cancel the charge, who can I complain to? I believe there used to be a regulator called Energy Watch, but I understand that they no longer exist. Any advice would be appreciated.

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British Gas are threatening to charge me £14 because I have not been able to settle my bill, despite paying £10 weekly. As this is less than they have demanded, they have taken me off their instalment plan and are demanding I pay the balance in full and have given me ten days to do so.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Is the £14 charge legal, or is it something that needs to be taken to the courts in the same way as excessive bank charges have beeen?

 

2. How can I, and others in the same situation, launch a legal challenge against British Gas over their excesssive charges?

 

3. How the hell can tBritish Gas expect anyone to pay their penalty charge if they do not provide proof that the amount asked for actually represents the true cost to them of sending out a reminder, etc? I believe that £14 is a grossly exaggerated charge and that they are cynically and immorally trying to extort unjustified extra profits from people who are genuinely unable to pay.

 

3. I intend to complain to British Gas, telling them that I refuse to pay the £14. If they refuse to cancel the charge, who can I complain to? I believe there used to be a regulator called Energy Watch, but I understand that they no longer exist. Any advice would be appreciated.

My way of dealing with it was to pay the bill less the charges , however their billing system catchs up with you in the end , take them to court they will back down like most bullies .

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You are in a weak position - you've entered into a payment plan and NOT kept to it. Their £14 fee is in their price list and ALL customers who pay late have it added to their bills. It had been held that such fees are NOT illegal, so if you want to overturn this it will be a struggle - as it will require a High Court action to establish a precedent, a Small Claims action (assuming you are successful) would only be relevant to you. As for arguing if it represents a 'true' cost - who knows? But Virgin Media has said it is an 'encouragement' to people to pay their bills on time. And it works for me.

 

A justification that there are genuine reasons not to pay are irrelevant in this day and age. You use the service, you pay the cost )or use government-supplied benefit to pay them) if available. You can complain to your MP about the charge, but I doubt anything much would happen.

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