@britishgashelp most of my income support being given to british gas/severn trent. help!!

[Climate]

ok i have just looked into all my history on BG website and i have made a huge mistake. i moved into this house in august 2011, my ex left in feb 2012. i rang up BG to change name on bill and the account had some arrears. the bloke on the phone said he would start me a new account and to 'he would sort the old bills out'. i didn't really know what he meant but it looks like he has cleared all the debit from 1st august to 25th feb 2011. maybe he felt sorry for me as he knew i was on my own with a newborn and 15month old or maybe it was a mistake?

so this changes everything, i have now worked out my monthly usage as 115 for gas and elec. the house is always bloody freezing so this seems a lot. this still makes the latest bill over the average.

climate, is it possible that he just wiped the debt?

 

The old debt is 'wiped' as such, they will chase him for it (he will now have a default registered if he hasn't paid or made arrangements to pay!) but as long as you were not named on the account previously your account would have been set up with a clean slate. The fact you were living there previously is irrelevant if you weren't named on the bill, that's a private dispute and he is accountable for the arrears at the time.

 

Regarding your question about the standing charge, that's on the link I posted. Pop your postcode in and it will tell you.

 

Is your home of normal construction? Is it owned/private rented or council? Has it been insulated? Depending on the above and a few other things you may be entitled to get that done free of charge.

 

Is he paying CSA?

[graceava]

well the account was in both of our names and i just asked to have his name taken off. as far as i know he has never been chased for it.

my house is and 1950's semi detached ex council house with an old baxi back boiler.

3 bedrooms but we only use 2, kitchen, dining, living rooms. all the rooms are quite large.

im not sure about insulation.

i rent it of a private landlord.

i am looking for a small 2 bed house as this house is to big and i do think the back boiler doesn't help with the costs of heating. do you think that 115 for gas and elec a month is a lot?

its just me and the 2 kids. i have a bath every day and the kids have one together. we are home a lot as it never stops raining so heating probably on 5hrs a day altogether. hot water 3hrs a day. but i am cold a lot of the time and the kids room is freezing and has damp on the outside wall. the living room is the warmest as its only got 2 small outside walls at either end and has the boiler in the cupboard. we also have an old gas fire but rarely use it, i did a bit last yr as my baby was born in december and i used to give her a bath in front of it!

yes there dad does pay csa but is in the building trade so work is very unreliable and when it rains he can't work much. he is also self employed so doesn't get sick pay or payed when they get sent home due to the weather so he's not that reliable but does help out.

[graceava]

also what do you think of the last bill for 42 days, does it seem a lot. half of the last 42 days has been very mild so the heating hasn't been on.

[Climate]

well the account was in both of our names and i just asked to have his name taken off. as far as i know he has never been chased for it.

my house is and 1950's semi detached ex council house with an old baxi back boiler.

3 bedrooms but we only use 2, kitchen, dining, living rooms. all the rooms are quite large.

im not sure about insulation.

i rent it of a private landlord.

i am looking for a small 2 bed house as this house is to big and i do think the back boiler doesn't help with the costs of heating. do you think that 115 for gas and elec a month is a lot?

its just me and the 2 kids. i have a bath every day and the kids have one together. we are home a lot as it never stops raining so heating probably on 5hrs a day altogether. hot water 3hrs a day. but i am cold a lot of the time and the kids room is freezing and has damp on the outside wall. the living room is the warmest as its only got 2 small outside walls at either end and has the boiler in the cupboard. we also have an old gas fire but rarely use it, i did a bit last yr as my baby was born in december and i used to give her a bath in front of it!

yes there dad does pay csa but is in the building trade so work is very unreliable and when it rains he can't work much. he is also self employed so doesn't get sick pay or payed when they get sent home due to the weather so he's not that reliable but does help out.

 

If it was previously in both names then the debt will have carried over to you as you were already named on the account.

 

Back boilers are good in terms of reliability but very, very poor in terms of efficiency so in that respect £115 a month doesn't strike me as an obscene bill to be honest but for the fact that we haven't had the bad weather yet.

 

As you rent off a private landlord you would be entitled to free loft/cavity wall insulation, you will need their permission but I do not see why they would decline it, assuming it hasn't been done already that is and you fit the criteria. See here for T&C's; http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy-saving/home-insulation/terms-and-conditions.html It appears you must apply by the 30th of this month so you have little more than a week.

 

Have you applied for the warm homes discount? You must apply for that by new years eve. You are entitled to it, arrears or not. It's £130 credit on your electric account.

 

If you had owned it I would have told you to get the floor boards up and celotex everything between the ground and upper floor, it's the absolute mutts nuts but it isn't cheap. I did it to my Mothers house last year to help her with her heating bills and fitted a log burner for her (never again, what a horrid job). She was paying £56 a month on gas with an old boiler that was forever failing when it asked for heating, now she pays £7 which is basically just her cooking and hot water. She has a free supply of wood and has a little device to make waste paper into little fuel bricks.

 

If your former partner was in the trade would he be able to get on the roof and fit a flue liner for a log burner? It stood me at £420 all in to buy and fit it but I did it myself. That was all parts, materials etc and paying £20 to have the register plate welded to fit the flue adaptor as my welder was knackered. It could be an option? This was the brick device in question: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Galaxy-613-Briquette-Maker/dp/B000OAXWOW/ref=tag_stp_s2_edpp_url

[Climate]

also what do you think of the last bill for 42 days, does it seem a lot. half of the last 42 days has been very mild so the heating hasn't been on.

 

It does to be honest on that basis but a back boiler is really, really bad for usage.

 

I am fairly certain that there are a lot of schemes out there that will replace a boiler for a modern condensing one even if you are a tenant. Have a google.

 

(Condensing boilers are crap because they create a by product that by their design means they have a very short life span, condensate pipes freeze up causing them to lock out unless they are rooted to an inside drain but they are FAR cheaper to run)

[graceava]

ok, well i at the moment i am looking for another smaller house. as far as fuel prices go there are 2 im looking at,

one is a 2 bed modern house with newish boiler.

the other is an older 3 bed cottage with a multi fuel burner (installed in 2012) in the living room and storage heaters in some of the house. 2 beds don't have the heaters.

or i can look in to all you have advised above and try and make this house cheaper to run. my ex could fit a fuel burner.

i will aplpy for the 130 on my electric account tomorrow.

[Climate]

ok, well i at the moment i am looking for another smaller house. as far as fuel prices go there are 2 im looking at,

one is a 2 bed modern house with newish boiler.

the other is an older 3 bed cottage with a multi fuel burner (installed in 2012) in the living room and storage heaters in some of the house. 2 beds don't have the heaters.

or i can look in to all you have advised above and try and make this house cheaper to run. my ex could fit a fuel burner.

i will aplpy for the 130 on my electric account tomorrow.

 

Storage heaters are bad for usage. If the 'cottage' is older than the 50's house you live in it is likely it may not have a cavity wall so could be even worse for retaining heat.

 

Modern houses (what year?) will be upto the building regs at that time as a minimum and the newer the boiler the better as it has had to have a certain efficiency rating since 2007 IIRC?

[graceava]

Yes i think the old cottage would turn out to be expensive and probably freezing.

The newish house is about early 90's i would say. It does have an energy efficiency rating of 'c'. It also has a breakdown of expected fuel bills that was done in september 2009.

Heating: 377 per yr

lighting: 50 per yr

hot water: 115 per yr.

This seems unbelievable cheap, i know fuel prices have gone up since 2009 but it would still be really cheap.

Do you think those prices are correct for a year?

[graceava]

Also if im looking for a new house is it a good idea to put pre payment meters in here? Will they change them back to normal meters for free if i say moved in 2 months?

Am i better off telling them that im looking for a new house and i am happy to have them fitted in my new house?

[Climate]

Also if im looking for a new house is it a good idea to put pre payment meters in here? Will they change them back to normal meters for free if i say moved in 2 months?

Am i better off telling them that im looking for a new house and i am happy to have them fitted in my new house?

 

They will change them back for free as long as the next tenant achieves the needed credit score. As a landlord myself, I have had them fitted into my properties and it is clearly stated in their tenancy agreements that they cannot change it to a credit meter, little chance of getting a poor or non-paying tenant that way (those that dodge bills and move frequently will not entertain a property with a pay as you go meter and they are the ones that sit in a place and do not pay rent) and they sure can't turn it into a weed farm if they are not stealing from the grid.

 

British Gas do not care one iota if you are looking for a new house and will have them fitted at that address, it's little more than a promise to pay. It's this address and this debt that they want sorting.

 

Have you put something in place with them? Whilst there is no agreement in place you are subject to further debt action.