@britishgashelp BG going to court 13th - to cut me off 20th- will have money 30th - help!

[wanda pops]

hi all,

not really got time to go into too much detail right now with the background of how this all came up (will give details tomorrow when I can)

 

but due to changes in circumstances certain benefits got stopped last year and took quite a few months to be restarted again.

 

.the same has happened over the summer this year and both of these instances have resulted in a build up of debt.

 

I am on the verge of being taken to court for repossession of my home (local authority)

but have paid the majority of what I owe with back payments of the benefits I have just had reinstated.

 

I have recently gained employment, a year after graduating last year as a mature student with 2 children and will get my first pay on 30th november.

 

My most urgent problem right now is that,

despite telling british gas of my situation re benefit non-payment,

on and off for over a year,

as well as my rent arrears this has caused,

 

they are refusing to stop court action (on thursday this week, to cut off my supply on 20th november)

despite my application to the british gas energy trust and my offer to pay a substantial amount to both my gas and electric bills on the 30th of november

and every month from then on now I am working.

 

I know this is very last minute but I really dont know what to do. My home phone is incoming calls only until I can pay that bill which I have told them so email is the only way at present that I can talk to them..they have given me a freephone number but the only pay phone near me has glue stuck in the coin slot!!!

 

Any advice would be truly appreciated.

 

.all I want to do is get out of this mess

 

..if only they would give me 2 more weeks and I will have been payed and will be able to pay them!!!

 

Thank you for any help you can give

 

..to be honest I just wanna give up.

 

.really seems like theres no way out,

 

they just wont give me the extra week

 

or two to come up with the money..

[dx100uk]

so...

 

all you need is for someone from BG to ring you and you could sort this?

 

dx

[Climate]

Hello Wanda Pops.

 

I used to work on the debt based team for British Gas.

 

I suspect you are either misreading your letters or not posting the full facts.

 

They go to court to obtain a warrant to force fit a pre-payment meter into your property, you can find details about their right to do so by googling 'Rights of Entry (Gas and Electricity Boards) Act 1954' (I am new so cannot hyperlink, sorry!)

 

As it has reached the court date you will be charged for the fitment of the meter.

You will have been sent a number of letters about action on your account already.

You will have been offered a pre-payment meter to assist you.

 

If you had taken that offer at the time it would have been free of charge.

Now it has reached the court date you WILL be charged for that, it is added onto the balance on your meter.

 

My advice would be to make sure that yourself or a friend/neighbour/relative is in the property when the engineer attends on the 20th,

otherwise they will set the recovery rate (the amount taken each week towards your debt) at whatever they see fit,

the 'typical' figure is done at an amount that is 1/26th of your balance.

ie. If your debt is £260 (in energy arrears, not including the charges passed over for the court action, fitment of the meters etc)

then the recovery rate would be set at £10 a week.

 

In otherwords, if you put £20 a week on, £10 towards the debt, £10 for you to use as you see fit.

 

The 'glue in the coin slot' is also a non-starter, it's a freephone number 0800 048 0404. That's free from a phone box/landline,

I will confess that I do not know if an inbound only line can make free-phone calls though?

 

I do not wish this to sound rude but British Gas offers help,

that's why the trust fund is there (about £70M a year, it inadvertantly pushes up regular payers bills).

That's why they offer to install pre-payment meters free before it gets too far gone.

 

Your debt in terms of rent arrears isn't any of British Gas' business,

just as any utility arrears aren't the concern of your landlord,

they each just want their money if the truth be known.

 

P.S. Your credit file will have been hit in a big way.

 

P.P.S. Your application to the 'energy trust fund' would still be valid.

 

If anything, it would be greatly improved by having a pre-payment meter as part of the qualifying criteria is that you are making some form of payment towards the debt.

 

Something you have to do with a pre-payment meter.

If you are successful, the balance is taken off the meter.

 

Another thing,

if you get dual fuel from British Gas they get a warrant for each fuel,

so this action will only be about either your gas or electric.

 

So, if this is about the gas and you also have arrears on the electric (or vice versa) then phone the above number ASAP

as you can at least stop yourself from getting the charges for the fitment of the other meter if you opt for it before the court date

- if you have to top up one meter, you may as well top them both up?

 

I do not wish to sound harsh in my above post so I am sorry if you view it that way.

I am just here to post facts.

 

Pre-payment meters are honestly the best thing if you have arrears otherwise customers just destroy their credit rating for 6 years

and there is a policy on the number of payment schemes a customer can have,

 

so off what you have posted I suspect they wouldn't offer you another anyway?

 

Chin up.

 

This puts you in complete control from here on in, you don't need to get stressed out by debt action letters as once that meter is in it stops (assuming you don't move!).

 

You will find your usage will drop too as it makes you energy conscious.

 

You will have a meter exchange, not a complete shut off.

A total lock down is only done in VERY extreme circumstances on a residential property

- normally where fraud is involved.

 

You may not like it but they have to have a policy.

Everyone always promises to pay to prevent action, many when they haven't paid anything for months or years.

 

Very few ever do, they are just chancing their arm for free energy.

 

I can clearly tell that doesn't apply to you as this thread on here shows, it's just a misfortunate case of timescales.

 

Regards, Climate.