british gas bringing in penalty charge from 1st March

[Janet-M]

just recieved this with my gas bill

 

Important changes to your terms and conditions

from 1st march 2007 , british gas will be introducing a late payment charge of £5 for late paying customers , an approach similar to that taken by many credit card companies where payment is late

 

why is it being introduced

british gas bill you for energy after you have used it .therefore when u recieve your bill we expect you to pay it promptly

while most british gas customers pay their energy bill on time , a small proportion of our customers consistently bay late , which results in costly follow up procedures

 

how will this change affect me

After 1st March 2007 , if you fail to pay your bill within 28 days of the bill date a £5 charge for late payment will be automatically added to the outstanding bill

 

The £5 charge represents our additional costs when a customer has not paid a bill within 28 days of the bill date

 

 

what can I do to avoid late payment charges

pay your bill on time - your bill will now show a a date by wich we should recieve your payment making it easir to pay your bill on time

A new game ... find all the faults lmao

[Janet-M]

POSTED ON BEHALF OF BOOKWORM

Important changes to your terms and conditions

from 1st march 2007 , british gas will be introducing a late payment charge of £5 for late paying customers , an approach similar to that taken by many credit card companies where payment is late - We admit it is not a representation of our loss, but we've seen others do it and rake huge profits from it, so we'll do it too.

why is it being introduced

british gas bill you for energy after you have used it .therefore when u recieve your bill we expect you to pay it promptly

while most british gas customers pay their energy bill on time , a small proportion of our customers consistently bay late , which results in costly follow up procedures - Really. Hmmm, and that would be?...

how will this change affect me

After 1st March 2007 , if you fail to pay your bill within 28 days of the bill date a £5 charge for late payment will be automatically added to the outstanding bill - Ah, there's your costly follow-up procedure!

 

The £5 charge represents our additional costs when a customer has not paid a bill within 28 days of the bill date - And those costs are???

 

BG are going to have problems with that one, methinks!

[buzby]

Just as well we're here to ensure they don't get away with it!

[ozzywizard]

British Gas is charging £5 for late payment of bills. If a customer doesn’t pay their bill within 28 days £5 will be added to the amount they owe - Daily Mail and GMTV.

British Gas has received coverage for charging customers 75p per minute on one of its telephone lines and not informing their customers - Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and The Sun

[meagain]

Am I the only one who thinks this announcement coming a week before the Fraud Act came into force (which would have criminalised it) is more than coincidence?

[buzby]

Nah, that would have required some serious joined-up thinking! If you ask CS they point - as justification - that 'other companies do it to encourage payment' and however when pressed on which utility companies charge, there wasn't an answer.

 

Incidentally, in business any invoiced amount could not be increased without the agreeement of the customer. The late payment interest charege rules changed this, but as I recall this did not apply to consumers, so it looks as though it'll have to be consumer action that ensures the penalties don;t apply. Those untilling ot too lazy to complain will simply pay it.

[JonCris]

Perhaps a warning shot across their bows from this site wouldn't be a bad idea.........................discuss.

 

When they realise what's going to happen & the extra staff they will need to employ they might think again. After all this site must have some muscle by now

[buzby]

They don't seem to pay much attention to anybody - and what few customers they have left aside, there remains the possibility the still might make more from it than they'll lose from challenges. What we need is a govenment to totally outlaw this type of charge, perhaps in the same legislation that moves the cost of processing customer payments to the recipient firm, instead of expecting customers to pay for it (like the DDM [problem]).

[JonCris]

Agree buzby but nothing ventured nothing gained & they can't argue later they weren't warned when the demands for refunds plus interest are made

[therafalution]

Well i shall defo be switching from gittish bas

[RichardM]

Apparently the new boss of British Gas has taken charge and promptly told BG to scrap this charge, because of the number of complaints and additional lost customers that it has caused. Reported in yesterday's (6th March) Daily Mail

 

Another victory for the common man.

[MARTIN3030]

He has his work cut out then:confused:

[buzby]

Accourding to earlier reports, it was actually the new boos who suggested the charge in the first place! Looks like some spin is on the go!

[babylon]

Simple Answer - just dont pay the extra £5, let them chase you in the courts for it

[TAURUSTIME]

Has anyone come across a 'Penalty Charge' of £40 or £45 being imposed by British Gas for 'migrating' to another supplier, in my aunt's case, Scottish Power? I have obviously told her not to pay it and assured her that she won't have to either but I wondered if any other members had come across this in what appears to be a mass exodus from BG?

[buzby]

What do they call it? It might be an early termination fee if she switched TO them before the minimum service period (usually 12 months) isn't met.

[TAURUSTIME]

Hi Buzby

 

I'll check with her in the morning but I understand that it DOES relate

to a 'Termination Fee' although she's been with them for years, around the time they were touting for change.

[buzby]

She may have agreed to a fixed price deal, which would - irrespective of her previous time as a customer - cause a minimum term of the new rates to kick in.

 

In these cases, similar to mobile phone minimum term contracts - she had to abide by her original agreement and wait for the end of the primary term, where she can leave without penalty.

 

If she forgot this, or still wants to leave to the other supplier, BG can rightfully add this fee to her last bill.

[TAURUSTIME]

Buzby! Thanks for this. I will check with her later today. She's in her 80s so this is all a bit bewildering for her. Thanks again for your time and trouble - I'll keep you posted.

[EDFenergy]

Bgas, are not going to do this now, just shows people power can and will work

[Guest 10110001]

Simple Answer - just dont pay the extra £5, let them chase you in the courts for it

 

It will screw your credit rating.

 

Lending money for financial gain requires a Category A credit licence and to obtain one requires a person to be of good standing. If a firm can lawfully £5 for late payment then it nullifies the very purpose of having credit licenses.

 

Fees can now be used for unlicensed lending.

 

Anyone know what the OFT's position is on this?

[JonCris]

It doesn't matter what the OFT think. If it's a penalty charge then they MUST be able to justify it as only covering their liquidated losses & if not like all such charges it's unlawful

[Guest 10110001]

So how do we get them back? or better still stop this hgappening in the first place?

 

If its unlawful then why they doing it?

[JonCris]

101

 

Simple.........because like the banks they think they can get away with it.

 

You would recover them in precisley the same way as unlawful bank penalty charges

[gondukin]

So how do we get them back? or better still stop this hgappening in the first place?

 

If its unlawful then why they doing it?

 

The have already scrapped them... as previously posted in this thread