Grumping About British Gas

[Fugitive]

Dual fuel with British Gas is OK with me but my last two quarter bills were estimated and paid so when I got the dual bill today I have nothing to pay and am £66.00 in credit but that means they have had £600.00 of my money in their bank for the last three months when it should have been in my bank for that time plus I wouldn't be paying them until the final demand.

This is wrong! Isn't it?

[Kaz]

Very wrong!

[Fugitive]

Very wrong!

I am cross about this and will have a word. They'll tell me to read my own meters and submit the readings I suppose and I will if it means my money stays in my bank rather than going into theirs. I have no intention of paying for stuff I haven't used in advance like that again. The only bonus is I'd budgeted for the fuel bill this month so feel better off for it

[Diflower]

That's how we do it Fugi, read the meters each month and enter them online. Dead easy and you're only ever paying for what you use. It's paid by direct debit, but you can check your account to see how much it will be.
Other companies may in theory be cheaper but until others offer the same method I'm sticking with BG.

[Fugitive]

This is the first time the meters haven't been read but have been estimated for what looks like three quarters so this mustn't happen again. Lesson learned here!

[Workingman]

I was never much bothered by going into credit in summer if it meant that I didn't go into arrears in winter. The tiny bit of interest I lost by my money being in their bank and not mine was pretty insignificant to me, in real terms.

It would, however, have been nice for that to be recognised by, say, a voucher. Let's face it, if millions of us are in credit the total of our credit makes a lot of money for the energy companies.

I am now on pre-pay meters, landlord insists, and TBH I am in more control than I ever was on direct debit. The cost of my energy is 0.03p per unit more than DD, but overall I spend less.

[Fugitive]

I get that WM but I don't do monthly DDs. I did once a few years ago with the utilities and the same happened then as they all had a small fortune of my money building up in their bank and I hated that as I felt like I had lost control of my account. I don't like bits of money going out of my bank and having to keep track. I have quarterly or annual bills and pay them as late as I possibly can so this has really annoyed me and it won't happen again.

[Aggers]

We pay a fixed amount every month by direct debit, and recently had a substantial refund paid back into our bank account.

With interest rates so low now, it's hardly worth getting too upset about where your money happens to be.

[Fugitive]

We pay a fixed amount every month by direct debit, and recently had a substantial refund paid back into our bank account.

With interest rates so low now, it's hardly worth getting too upset about where your money happens to be.

No Aggers. I don't use interest paying current account. I run on authorised overdraft as a way of life! So that £600.00 might have kept me out of overdraft and usual charges. Overdraft and no interest isn't my point. BG having £600.00 of my money for goods I haven't used yet is wrong. Prepaying for anything doesn't sit well with me. That money should still be in my bank account and not theirs for the last three months-surely?

I don't give Sainsbury's £600.00 upfront for groceries I'll be buying in the future so I see no difference. This is about principles for me.

[Diflower]

That's exactly why we do it as we do.
We pay for the precise amount of both gas and electricity we've used for the month