Just after my IVA was set up I received a letter from British Gas (BG) saying that as I had gone bankrupt (which I hadn't) they may have to close my account.
When my IVA was approved I never owed BG anything (apart from the rolling balance that you get when you pay for gas and electricity using fixed monthly direct debit), no arrears, no letters requesting payment, nothing.
So I rang BG and they said they'd made a mistake and assured me that everything would be put right. Everything went quiet and they've continued to collect payments as normal since then, albeit under a new account number.
Anyway they've now decided to put in a claim against my IVA and have now redone all my bills since my IVA was set up in April so that now they owe ME £500 (since I've been paying at the same monthly level but since it's the summer mainly haven't been using so much fuel). This amount is amazingly (not!) about the same value as the claim they've made to the IVA.
I've decided I've had enough of their shennanigans and my wife (who is not in an IVA) is applying to have our fuel switched to another supplier. Assuming this happens, once the account is closed BG will send us a cheque for the credit balance and this £500-ish will be paid over to my IVA as a windfall. This probably isn't procedurally 100% right but the effort for both my IP's firm and me to sort out a mess created by BG's incompetence isn't probably worth it.
They're completely bonkers.
Debt problems, what debt problems? I'm not in De Thames, I'm in De Nile.
British Gas at their best it seems! I've read similar story to this before. If its not over £500 it may not be classed as a windfall and hopefully you can keep the money.
There shouldn't be any problem switching suppliers, I have done this a few times since hubby was in an IVA and subsequently BR.
Glad you enjoyed Saturday, both you and your wife are lovely and there's a super photo of you taken by ladyh.
Believe it or not BG have 10 million customers! I have heard more mad stories of BG billing & cust serv than you could shake a stick at, with regard to the £500 I feel this should be kept for future bills as this was money originally budgeted for.
Believe it or not BG have 10 million customers! I have heard more mad stories of BG billing & cust serv than you could shake a stick at, with regard to the £500 I feel this should be kept for future bills as this was money originally budgeted for.
I'm with Atlantic thefsg - I have nothing but praise for their prices and customer services.
BG don't seem to to know what they are doing half the time.
Which makes their adverts all the more annoying!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I too had problems with BG and am in the process of changing over to Scottish power, for years i had been with them and this year for some reason they changed the goal posts as i requested the surplus amount on both my electric/gas accounts back which wasn't a lot but was mine all the same. As a direct result of that they then said i could no longer pay by direct debit so i had to set up a standing order for them! Meanwhile i had had several telephone calls from scottish power which i hadn't replied to so when someone turned up at my door from scottish power i thought hmmmmmmm someone is telling me to change here so hence i am presently in the process of changing, not that it will make BG care one jot but if a lot of their customers change then hopefully they will stop moving those goal posts.
Last edited by orchid5 on Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Om shanti, namesté, good luck to all who are embarking on the IVA journey, it isn't always an easy one but the outcome is the best.
IVA COMPLETED August 2012, received Completion certificate 18.4.13.
