British Gas Threatening Contact

[RiffRaff 10]

31 December, just after noon, I received an email from British Gas, with the subject line stating

"Your bill is overdue - Act now to avoid charges"

 

Further down the 'page' is a large graphic, again repeating the subject line in white writing on a dark blue background, followed by this message :

"We know life gets busy but your £71.37 gas bill is now overdue. If we don't receive your payment by 04.01.2021 and we need to contact you again, we'll charge you £25.00 to cover our costs"

 

A scam email?

Nope. It's legit. It has the customer name and correct gas account number.

 

First of all, what they don't know is that the account holder is in her 90's, in a Sheffield care home and receiving end-of-life care. Her house is empty.

I've given my email address to BG in the past so that I can keep her financial things in order. The home heating, for example, is on a timer in order to rule out frozen pipes and the like.

There's probably a gas bill sitting on her doormat - the last time I collected her mail was Monday 21 December, and it certainly wasn't there then.

First of all, what does "overdue" mean to you?

Exactly. The due date has been and gone....

Since when can "overdue" be used before the "due" date has even been reached?! It's only the bloody 3rd today!

And can you imagine the effect that this overly threatening email would've had on a 90-odd year old?

 

British Gas.

You are disgusting.

Edited January 3, 2021 by RiffRaff

[Pyrotequila 403]

Give them a call and explain the situation.

 

I got overdue bill notices from Octopus when my dad passed in the middle of 2020, called them up, explained it all to them and they were fantastic.

Basically said "pay when you can"

[Johnnybrew 12]

The debt is outstanding - that fact will not go away. It is overdue. If it is not paid very soon, additional charges may be incurred.  Unpalatable as it may seem, they could not spell it our much more politely.  I don't see how that makes them 'disgusting'.

 

 Contact them, and make some arrangements to  pay it  or have it paid by the person who is supposedly looking after the financial   affairs.  

[ECCOnoob 1,050]

53 minutes ago, RiffRaff said:

31 December, just after noon, I received an email from British Gas, with the subject line stating

"Your bill is overdue - Act now to avoid charges"

 

Further down the 'page' is a large graphic, again repeating the subject line in white writing on a dark blue background, followed by this message :

"We know life gets busy but your £71.37 gas bill is now overdue. If we don't receive your payment by 04.01.2021 and we need to contact you again, we'll charge you £25.00 to cover our costs"

 

A scam email?

Nope. It's legit. It has the customer name and correct gas account number.

 

First of all, what they don't know is that the account holder is in her 90's, in a Sheffield care home and receiving end-of-life care. Her house is empty.

I've given my email address to BG in the past so that I can keep her financial things in order. The home heating, for example, is on a timer in order to rule out frozen pipes and the like.

There's probably a gas bill sitting on her doormat - the last time I collected her mail was Monday 21 December, and it certainly wasn't there then.

First of all, what does "overdue" mean to you?

Exactly. The due date has been and gone....

Since when can "overdue" be used before the "due" date has even been reached?! It's only the bloody 3rd today!

And can you imagine the effect that this overly threatening email would've had on a 90-odd year old?

 

British Gas.

You are disgusting.

I don't understand what's "disgusting".

 

They provide a service.  It comes with a charge and payment of that is overdue. They're entitled to send out a reminder with an extended payment date failing which they can start their debt collection.

 

Apart from the fact that their letter will be very generic and automated process they won't know that your relative is in palative care.

 

You say you have provided your email address to BG but very often that is not enough for a company to liaise directly with you in someone else's affairs . Unless you have directly told them about the circumstances of your relative's illness how would they know.

 

I do feel you are overreacting.   As others have pointed out - you simply need to ring them, explain the situation and I'm sure they will be able to sort something out.  All the big utilities  will most likely be very used to this situation and will have a procedure to resolve it.

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by ECCOnoob

[RiffRaff 10]

That's not my point. I paid the bill on the 31st online.

My main argument is how something can be phrased as "overdue" when the date hadn't even been reached!

[Delbow 705]

The account holder may previously have arranged a date in the month or quarter when payment was due, so it might be that that date has passed. They would then send out a reminder. Don't let it bother you, just phone them and sort it out. It's worth checking if there is a pre-agreed payment date. You might need some personal details of the account holder handy before they'll share information with you, due to the Data Protection Act.

[RiffRaff 10]

1 hour ago, ECCOnoob said:

I don't understand what's "disgusting".

 

They provide a service.  It comes with a charge and payment of that is overdue. They're entitled to send out a reminder with an extended payment date failing which they can start their debt collection.

 

Apart from the fact that their letter will be very generic and automated process they won't know that your relative is in palative care.

 

You say you have provided your email address to BG but very often that is not enough for a company to liaise directly with you in someone else's affairs . Unless you have directly told them about the circumstances of your relative's illness how would they know.

 

I do feel you are overreacting.   As others have pointed out - you simply need to ring them, explain the situation and I'm sure they will be able to sort something out.  All the big utilities  will most likely be very used to this situation and will have a procedure to resolve it.

 

You don't understand?

I know they provide a service. I know it comes with a charge. I'm not stupid.

How can payment be "overdue" when the due date hadn't even been reached?!

Collinsdictionary.com definition of the word "overdue" = "Overdue sums of money have not been paid, even though it is later than the date on which they should have been paid."

Who said anything about it being a reminder?

It isn't a reminder. It is the first contact that's been made.

You say "Unless you have directly told them about the circumstances of your relative's illness how would they know?"

If you re-read my original post you will see that I wrote "What they don't know....etc"

The fact the account holder isn't at the address, and happens to be in her 90s -  is purely academic. The point is that she would've received this ultimatum on NY eve - with only 4 days over a public holiday - in which to pay a bill or have £25 added to it for so-called admin fees.

Pray tell, if you hadn't got a facility to pay online over a bank holiday weekend, where would you have gone to pay?

 

 

[Longcol 604]

The due date on the bill may have been prior to 31 December and they were allowing a period of "grace" to 4 Jan before applying additional charges.

[ECCOnoob 1,050]

21 minutes ago, Longcol said:

The due date on the bill may have been prior to 31 December and they were allowing a period of "grace" to 4 Jan before applying additional charges.

Thanks Longcol. Got there ahead of me.

 

The OP is clearly failing to understand there is a difference between a bill due date and the overdue warning letter grace period (which is the thing they are taking issue with)

 

One clearly follows the other and the letter will have only been triggered as the original bill wasn't paid by the agreed time - which clearly it wasn't.

 

To the OP  just follow the advice given and give them a call.   It is not a big issue and I'm sure they will be able to sort it out.

Edited January 4, 2021 by ECCOnoob

[RiffRaff 10]

7 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

Thanks Longcol. Got there ahead of me.

 

The OP is clearly failing to understand there is a difference between a bill due date and the overdue warning letter grace period (which is the thing they are taking issue with)

 

One clearly follows the other and the letter will have only been triggered as the original bill wasn't paid by the agreed time - which clearly it wasn't.

 

To the OP  just follow the advice given and give them a call.   It is not a big issue and I'm sure they will be able to sort it out.

"Clearly failing to understand"?!

Excuse me!

I can assure you that this demand is the first approach for payment. I collect the old dear's mail once a week, ergo had there been an "original bill" on her doormat, I would've found it.

I've been collecting her mail - and settling her accounts -  since her care home admission in early April, so I'm well aware of when her household bills are likely due.

I was expecting her quarterly gas bill in January, but not in such a fashion.

 

[redruby 279]

I don’t know why people reply if they are just going to be condescending. 
I wonder if there was a previous request for payment that got lost in the post?  If that’s the case I would just leave it and move on now the bill is paid if this were me.

If this is the first request for payment though, it sounds like something has gone wrong and it would be worth making a complaint to BG. In which case do it by letter which will likely get a better response than a phone call or email/secure message to  them.

[Thirsty Relic 215]

I've had cause to complain to British Gas before - they can be very difficult to deal with. 

 

If I were you, I would put first of all put the facts down in writing and get ready to send it recorded delivery to their complaints section.  Secondly, I would ring up, explain the situation, get the name of the person you speak to, then tell them that you are adding that into your complaint to show you have spoken to them about it (and hopefully that they were good and said they'd sort it or whatever).  Finally send the updated letter, recorded delivery.  You then have evidence of your phone call and your letter, and both can be very useful in getting results, or as evidence to bring to bear should they continue playing up.

 

Good luck!