British Gas Dual Fuel (British Gas - Combined)

Member Name: Kiada

Product:	British Gas - Combined
Date:	05/02/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to setup, advice on energy saving, help for people stuck on benefits

Disadvantages: no good payment scheme, expensive in the first place

Me and my girlfriend are first time 'home leavers' we fled the nest last September and moved into a privately rented house, and the previous occupants used British Gas for both their electricity and gas - so we thought we may aswell leave it as it is. We had our first full quarterly bill through the door last week, and its worked out around about £12 a week each (£24).

We've been a bit naive with the money though, and haven't really saved up / accounted for our gas and electricity properly (lesson learned I guess!) so we're hoping (especially with current climate) that they wont cut our gas or electricity off if we dont pay the full near £300 next week (argh!)

I've also had a look on their website but I can't find anything about payment plans. What would be ideal is having a payment card like you do for council tax / tv license / water that you can pay off at a weekly / monthly rate. I'd prefer to do the whole Pay As You Go but I'm not sure our landlord would allow the changing of meters!

We actually qualify for their new Essentials Advance package which helps people out who have to recieve benefits. It looks like a British Gas engineer comes around to evaluate the insulation in your house, if it isn't up to standard they fix it up for you free! and also credit one of your British Gas accounts with £50 - so if you're with British Gas and in receipt of any of the benefits below, you should get in touch with them. (sorry for long list, I didnt realise it was going to be so big when pasting!)

* Disability living allowance
* Pension credit
* Attendance allowance
* Council tax benefit
* Housing benefit
* Income support
* Income based job seeker allowance
* War disablement pension (which includes either mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance)
* Disablement pension ( which includes constant attendance allowance)
* Child Tax credit (where relevant income is £15,592 or less)
* Working Tax credit (where relevant income is £15, 592 or less)

http://www.britishgas.co.uk (tried to paste full link but it was over 80 characters, navigate to 'Products & Services ---> Gas And Electricity ----> Do you need extra support?' )

Summary: Pricey but on the surface look to be helping