Left to freeze!!!

OP you need to find some sort of electric or oil heater for the air - I also have asthma and the cold air is the biggest trigger. It is life-threatening for you. I am sorry I can't help with what to do with BG - but you need to urgently find something to heat the air in the room, even a small room that you can be in.

Yes - or even use the phone top up number and type in gas card number.

I would be thinking of staying at work for longer, asking someone if I could stay a couple of nights.
Can you get a cheap electric heater, or borow one? I have a humidifier that heats the air a bit with hot steam but dont think that is a good idea in the UK.
Apart from that, winter clothing, a hat, hot drinks, soups, various heat pack /salt heaters, buckwheat pads /can be heated in microwave/.

@OneBrightAzureBiscuit watch out your pipes don't freeze if the heating has been off all this time in the cold weather.

Lots of places like libraries are open longer hours & at the weekends that offer a 'warm room'. These are advertised on fb or via your local council.

If you have asthma that is impacted by cold you could probably register as a vulnerable customer which I think sounds like it would be worthwhile. Might not solve it this time but with a try as they have a duty of care.

I realise that people are trying to help by suggesting that the OP buy a cheap heater, but when money is tight, a "cheap" heater isn't that cheap.

Can you type the top up code into the metre without your card?

There is supposed to be a list of vulnerable customers who get priority, I believe. Maybe worth phoning back and pointing out your health issue?

British Gas used to leave fan heaters with the customer in such cases, at least they did about ten years ago.
@OneBrightAzureBiscuit , if you have to buy one, I'd go with a small oil-filled radiator with a thermostat as these are less noisy and bright than other heaters so you can run them overnight.

We bought one when our boiler broke, it did the trick really well. Have since lent it to neighbours in similar predicaments, if you have a local WhatsApp or similar it might be worth asking if anyone has a loaner.

Have you asked for a replacement card?

You can top up over the phone with the number on your card, unless you threw it away. You must have a letter or something somewhere with it on.

I've got a card to top up but never used it as I top up on the website. I presume British gas is the same.

You saw the forecast, did you not think to get a cheap electric heater?

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/meters/help-with-smart-pay-as-you-go

Is your meter a smart meter or a “traditional” meter? And did they say why an engineer is needed?

are you calling the general number or the “off supply” helpline number?

for gas you will need to manually re-enable the supply, it won’t just come back on because you have topped it up. British Gas should have instructions on their website or have a team who can talk you through it.

unfortunately the out of hours teams often don’t have a clue how to help and they don’t have engineers available in the night. They do indeed have a duty of care, as you’ve had health issues as a result of this you should speak to them about whether prepayment is safe for your gas supply.

for keeping warm I’d suggest finding somewhere else to go if you can.

British Gas have instructions on what to do on their website:

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/meters/getting-a-new-card-or-key-for-your-meter

Whoever you spoke to on the phone should have been able to tell you that, ideally 4 days ago, instead of booking an engineer 🤔

A plug in portable radiator

Not up to the landlord at all.

Can't you go to argos and buy a fan heater? Move it round house as needed? You can get one for less than £20

We had no heating recently for 2 weeks thankfully it was before this cold snap but our house was down to 11 degrees inside on the last day we just stuck largely to one room, heated bedrooms before bed and wore layers.

When I worked in convenience we used to have blank electric keys and gas cards that the companies could activate by giving customers a code. I don't know if it's the same now but they could be used through pay point.

Have you got somewhere else to go? Friend/family you can stay with? While you're waiting for it to be sorted out.

Call Citizen's Advice on the number in this link and tell them you have no gas and therefore no heating. They can speak directly to British Gas and help sort it out. www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue-energy/

send an email to their media department. Link them to this thread. Tell them you are emailing local and national media but out of courtesy you are emailing them first.

it is remarkable how companies resolve situations with speed when they are facing the prospect of negative publicity.

Definitely get an electric blanket (either one to wrap around you but preferably for your bed). If you're really feeling the cold, jumping into a bed with the blanket set to max will warm you up quickly, and it's very cheap on electricity. If you have a better budget, than an electric heater is a great solution. I have a portable butane gas heater which is great, and heats instantly.

You can buy one of these from Argos - Daewoo Branded Convector Heater 2000w - White https://amzn.eu/d/4wb3T1E
Click and collect, we keep one of these for emergency of boiler breakdowns. Also, the hot water bag and dressing up in layers. Buying an electric blanket as well.

No help do you now but definitely buy even a cheap electric plug in heater for times such as these. Hope it gets sorted out quickly op

Buy a cheap electric fan heater from Asda or Argos and move it around the flat with you whichever room you're in at one time...even if you keep the thermostat low it's still the best and quickest way to get good instant heat right where you want it! 🥵

We were left without heating for two weeks one winter when the boiler broke down as "not a priority " thankfully my council have got better now!

There are little fan heaters I got from amazon for about £15 each one for each of us. They warm things up quickly but can kill your electric (also on meters).

Or ask on nextdoor etc if you have it. The day I got my little heaters delivered someone offered me the loan of some.

Hot water bottles, hot drinks, warm clothes and hats (we lived in our coats) do help.
Also thick blankets.

I know how miserable being cold is and hope they sort it out soon.