I incurred debt on my energy account as I thought I was paying my monthly direct debit to cover my usage. Turns out I was only paying an estimation and got slapped with an £800 bill a few months later. I've never known energy bills to cost soo much (air source), British gas refused to inspect to see if their was a fault however and said it would be highly unlikely and if no fault could be found I'd incur a charge.
I tried to resolve this with them and we were in a bit of a back and forth about it discussing options to set for my usage and debt on going. I explicitly said I did not want to be switched to a PAYG meter as we are a low income household and would mean we would end up without any electricity due to various financial circumstances.
Today I have had a letter through the door saying they will remotely change my meter to PAYG (smart) in order for me to pay my debts and usage. I sobbed, with everything going on we've been struggling more than ever to make ends meet, the fact we can't get any food from the shops or even any deliveries has meant we've had to source it elsewhere for a much bigger cost. I'm also 29 weeks pregnant so have bought a few baby essentials in a panic just in case shops and online orders go into absolute lockdown.
I tried to ring them to discuss this but ofcourse with everything going on I was on hold for well over an hour and a half and gave up. They have said that they are giving support to peope who are unable to too up or are vulnerable and unwell. But seeing how long i was on hold for did not fill me with hope and i can see myself, partner and three year old sitting here without electricity. I have a feeling they'll say my only option to continue with monthly DD's is to pay off the outstanding which ofcourse I can't afford as it's about £800. I have £3 in my bank till I get paid just over £1000 On Friday for the month. I'm such a mess right now, this is honestly making everything even more unbearable.
And it just seems so cruel and unethical to do to a customer in the midst of a pandemic! I really dont know how we're going to cope and I've been pretty hysterical, everything around me seems to be crumbling away.
Sorry for the self pity I realise I needed to sort this out now and feel like such a failure at life.