Can’t pay full energy bill

[Lovebirdslovetea]

I can’t believe I’m in this situation again.
I can’t afford to pay for my energy bill for two weeks. I am paid twice not all in one go. On the 20th and at the end of the month.
Their energy saving advice makes no difference to the fact that I simply don’t have the funds available to pay.
They have already sent me a bill.
My question is will they allow me to pay in two weeks or take action given this has happened before?
TIA

Have you actually called and spoken to them about what help is available for example a payment plan .

British Gas are the worst.

Nope. That's BG for you. I had a hell of a time when I divorced exh. He moved out of our house. I asked them to move utilities into my name so I could change to a different company but they refused. Said only the account holder (exh) could ring them to take their name off account. He refused because he loved to be an ass. I emailed them and image of my decree absolute but still they refused. I couldn't pay the bill. It took a solicitor's letter stating exh no longer lived at property for them to change it into my name.

You really should set one up for emergencies like this.

They are being so weird I wonder what's in your account that they treat you like this. Is there some note saying something which is promoting their treatment? I'd phone again and try and speak to someone different and tell your story again. That you get paid in 20th and can they wait until then or accept some money today with the balance then, that passing to a debt collector will make it actually more difficult for you to pay.

Don't wait to do this otherwise you'll have another bill from BG after this one. Call Octopus today and get it switched. If you have the bad luck of speaking to someone who is less than helpful (love Octopus and have always had a good experience with an one exception), just end the conversation and call back.

Sorry about BG, don't know how they're staying in business when everyone has the choice of moving to the likes of Octopus.

I’ve been with BG for years and never had an issue and have had excellent service , including when my husband completely misread the electric meter and when we had another issue when someone fraudulently used our address .

I can’t switch because I still owe British Gas money

An arranged and authorised overdraft with your bank is the answer OP.

You say you've paid £50 of the total bill already, what was the original due date for the whole amount?

I think I’ve gotten a bit confused or maybe something has gone wrong on their end.
my total bill was about £100 to be paid by the 18th of Feb, but right then I could only afford to pay half. So I paid what I could afford and then I spoke to them to explain that I can’t in full pay until the 20th. They took a meter reading from me then which created a new charge for a reading that I had already paid half of. Sorry if that makes no sense. Say I paid £50 of a £100 bill. Which means I now owe £50. spoke to them, they took my reading again and my account shows I owe £100 again. They also said they wouldn’t make an exception and have threatened a late payment charge and debt collectors.

Seriously - an arranged overdraft on £50 for a few days will be nothing. Certainly nowhere near as much as BG's late payment fees. You could spend time going round the houses with them, but they probably won't give a shit and you'll waste time and effort trying to sort it out.
My bank (NatWest) would only charge £3.24 for a £500 overdraft for 7 days.
Get an overdraft, pay them their £50, then fuck them off and move to Octopus.

It does seem like an overdraft is your best option. Could you also sell a few things? I've sold a some books, clothes and a couple of bits of furniture on Facebook Marketplace this week. Only £5-10 each but it all adds up.
When you move to Octopus get a referral code from someone first, then you'll both get £50 credit.

I would sell things if I was absolutely desperate but I’m not that desperate yet. I’ve only ever had really bad experiences trying to sell anything online.
ill be paying off what I owe and then creating a direct debit with a new company.