Late payment for BG bill

[Lostmummy5]

Hi everyone,
Despite the fact that we barely had a heating on and tried to save electricity, my BG bill for 3 months just shocked me...
I submit meter readings every 3 months and then pay the bill.
It's almost £1k....
I can afford to pay for electricity today but for gas payment I need to wait for 16th (when I'll receive some extra payment from work). It's two days later than bill's "pay by date" - 14th.
My question is - what BG will do for 2 days late? I believe they will charge me some extra? Should I contact them (which is almost impossible I tried to call them for advice and was disconnected after 1hr 20mins wait on the line)?
I simply worrying if they could put us on pre paid meter for that?
Thank you

They won't put you on pre paid for a 2 day late bill, thats for people in chronic debt with them.

Have you sent an email?

Contact them, but also move onto direct debit monthly payments, so you don't get bills of this size that you've not saved for.
The threads on this, people are also all saying bills are £300 ish a month for houses. So you should have been expecting it. Also submit readings more frequently than quarterly, at least monthly, if you don't want a smart meter

I'm sorry but that's definitely not OK - be without heating, barely use any electricity and get £1k bill. How much people paying if heating is on every day then?

I finally contacted them. They allowed me to pay couple of days later without any extra charges.

I will never move for DD. And I'll never have smart meter.

I will never move for DD. And I'll never have smart meter.

Why not, what is your objection? At least you won't get any surprise bills that way

Paying a regular monthly direct debit means you won't be hit with a high quarterly bill as you allow for high winter bills and lower summer bills when setting the direct debit amount. Or pay for your actual usage monthly if BG offers it.

I prefer not to use a DD either OP - but you do need to read your meter monthly and/or put enough into another account every month to cover energy. Or set up a standing order for what you think it might be and pay the adjustment when the bill comes.

And yes - it is expensive - but we have had cheap energy for a long time. (I'm currently under the heated throw in a house that is 14 degrees. We get used to it. 😬

You must have been using some heating and electricity to run up a £1k bill and it's a bit 'cut your nose off to spite your face' to refuse to use the facility that allows you to spread the cost of your high winter bill throughout the year and then complain about having to pay the high winter bill when you receive it.

I knew that we would be seeing complaints about this sort of thing when everyone was proudly talking about 'paying for what they use' in August unlike the DD mugs.

You must have been using heating or had other high usage to run up a bill that high. Immersion hot water? Tumble dryer? Electric heater? I have had heating on everyday since mid November, and an hour most days in early November. November bill was £75, December £110 (add a tenner a month as I'm on a fix close to the cap).

. If it's accurate, you'd have saved a fair bit paying by direct debit (whether that's equal monthly instalments, or when the bill is generated/a variable one each month or quarter). Usually DD payment of any kind = cheaper rates and/or standing charges
You don't need a smart meter to do that.

^ you could also have called them to set up a DD for the bill that's due for payment, which would have bought you more time while it got set up etc.

What was your usage? Then someone can tell you if your bill sounds right. It does sound high considering the average is £2500 a year and your bill ends midwinter so Jan to March should be similar if not higher.

If you were without heating, how the hell did you spend £1k on electric (and just hot water/cooling if they're gas)??

*cooking, not cooling