Good news over British Gas late payment charge
Earlier this year, British Gas, one of the UK's leading energy suppliers, had announced plans to start charging customers a late payment fee of £5 whenever a bill payment was made late. The energy supplier claimed that the £5 was to cover the administrative costs of chasing late payments, but also added that although these fees would be charged on late payments, vulnerable customers would be protected from having their energy supply cut off.
However, the announcement regarding the charging of late fees fuelled outrage from consumer groups, who were appalled that one of the largest energy suppliers was charging what was described as a 'punitive' fee to customers, Even the energy watchdog, EnergyWatch advised consumers to switch away from British Gas and find an alternative supplier after the energy supplier announced it plans.
However, after the outrage expressed by consumer groups and after some persuasion from EnergyWatch, British Gas has recently announced that the charges will now no longer be applied. After hearing about the proposed charged, one EnergyWatch official stated: 'This is a bit rich coming from the largest player in an industry that struggles to issue accurate bills on time.'
Phil Bentley, the new managing director of British Gas, stated that he's also been talking to customers about the charges. He stated: 'I've been listening to their views about late payment charges. The vast majority of customers pay their household bills on time and so to ease their concerns about the late payment charge I've decided to scrap it. This does not mean I'm going soft on the small minority who continually pay their bills late - it costs us £20m each year which in effect places a burden on those customers who do pay their bills on time - and we will be more rigorous than ever to pursue these amounts owed.'
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