The new rates will come into effect on 18 December 2008 reducing prices by an average of £22* a year for dual fuel prepayment customers.
Phil Bentley, Managing Director of British Gas, said:
“We are always trying to bring down our costs and have a dedicated team who focus solely on improving the service we give our pre-payment customers. For example, we are the only supplier to give pre-payment customers peace of mind over energy prices by introducing long-term fixed-price contracts. Now we have identified cost savings, and are passing these on to our customers.
“At British Gas we are committed to passing savings on to our customers wherever we can. And, while wholesale gas prices are still high, they are falling; if that continues, we are hopeful we’ll be able to reduce prices for all our customers next Spring.”
British Gas has 2.3 million pre-payment customer accounts. During the past 16 months the company has built a team – our Pay As You Go Energy team – dedicated to understanding the needs of our pre-payment customers.
This team has driven a range of improvements and innovations; these include having the most extensive network of payment outlets (more than 50,000) where people can top up, and introducing home-vend solutions to make life more convenient for our customers.
We also introduced long-term fixed-price contracts giving customers peace of mind.
* Based on average annual consumption of 20,500kWh for gas and 3,300kWh for single-rate electricity, and is a rounded average across all regions including VAT.
Direct debit payments
Four million of our customers choose to pay by direct debit and smooth their payments over the year. Direct debit payment plans are assessed by a looking at prices at the time and the customer’s previous consumption history.
The nature of the payment plan means that customers tend to finish the summer with a small credit because they have used less energy in that period. In winter they will use four times the energy they do in summer, and usually end the payment period with their accounts in debit.
We aim to help our customers stay out of debt by ensuring direct debit instalments are enough to cover their consumption, and we reassess direct debit payment plans twice a year.
This year, because of the record high prices of oil and wholesale gas, we had to raise fuel prices for our customers – and therefore the amounts they pay by direct debit.
We understand that this is a tough time for customers, and we want to help. For example, by offering a range of measures to boost energy efficiency and cut fuel bills.
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Notes To Editors
Centrica is working to supply secure, sustainable, affordable energy.
British Gas supplies gas and electric to UK residential and business customers and provides homecare insurance, central heating and gas appliance installation services. British Gas , one of the UKs largest energy suppliers.
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