SSGC Security Deposit Refund: How to Claim Your Money Back

When a gas connection is first installed, the demand notice includes a security deposit. It is not a fee and it is not consumed — it sits against the connection as security, and it is refundable when the connection is permanently disconnected and the account is settled.

A great many of these deposits are never claimed. Not because the claims are refused, but because the paperwork proving the deposit was paid disappeared years ago, or because nobody realised the money was claimable at all. This guide covers what the deposit is, when it becomes refundable, what a claim needs, and what to do if the original receipt is long gone.

What the security deposit is

It is an amount collected at the time of connection, included in the demand notice alongside any site-specific charges. Its purpose is straightforward: security against the account.

Three characteristics worth being clear about:

• It is refundable, unlike the application fee or the cost of any physical work done at your property.
• It attaches to the connection, and is claimable by the registered account holder — which is one of the main reasons a connection transfer matters after buying a property.
• It is not applied against your monthly bills. You cannot ask for it to be set off against a bill you are struggling to pay; it becomes available on permanent disconnection, not before.

The amount differs by connection and by the period in which it was paid, so there is no single figure. The number on your original demand notice is the number.

When it becomes refundable

The deposit becomes claimable on permanent disconnection of the connection — that is, the connection being closed for good, not a temporary interruption and not a disconnection for non-payment that you intend to have reconnected.

Common situations where this legitimately arises:

• A property is demolished or redeveloped and the connection is being surrendered.
• A connection is genuinely no longer needed — a premises that will not be reoccupied, or a household moving permanently to a supply that does not need it.
• A commercial premises is closing.
• Duplicate or redundant connections at the same property are being consolidated.

Situations where it does not arise: moving house while leaving the connection working for the next occupant (that is a transfer, not a refund), a temporary disconnection, or a disconnection for non-payment where you intend to reconnect.

Step 1 — Settle the account completely

No refund is processed against an account with an outstanding balance, and this is where most delays start rather than end.

Before applying:

1. Pull the latest bill and check the outstanding amount. The online bill portal shows it against just the consumer number, or send the number to 7742.
2. Pay everything — the current bill, any arrears, and any late payment surcharge that has accrued. Keep the payment references.
3. Wait for a bill or statement showing a clear balance. A payment made yesterday is not the same as a settled account in the system, and the claim will be assessed against the system.
4. Understand that a final bill may follow the disconnection, covering consumption up to the day the meter was removed. That has to be settled too.

In practice the sensible order is: apply for permanent disconnection, let the final bill be raised, settle it, then pursue the deposit refund against a demonstrably clear account.

Step 2 — Collect the documents

The two that decide the outcome are the deposit receipt and the proof of permanent disconnection. Everything else is routine.

Step 3 — Submit, and then follow it up properly

Submit at the zone office that serves the address, and treat this as the beginning rather than the end.

• Get a claim or reference number. Without one nothing can be traced, and a claim nobody can trace is a claim that does not move.
• Keep a photocopy of the entire submitted file. Every document, including the application form. If the file is misplaced, being able to resubmit an identical set in an afternoon is worth a great deal.
• Log every contact — date, person, what was said, what was promised.
• Ask specifically what stage the claim is at and what it is waiting for. "It is in process" is not an answer you can act on; "it is awaiting verification at X" is.

If the claim stalls for months with no explanation, escalate in writing through the formal complaint process, citing the claim number and the dates of each follow-up. If escalation inside SSGC produces nothing, the Federal Ombudsman — Wafaqi Mohtasib — exists precisely for unresolved grievances against a public utility, and a documented file is what makes that route viable.

What if the original receipt is lost?

Very common, and not automatically fatal — but it makes the claim harder, so expect to work for it.

Things that help:

• Any old bill for the connection, establishing the consumer number and that the account existed in your name.
• Bank records from the period showing the payment, if you paid through a bank and can still obtain a statement.
• The demand notice itself, even without the payment stamp, if you kept it.
• An affidavit or indemnity in the format the zone office requires, stating the circumstances of the loss.
• A written request that SSGC verify the deposit from its own records. The deposit was recorded when it was collected; asking for verification against the consumer number is a legitimate and reasonable request, and it is the request to put in writing.

Put the whole thing in writing, keep a copy, and get a receiving stamp on your copy when you submit it. A verbal enquiry about a decade-old deposit tends to evaporate; a written application against a consumer number has to be answered.

How long it realistically takes

Honestly: months, not weeks, and it is not a fast process anywhere.

The stages that consume the time are verification of the deposit against records, confirmation that the account is clear, and confirmation that the disconnection was permanent and completed. Each of those involves a different part of the organisation.

What speeds it up is entirely within your control: a complete file, a clear account, a claim number you quote every time, and follow-up at sensible intervals with a written record behind it. What slows it down is an incomplete file, an unsettled balance, and following up without a reference number.

Claiming as an heir

If the account holder has died, the deposit does not disappear — it becomes claimable by the estate.

You will need the death certificate, succession documents establishing entitlement, and where there are multiple heirs, their consent for the claim to be made and paid to one person. As with a transfer, settle the succession paperwork first; a utility claim cannot resolve an unsettled estate.

The short version

The deposit is real money and it is refundable. What decides whether you actually see it is whether you can prove it was paid and whether the account is fully clear.

If you have a live connection, spend two minutes now finding your demand notice receipt and photographing it. If you are claiming, settle the account completely first, submit a complete file, get a claim number, and follow up in writing. Neither is complicated; both are easy to leave until the point where they become hard.