Direct Debit vs Quarterly Bills......Student is Confuseddd!!!

Dan85_2

Having just moved into rented accommodation for my 2nd Uni yr, and being the first one to arrive I got hit by the huge 'welcome pack' from the letting agents. Included in this was a form from Southern Electric regarding change of tenancy and the future billing. The letting agents are pushing me towards direct debit payments but I'm not sure what to do. as the other housemates dont arrive for 2 weeks and I have a lot of other DD's going out of my account, I aint really happy to have the gas/heating bills doing the same and then chasing my mates for their shares. Quarterly bills have always been easiest for me to manage in the past and 2 of the others feel the same. Mainly I just want to hear if anyone else has ideas on the DD vs quarterly question............

Eccle_2

Companies do often offer discounts for paying by direct debit, however in the situation where you're sharing a house it is better that one person isn't making all the payments then having to be responsible for chasing the others for money. If you can't get one of the others to set up a direct debit in their name, the quarterly bill sounds like it would keep things simpler.

Dan85_2

Thanks. I think thats what I'l do. The letting agents are a bit pushy so I'l be putting my foot down in the morning. Much appreciated.

daveyjp

A household joint account and quarterly bills is how we did it 20 years ago. Thinking about it the account is probably still open, but it needed 2 signatures so will probably never get closed!

Eccle_2

No problem. I remember the traumas of sorting out money in student houses even when you all get on well and wouldn't want you to get stuck with being responsible for everything. Hope you get on ok with the letting agents.

GraceC

Heya

I had a student house with 6 others, and we considered paying by DD for the discount. But in practice it is much much easier to divide up quarterly bills when they come in, and as everyone can see the bill much less hassle.

Your Direct Debit payments for the year are worked out on what the energy company estimate you will be using so as you are new tenants in the house they will be using the previous tenants energy consumption to work out your estimate. So you could end up paying considerably more or less than you need to with DDs, and either get a credit back (yay!) or owe the energy company a lot at the end. From experience, it's harder to chase people for bills once you have all left the house, so you wouldn't want to be the one left to pay it. Also, have you considered what happens in the holiday periods? If you all go home in the holidays then you won't be using any energy at the property with no-one there, but if you pay by DD then money will still be leaving your account every month, even while you are away. If you don't want direct debits, don't let them push you into it!

The other thing I would try and do is to get everyone in the house's name associated with the gas/ele account, if you can. This means if there are any problems then anyone can ring up, not just the person named on the account. From experience I know how frustrating it is to try and ring up to get something sorted out when the person named as responsible has left for the summer and taken all the account details with them.