Energy Companies Allegedly Misuseing Direct Debit Scheme

BallandChain

Even better, just use a debit card instead of cash when paying your quarterly bill.

brysiewysie

BallandChain wrote: »

I wonder if the energy companies will be contacting their customers to say their monthly direct debit payments will be reduced once prices come down!

So prices went up in July/August/Sept and finally DD's are now being amended. I guess most people will conveniently forget that whenever prices reduce?

ayjayem

My dad pays by dd and has had it raised from £66 to £97
but what they have done to get to this figure is read the meter on 13 of nov and send a bill on 15, 2 days before his 3rd quarterly payment which would take him from £30 debit to £30 credit
going to phone them in the morning to ask what they are playing at

certainly isnt cricket

bristolleedsfan

ayjayem wrote: »

but what they have done to get to this figure is read the meter on 13 of nov and send a bill on 15, 2 days before his 3rd quarterly payment which would take him from £30 debit to £30 credit
going to phone them in the morning to ask what they are playing at

certainly isnt cricket

U really think they are that devious. :rotfl: How would they have known that your dad would be in when they called to read the meter, before you say they might have sat on a wall watching:rotfl: How would they have known that your dad was available to answer the door to the meter reader on 13th November? ) "13th unlucky for some", "13th" unlucky it appears from a direct debit point of view for your dad. :rotfl:

DonnySaver

I'm a bit dubious about them also. I went onto E.ON's price protection september 2009 scheme (dual fuel) in the summer just before the prices went up. I expected my bill to go up by around 15% (the average to be expected for capping). Just had a letter from E.ON though saying that my monthly direct debit is going up from £77/month to £103/month! That's a 33% increase and yet my overall gas/electricity consumption is down on last years!

Just looked around on the comparison website though and found that I can get nothing significantly cheaper elsewhere either. What's going on ??

KimYeovil

I'm not looking forward to Monday. If people and their elected representatives don't grasp to look at their annual consumption add an increase and divide by twelve (relatively straightforward) goodness knows how many posts there will be on Monday lambasting rip-off merchants for slyly pocketing that odd 0.37 percent!

Joyful

For all those that talk about companies making money from Direct debits I think this quote from Phil Bentley on TV this week says it all!

"Last month our direct debit customers were in credit by around £34 million, but by March next year this will have turned into a debit of £460 million. Direct Debit is a monthly payment method designed to smooth payments over the year."

brysiewysie

DonnySaver wrote: »

I'm a bit dubious about them also. I went onto E.ON's price protection september 2009 scheme (dual fuel) in the summer just before the prices went up. I expected my bill to go up by around 15% (the average to be expected for capping). Just had a letter from E.ON though saying that my monthly direct debit is going up from £77/month to £103/month! That's a 33% increase and yet my overall gas/electricity consumption is down on last years!

Just looked around on the comparison website though and found that I can get nothing significantly cheaper elsewhere either. What's going on ??

DonnySaver, I guess this is the view of many. Unfortunately so many can't seem to grasp the concept of a direct debit scheme at the moment.

You need to consider what your usage is likely to be until your spring review (for other companies they work slightly differently), use the current unit prices according to your tariff, add on any debt or take off any credit you have and divide the figure by the number on monthly payments you will make up to your spring review.

brysiewysie

KimYeovil wrote: »

I'm not looking forward to Monday. If people and their elected representatives don't grasp to look at their annual consumption add an increase and divide by twelve (relatively straightforward) goodness knows how many posts there will be on Monday lambasting rip-off merchants for slyly pocketing that odd 0.37 percent!

I just wish people would look at the many sensible explanations on this forum around DD schemes before they post another .... my DD's gone up .... I don't understand .... type post

[Deleted User]

Direct debits are increased to ensure your balance is Zero after your largest consumption quarter.
This was stated by Mr Russell Hamblin-Boon anEnergy Retail Association Spokesman yesterday.
This means that if you change supplier during the heavier usage periods your initial quote for the direct debit amount will not be enough to get you to a zero position.
In all probability the extra DD they try to take off you to achieve the Zero balance will far outway any savings you expected by changing supplier in the first year.
Of course there is no mention of this when they welcome you as a new customer.