something along that line should be done, seriously. Because all the power suppliers are reading these messages and having a giggle. They all know if 20% of their customers switch and leave them, another 20% will join them having switched from their last supplier for the same reason. They'll gleefully carry on .So we're all flogging a dead horse, really.
The key point of switching is cashback trousering, pure and simple. Fact is, unless you are on a silly standard tariff and switch to another supplier's online tariff the difference in the tariff amounts is negligible, not enough to make up for the hassle IMHO. But for £300 per year then the little bit of hassle involved becomes very much worth it IMO. Plus, you get the added pleasure of having these greedy rip-off merchants actually getting their hands in THEIR pockets for a change...
TO ALL WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT MONTHLY DIRECT DEBIT INCREASES!
I am an E.ON customer. I use their web service to enter my readings online EVERY month. My direct debit ONLY increases if my USAGE increases. I suggest you do the same. I enter my readings online on the 15th of every month, this means I ONLY PAY FOR WHAT I USE!
Don't rely on companies to read your meter for you, otherwise your MDD payments will be calculated on assumptions. They will 'forecast' your usage based on a single reading per quarter, and if you have ever received an Estimated bill, this will totally screw up their 'forecast'.
Companies will try to have your meter read each quarter, but by law it is only required every 12 or 18 months. It does state in your T&C's though that it is a JOINT responsibility.
If you really want to SAVE money, force feed their system with good information about how you REALLY use your Gas and Electricity. Make their system work FOR YOU, not the other way around.
Since I have been doing this my monthly outgoings have decreased form £128.00 to just £68.00. I AM NEVER IN DEBT and I know exactly what my average usage is.
If you are unsure, talk to E.ON's customer services people, they are really helpful and if you are still unsure then use their website to see if they have a better deal than your current plan.
Or ask them "Is there a better deal than the one I am on?"
Switching suppliers is fine, but at the moment its a level playing field with little or no real difference. Always read the small print too. If you end up tied in to a contract it could cost you a lot of money to end it!
It's also a nightmare when you find out the supplier is billing you to the wrong meter because your old supplier made a mistake, or because the New one was careless!
Having read the trials & tribulations of others on this thread, my circumstances don't seem so bad, but I'm still annoyed that Scottish Power have put up my DD (duel fuel) from £47 at the beginning of this year to £77 with out even letting me know. Only discovered this latest increase on my bank statement ( has slowly been increasing over the months) but they normally send me an email informing me of an imminent increase, which I generally refute and either they don't put it up or we come to a compromise. Seems they are going to do exactly as they like now. :-( As a pensioner with only £480 coming in each month - this is a huge bite out of my income. We keep hearing about energy prices coming down - are we over paying per unit???
I'm with EDF and I was in the situation recently where no readings had been taken for gas even though meter is situated outside for free access and no bills had been given. I work full time and admit to not being scrupulous with checking bills etc. So I was hit with a demand to repay £250 which we owed.
I then checked for electricity bills and realised we hadn't seen a bill for 6 months! I phoned to query this and was told there had been a glich and the DD hadn't been taken for 6 months and since we'd used the electricity we had to pay for it and we had 7 days to find £300+ and the amount for the gas too.
After tears frustration and not much apologies i managed to get them to agree to adding the amount onto our DD and now we pay £115 a month for electricity and £105 a month for gas. A big change from £50 and £72 because of their poor service. I will be checking bills and DD carefully.
I switched from Npower & when they found out, they phoned me to ask me to come back to them on a better rate, they would reduce my monthly DD from £90 to £70 and refund me the £400 + I was in credit with them. I said yes please! (I've also got the cashback incentive from switching to an alternative supplier). Shouldn't have to leave to get your money back or a fairer DD amount though, should you?
Have just cancelled monthly D/D to British Gas. They increased my payment from £50 p.m. to £80 p.m. without notifying me despite the fact that I am £120 in credit.I have returned to quarterly billing for both gas and electricity.I will still get dual fuel discount but lose a small discount for paying by direct debit. Am I cutting off my nose to spite my face
As you can guess by my username, i work for E.on, and Martin Lewis is mistaken regarding the direct debits. The companies aren't putting direct debits up to earn interest on your money becasue we dont. The same way we dont charge interest when a customer is in arrears. The reason your direct debit may have increased is because every customer has an annual review date, at this date the company wants every customers account to be zero. Depending when your review date is, (usually april, may, june or july) depends how many payments you have left. So how the systems work it out is:
E.G
Say your annual review date in april, your will have 3 payments left, Jan, Feb & March, so we look at your last years bills for Jan and april and work out how much you spent by adding the two bills together.Then we add a 22% increase for dual fuel or 16% for single electric or 30% for single gas. This is for the price increases. Then we take away any credit you have on the account. Then we apply your discounts, 6% single elec, 8% dual fuel. Once we have ths figure we divide it by the amount of payments you have left to make, in this case 3 and thats your new direct debit amount. The system can be a few pounds out either way but is right.
I hope this helps everyone, this shows that were not money grabbing, we really are just setting the payments at what you will be using. If, for whatever reason, you are in credit, then this money will be put back refunded to you on your annual review date.
Replies
The key point of switching is cashback trousering, pure and simple. Fact is, unless you are on a silly standard tariff and switch to another supplier's online tariff the difference in the tariff amounts is negligible, not enough to make up for the hassle IMHO. But for £300 per year then the little bit of hassle involved becomes very much worth it IMO. Plus, you get the added pleasure of having these greedy rip-off merchants actually getting their hands in THEIR pockets for a change...
HAVE YOU SEEN QUENTIN'S CASHBACK CARD??
I am an E.ON customer. I use their web service to enter my readings online EVERY month. My direct debit ONLY increases if my USAGE increases. I suggest you do the same. I enter my readings online on the 15th of every month, this means I ONLY PAY FOR WHAT I USE!
Don't rely on companies to read your meter for you, otherwise your MDD payments will be calculated on assumptions. They will 'forecast' your usage based on a single reading per quarter, and if you have ever received an Estimated bill, this will totally screw up their 'forecast'.
Companies will try to have your meter read each quarter, but by law it is only required every 12 or 18 months. It does state in your T&C's though that it is a JOINT responsibility.
If you really want to SAVE money, force feed their system with good information about how you REALLY use your Gas and Electricity. Make their system work FOR YOU, not the other way around.
Since I have been doing this my monthly outgoings have decreased form £128.00 to just £68.00. I AM NEVER IN DEBT and I know exactly what my average usage is.
If you are unsure, talk to E.ON's customer services people, they are really helpful and if you are still unsure then use their website to see if they have a better deal than your current plan.
Or ask them "Is there a better deal than the one I am on?"
Common sense really LOL!
It's also a nightmare when you find out the supplier is billing you to the wrong meter because your old supplier made a mistake, or because the New one was careless!
I then checked for electricity bills and realised we hadn't seen a bill for 6 months! I phoned to query this and was told there had been a glich and the DD hadn't been taken for 6 months and since we'd used the electricity we had to pay for it and we had 7 days to find £300+ and the amount for the gas too.
After tears frustration and not much apologies i managed to get them to agree to adding the amount onto our DD and now we pay £115 a month for electricity and £105 a month for gas. A big change from £50 and £72 because of their poor service. I will be checking bills and DD carefully.
E.G
Say your annual review date in april, your will have 3 payments left, Jan, Feb & March, so we look at your last years bills for Jan and april and work out how much you spent by adding the two bills together.Then we add a 22% increase for dual fuel or 16% for single electric or 30% for single gas. This is for the price increases. Then we take away any credit you have on the account. Then we apply your discounts, 6% single elec, 8% dual fuel. Once we have ths figure we divide it by the amount of payments you have left to make, in this case 3 and thats your new direct debit amount. The system can be a few pounds out either way but is right.
I hope this helps everyone, this shows that were not money grabbing, we really are just setting the payments at what you will be using. If, for whatever reason, you are in credit, then this money will be put back refunded to you on your annual review date.
Regards