Fixed DDs and Price Increases

jesster_2

This may be a really stupid question!

I'm currently with Atlantic for electricity and gas, paying a fixed monthly direct debit.

Therefore, at the moment i'm in debt to them because winter usage is higher than the average over the year, which is what my monthly DD is paying for. Therefore it'll balance out in the summer when i'm paying average but using below-average.

What i'm wondering is: if they put their prices up while i'm still 'in debt' to them, would the higher rate be applied to the units i've already used which have not been paid for because of the higher-than-average winter usage? i.e., would i be better increasing payments now so that i get up to date with paying for what i've used, in case there's a price increase in the next few months? It's easy enough for me to revise down my direct debit once i'm up to date and over the summer...

OR would any price increase be from the day of increase's meter reading onwards?

magentadreamer

What I would do is once you know the date of any price increase do a meter reading the day before. That way any energy used before the price increase should be charged at the old rate instead of an estimated you used so many units before the increase and so many after type bill. Are you able to give meter readings online? Scottish Power are putting up their prces from the 1st March so on the 28th Feb I'll be adding my meter readings via my online account so as to get charged for the amount I used prior to an increase instead of them estimating what I might have used prior to the increase.

tk

i would actually give them a meter reading over the phone or on line.