MSE news: Crackdown on exorbitant energy direct debit demands

galba

Cardew wrote: »

MarkyMarkD has got it exactly right.

This forum is full of posts that protest loudly that:

A. The DD is set too high - and they are earning interest on my money etc

B. The DD is set too low - and they allowing me to run up a huge debt, thus trapping me.

A lose/lose situation for the companies!!!

I suspect most of these problems could be solved by the use of regular and accurate meter readings but the companies don't seem very inclined to spend money on this aspect and when they do they seem determined to get it wrong.

Scottish Power email me when they want a quartely reading and say "Please note that if you do not give us your meter reading within seven days, we have to estimate how much energy you use".

I do try to submit the reading on the day I receive the email but on one occasion, due to absence from home, I put the reading in 3 days after the email - well within the 7 days they stipulate, only to find they had already raised an estimated bill that was almost 50% higher than the bill for the same quarter in the preceding year. I amended the reading and they amended the bill, but they nevertheless almost immediately upped my DD to reflect this totally fictitious increase in consumption extrapolated over the twelve month period !!

All they have to do is say what they mean and mean what they say - ie "Please note that if you do not give us your meter reading within seven days, we have to estimate how much energy you use".

Simples !

Perelandra

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

Does that attact the same discounts as monthly DD?

No, not the same discount, although it does attract a discount. I think it works out at £15 a year per fuel (so about 40/50% of the monthly DD discount), but don't quote me on that!

Actually, if you're a low-value user, the discount might actually be higher, since it's a fixed discount, rather than one based on consumption (although, admittedly, you'd need to be a pretty low user for that to happen).

stinkeyfeet40

I was with british gas last year, who would not stop increasing my direct debit payments, even though my previous years emails was based on a dodgy boiler, and I had caught up and was getting ahead on my arrears. I tried explaining this to them on numerous occasions but they couldn't seem to cope with it. instead they increased my payments to double what they should have been (i have based this on what i used in my final months with them) as well as taking more than what they stated from my account on the due date.

From all of this i changed provider.

they then took ages and provided extremely bad customer service, which i complained and argued against, and subsequently had half of my final bill written off.

I know it goes slightly off the main point but felt it all needed sharing

good luck to all those fighting their case with the big companies

DVardysShadow

Cardew wrote: »

MarkyMarkD has got it exactly right.

This forum is full of posts that protest loudly that:

A. The DD is set too high - and they are earning interest on my money etc

B. The DD is set too low - and they allowing me to run up a huge debt, thus trapping me.

A lose/lose situation for the companies!!!

Or it is win/win for the companies if they put the poor credit profile people into arrears and take too much from the good credit profile customers. It is not exactly hard to work out who is who.

MarkyMarkD

The idea that the energy providers deliberately get the poor credit risk customers into debt, and leave the good credit risk customers in credit, is stupid.

They aren't going to risk having a big exposure to those who are most likely to default.

TheMidge

I can't believe the cheek of Scottish Power! I haven't been keeping a close enough tab on them. My monthly average energy bill is £23, yet last year (my first year with them) they were taking £88 a month direct debit. At the end of the year they sent me (after prodding) a refund of £450 from my credit balance and reduced my direct debit to £68. So now a year on I am again £450 in credit and they are offering to reduce my direct debit to £53 so long as they can keep my credit balance of £450. So I write to them saying I want a refund by bank transfer of my credit balance (they say they will only do it by cheque!!) and say that if I have the refund they will put up my direct debit to £88/month, more than 3 times my monthly usage. Even £53/month is £30/month more than I use so if they keep my credit balance this time next year they will have £800 of my money sitting there. I can understand them getting it wrong the first year, but after that it is just deliberate misappropriation of my money. I have put in a complaint, but heard nothing so far.

Mark_Hewitt

Switch to another supplier?!

npower have now reissued my bill and put my DD up to a realistic level, so I'm happy (not at having to pay money but that at least it accurately reflects my usage)

Katie-Kat-Kins

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

The idea that the energy providers deliberately get the poor credit risk customers into debt, and leave the good credit risk customers in credit, is stupid.

They aren't going to risk having a big exposure to those who are most likely to default.

More likely to be the other way round. We have no debt problems and have always paid by monthly DD on time and they reduced our DD to a stupidly low amount for an all electric house (as we are on a five rate tarriff it is pretty obvious that we are at least mainly electric with electric heating) Would love to know how they ever thought that we would manage to only use £30 per month electric, their unexplained reduction was either the result of cynical maniplation or pure incompetence, either way it shouldn't be allowed to continue.

DVardysShadow

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

The idea that the energy providers deliberately get the poor credit risk customers into debt, and leave the good credit risk customers in credit, is stupid.

They aren't going to risk having a big exposure to those who are most likely to default.

Depends what the default rate is. Anything under 2.5% probably would not bother them.

Cardew

womble_lancs wrote: »

I had several arguments with my gas/electricity supplier when they tried to put up my DD by 50%, despite the fact that I was over £300 in credit. In the end, I cancelled my DD and opted to pay by Standing Order, so that I was in control of what I paid.

The staff on the phone were very patronising and told me that I was "foolish" and might have difficulty in paying if my winter bill was more expensive than anticipated. I told them that I didn't have a problem with ability to pay, I just had a problem with them taking more money than I actually owed them and then having to fight tooth and nail to get it back.

I don't care if I've lost my measly £5 discount for paying by DD, because I have a current account mortgage, so my money is better off sitting in my account than in theirs.

I did consider going onto the DD where they take only what is actually owed at each billing date but I scrapped that idea when they started to send me over-estimated bills, despite the fact that the meter had actually been read.

I just don't trust them.

The DD discount for most(all?) utility companies is way in excess of any interest you will get by the money sitting in your bank account(or paying off your mortgage.