Gas Provider Owes Me Money

Dorisdaisy

The statement received a few days ago from my gas provider shows that I am owed over £350. I pay monthly by direct debit. They say that they do not like to refund as I might need this money to see me through the winter. But I am a very low user, and don't use anywhere near that amount. My question is, can I insist on having at least some of this cash back now?

Premier_2

Yes of course, ask to pay on receipt of bill, most suppliers allow this

DVardysShadow

Depends how far ahead you are. If you are more than 3 months ahead of anticipated consumption, I think you should expect an immediate refund. How much are you paying monthly and how much are you consuming?

Dorisdaisy

I overpaid until about 8 months ago and now they have changed the direct debit. I am now paying about £40 a month (haven't got the bank statement in front of me). I live alone and am a low user. Was paying £71.00 a month before they reduced it.

dogshome

Hi Dorisdaisy - From your post it seems that the drop in your D/D value from £71 to £40 wasn't initiated by you, but by your Gas supplier.
The suppliers have very sophisticated software to 'Guess' what your annual bill is likely to be, but history shows that more often than not, they guess it wrongly.

£71 a month is £852 a year which depending on your house size could be about right.
£40 a month is £480 a year which depending on your house size could also be about right

I'm afraid that to get an accurate figure for your annnual cost and monthly D/D level, you have to do the homework of going through 12 months bills to find the total years cost to divide by 12 to see your true monthly D/D level

If you don't have these bills to do the sums with my advice would be to leave things as they are, and then if you are still in credit in early April 2010, demand the cash back.
Good Luck