Reducing Utility Debt

PixelCode

I pay a direct debit each month of around £180 combined with British Gas for my Electricity and Gas. Reason being is I missed a couple of payments due to various circumstances such as DD being cancelled due to change of job and different pay dates etc...

So here I am with the following debt:

Gas
£157.14 in debit

(when I look at my last bill it says £349.14 in debit. - what gives there?)

Electricity
£155.56 in debit

(again this is strange as it says £244.56 in debit)

I need to reduce my payments as I'm trying to be more efficient with my bill paying.

kjsmith7

Telephone to discuss the balances and see if they can bring the payments down. Reducing consumption would help.

A quick way would be to put money aside yourself and pay the balances off, or see what the direct debits would be if there was no debit on the accounts. They'll be able to give you this information.

Your last bill would have been a snapshot of your accounts at the moment the bill was created, it's likely your balances were £349.14 and £244.56 in debit respectively. After your monthly payments, your balances are less. Remember, though, that you're balances won't be updated until your next quarterly account (or monthly account if you're on EnergySmart). You can telephone with a reading at any time and ask for either a bill or a simulation of what the bill would be.

With the EnergySmart you can also move to variable direct debit, where you only pay what you owe, but obviously this would involve clearing the balances and having higher payments in Winter and less in Summer.

PixelCode

ah right, so the online accounts are not really accurate?

kjsmith7

Not necessarily, it will be your current balance that is displayed, which will show your balance as at your last statement (which could be up to 3 months ago) with all of your monthly payments since that statement credited to the account. It's best to pop a reading in and give them a call to be sure of the accurate balance

PixelCode

Well I know that I should be able to reduce the monthly cost from nearly 200 quid.

I'm going to install the iPhone British Gas app.

kjsmith7

Go on the EnergySmart too - you'll then get a monthly bill. It's free and no lock in. Works with the iPhone app You get a free electricity monitor and £40 after a year which is nice I suppose. You can still keep your fixed monthly direct debits or change to where you only pay what you owe.