Increase in DD

iosullivan

3 months ago I changed my gas and electricity to Scottish power for both gas and electricity

I did plently or research from Price comparision sites etc and they came out the cheapest though I think tied to them for 12 months

As I have lived in my property since new ( 3 years now) at time of change I took my reading of both gas/electricty and divided by 36 months to give me an average per month on what I used and then used the Price sites for comprasions - I took that this would give me a better understanding on what I use per month if you follow....???

3 months on with Scottish power they sent me an estimated bill and a letter saying that they need to increase my DD from £52 per month to a whopping £98 per month - I check my readings and submitted a revised reading as was some 200 units lower then they estimated and they still will not budge though on readings my debts has reduced from £178 to only £78ish

Now as I think I am tied for 12 months with them (need to check small print) what can I do about the extra DD payment

TUS

I had the same ... they are using your winter usage to average which makes it higher. But as always with DDs, you generally overpay in the summer to give you credit for the winter (although many will argue this is not the best way).

When you do comparisons, try to use the actual amount of energy used, rather than £s ... should make it more accurate. I just use the total amount used over the last year rather than averaging 3 years which could be a bit misleading.

dogshome

Hi oisullivan - Perhaps Scot Power have signed up for Evening Classes run by N'power ?

Your carefully collected use history over 3 years is the best weapon there is against SP basing your D/D level on just 3 winter months consumption.
WRITE to them with your annual Kw use figures for each of the last 3 years, and if they still want to argue, ask them to produce theirs !
Good Luck

st999

I emailed Eon that last year at this time I was £210 in debit and my DD was £102 and this year I am £50 in credit and they have now reduced my DD to £75 per month.:T

Stan

kjsmith7

You may not be contracted to direct debit in your tariff, it's worth checking for that in the T&Cs when you check how long you're locked in for! If you're not, perhaps you may be able to settle the balance and just pay quarterly for the next quarter or two (save the £50 per month, and as we're coming into Summer and your bills are less, save the excess too) and then ask to go back onto Direct Debit when they have more usage to go from? Just a thought?

LardyCake

Read this: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits#fight

I got to step 4. (formal request using Martins template) and addressed to Customer Service Director. Prior to that it appeared nobody actually read my emails, because I just got boilerplate replies.

Step 4. worked, somebody read my letter, looked at my calculations and agreed with me and my DD was not raised.

I'm still thinking of leaving Scottish Power because I regard this as very bad service.