Is direct debit really the best way to pay for BG?

chrisw99

2 years ago my monthly direct debit payment for gas to BG was £32. It has risen to £45.50

As usual, the summer tends to balance out the winter and I find I get a sizeable refund from BG once a year.

But - they never seem to automatically lower the monthly payments, just automatically raise them and give refunds later. So once you have risen, you're stuck.

Case in point, my last bill dated 29th June was £34 in debit, so today I have been informed the monthly payment will rise to £57 (presumably £34/3 on top of the current £45.50).

In the past 10 weeks I have used just TEN units of gas (compared to 119 in the entire previous quarter), and my account balance is in credit, so it's ridiculous to put my payment up as I'll only end up needing a much bigger refund later in the year - but I'm now stuck with £57 a month ad infinitum??

It's seriously tempting to go back to the old fashioned way of just paying afterwards for what I've used, but then I'll lose the DD discount.

ps. is £57 per month gas + £29.50 per month for elec way over the norm, or average, or even below? I haven't a clue whether I'm paying over the odds at the moment (3 bed semi, 2 adults 1 baby).

Cheers
ChrisW

oldwiring

One thing is sure the usgae of gas in sthe summer months is far lower than the winter! As prices vary so much the amount spent is of little guidance. To find if you are paying too much you need to calculate how much energy you are consuming and then look at one of the sites to find the best deal for your situation

Uswitch provide a guide at http://www.simplyswitch.com/energy-consumption.html
As to the advantage or not of monthly direct debits there was a lengthy debate at
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=2688676#post2688676

And as to increases in the DDs, with the several rises that have taken place of late it's no wonder that underpayments and requests for increases come up; yours IMO doe not seem so horrendous as some.

masonic

chrisw99 wrote:

But - they never seem to automatically lower the monthly payments, just automatically raise them and give refunds later. So once you have risen, you're stuck.

It might be worth digging out some old bills and working out your annual consumption. You can then estimate your annual bill, based on current prices (add on your current debit balance), and set your direct debit to 1/12 of that value. Phone up, be pushy and quote figures at them.

espresso

As you have at least two years of actual kWh consumption figures, why don't you put them into a comparison site like https://www.ukpower.co.uk to see how much you could save!

Regardless of what DD figure the supplier wants to take from you per month, if you can show that £xx will cover the cost over the year at the current rates, including any present debt, they will agree to that figure.

HTH

chrisw99

masonic wrote:

It might be worth digging out some old bills and working out your annual consumption. You can then estimate your annual bill, based on current prices (add on your current debit balance), and set your direct debit to 1/12 of that value. Phone up, be pushy and quote figures at them.

Cheers, just done that. Using the previous 8 bills, I worked out my consumption on current prices should be about £39 per month. And I was paying £45.50.

Even with the 20% price rise in September, that would take my consumption to about £46, so why on earth they've just put it up to £57 is beyond me.

I'll ring them up

smartie1976

Well, you owe £34. That explains about £3 extra per month.
Also 8 bills consumption is simply not sufficient to work out your costs.
You need the FULL 12. 8 months takes you back ONLY to january, and you need to factor in the autum and early winter months too.

chrisw99

smartie1976 wrote:

Well, you owe £34. That explains about £3 extra per month.
Also 8 bills consumption is simply not sufficient to work out your costs.
You need the FULL 12. 8 months takes you back ONLY to january, and you need to factor in the autum and early winter months too.

Bills are quarterly, so 8 bills = 2 years. That's totally sufficient.

espresso

So how much could you save buy switching to a different supplier?