monthly direct debit

MoneySavingUser

I have worked out that I would save a few £'s by changing from quarterly billing to monthly diret debit - not much but every little helps

The last time I was on monthly direct debit I was overpaying and got a refund when I moved out of the property of something like £200

Can I set a small direct debit say £10 a month and pay the rest by cheque and still benefit from the direct debit rates or will the excess be charged at the non-dd rates? the supplier is Swalec

Cardew

MoneySavingUser wrote: »

I have worked out that I would save a few £'s by changing from quarterly billing to monthly diret debit - not much but every little helps

The last time I was on monthly direct debit I was overpaying and got a refund when I moved out of the property of something like £200

Can I set a small direct debit say £10 a month and pay the rest by cheque and still benefit from the direct debit rates or will the excess be charged at the non-dd rates? the supplier is Swalec

The reason that companies(not just utility companies) give attractive discounts for Direct Debit is that it is simple and less costly to administer and gives a steady monthly income stream.

Your suggested scheme gives them the worst of both worlds. The DD system and the cost of processing cheques.

If you calculate that you will need to pay them £10 monthly on top of your DD, why not have the DD set £10 higher.

If you find your DD is too high, a simple phone call will get them to reduce it.

In any case if your DD was set £10 a month too high, that means you have lost interest on an average balance of £60 a year. At current interest rates that would be less that £1 a year - postage for your cheques would cost more.

SwanJon

Every supplier now has effectively free ways of updating meter read - email, website, freephone numbers or very cheap ways - letter, local rate number.

Give them regular readings and your DD will reflect your usage.