Can I request my DD to be reduced?

kindofagilr

Hi

After some advice, my DD for G and E was 98 a month, just had bill for the last 6 months and we are 122 quid in debit, they want to up my DD to 170 a month estimating what I will use over the winter, the or bill is based on actual readings

Now I've been on maternity leave since feb, but am going back to work at the start of December, I've had to put the heating on for a few hours every morning as it's freezing in the house at 5am when my 7 month old gets up, the cold I could deal with but obviously it needs to be warmer for my baby

Also we are hopefully getting a combi boiler put in soon as we have a very old back boiler which I know isn't efficient

Once i go back to work the heating won't be going on in the morning, and will probably only go on for an hour before we get home from work

Will they reduce my DD for me if I ask them to?

spiro

If you latest bill is based on actual readings and you are £122 in debt with the coldest 4-6 months just starting they will expect you to be in credit because of low summer useage. Remember you use several times more gas per day in winter (someone will probably quote average figure) so even if you are back at work they will be based on the last couple of winters when I presume you were at work. Result - they are unlikely to allow you to set DD at a lower level. You may be able to get them to defer the increase to Dec/Jan but they will want to recoup the 'missing' £48/month by April time so a 2 month deferral could add another £30 pm putting the DD up to around £200.

kindofagilr

I have only been in here since April 09 and my winter bill was nowhere near as much for the winter of 09/10 as they are expecting it to be now

They have used estimates based on the usage from May to October 2010 not using the winter period of 09/10

Well they will have to do something cos I plain and simply cant afford a DD of nearly £180 a month, dont understand how its that much when I have only have the heating on for a couple of hours a day for the last 4 weeks, it hasnt been on at all in the summer

Its ridiculous the price of fuel, especially when you get little or no wage increase a year!

Im just checking out price comparisons as well as someone has told me that Npower are one of the most expensive? am I right in thinking I need to pay the owed amount of £122 before I can move?

macman

if you pay off the £122 arrears then they might reconsider your DD level.
Yes, you need to pay off the balance owing when you switch.

12bdebt3

kindofagilr wrote: »

Am I right in thinking I need to pay the owed amount of £122 before I can move?

Yes you do.

P.S. Npower are useless and expensive, they calculated most of their customers bills wrong a few years back.

kindofagilr

Thanks guys, just got my usage figures so going to look for comparisons now

Theyve predicted I am going to use
3885kwh electric
22,253 gas

When over the winter of 09/10 (some of which from feb to april I was on mat leave) I used
1432kwh electric
15,525 gas

SO I def wont be using as much as they think I will

SwanJon

kindofagilr wrote: »

Theyve predicted I am going to use
3885kwh electric
22,253 gas

That's quite close the national 'average' for a whole year. Did they give you an annual figure by mistake?

kindofagilr wrote: »

When over the winter of 09/10 (some of which from feb to april I was on mat leave) I used
1432kwh electric
15,525 gas

Next step is to go armed.
Using your estimated figures, work out how much you'd use between now and April in £. Add on the £122 and divide by 6 payments. You can then use this as your sugested payment amount and it is difficult for them to argue against it.

If the above are annual figures, try putting them into comparison sites to see what suits your pocket and lifestyle best. Online DD are often cheaper, but may have exit fees so read all the small print.

Mr_K

Most providers allow you to make additional lump sum payments in addition to your Direct debits. You could offer to pay the £122 in one go, then start from scratch. This should help negotiate a lower DD amount.

Alternatively change provider. Then you can set whatever DD you're happy with. Your new provider will have no knowledge of your previous consumption, only what you tell them. You would of course have to 'settle up' with your current provider.

kindofagilr

Thanks

I checked my bill again and it says estimated charges over the next 6 months, so to work out my estimate for the winter would I use last winter bill?

Which was £113.92 electric and £492.10 Gas = £606.02 + £122 = £728.02 / 6 = £121 or I could say I will pay the £122 and then the DD would be £101

Stupid question coming up lol

To do the comparison sites do I just add the KWH for G and E for the last year? (3333kwh and 22440 which was October 2009 - October 2010)

Would a new combi boiler reduce the DD costs as well? just we cant really afford to get one, but I will get one if its going to make a huge difference, the boiler we have is a really old back boiler, you know the ones behind the fire place, Ive no idea how old it is though?

macman

Just enter your annual consumption separately for each utility (gas and electric).
A new combi would certainly use less gas and be more efficient, but it could still take you 10 years to recoup the cost. A lot of people would take the view that if it ain't broke, don't fix it....
If it's costing you money in repairs and maintenance, that is a different story.

kindofagilr

Done it, I can save £140 a year with one company first utitlity I think they were called?

I think first port of call is ringing Npower and trying to get them to lower the DD to £100 like I posted above, then we need to think about the combi thing? maybe