Energy companies don't refund until £150 in credit

mongmoney

Can any of you mathematicians work out how much the companies earn on our cash if they keep it and don't automatically refund it until it gets to £150.
I am disgusted by this practise. Is there any chance someone at MSE can check all the energy companies policies on credit refunds?
The consumer is not informed that they are allowed to request refunds, and customer advisors don't tell us either. We could be losing out on alot of cash over time.
Mongy

Reaper

mongmoney wrote: »

Can any of you mathematicians work out how much the companies earn on our cash if they keep it and don't automatically refund it until it gets to £150.

If the average over the year is £75 and you could have earnt, say, 3% on it then after tax you lose about £1.80

Stompa

Of course there are also customers like me who owe them money, but I see little point in paying them until they ask.

dunstonh

For part of the year I owe them and for part they owe me. It averages out and as Reaper says, its barely anything to worry about. For the convenience of having monthly payments I am happy with the arrangement.

mongmoney, apart from this is the savings and investments section and not the energy one, if you dont like it then there is nothing stopping you for not having that payment option and moving to traditional billing where you pay what you owe when its due.

The consumer is not informed that they are allowed to request refunds

Are we getting to the point where the providers have to assume the consumer is totally stupid and incapable of thought?

Innys

dunstonh wrote: »

Are we getting to the point where the providers have to assume the consumer is totally stupid and incapable of thought?

I think we passed that point many years ago when people in society were encouraged to stop taking responsibility for themselves and, instead, to blame someone (anyone) else.

apt

dunstonh wrote: »

For part of the year I owe them and for part they owe me. It averages out and as Reaper says, its barely anything to worry about. For the convenience of having monthly payments I am happy with the arrangement.

mongmoney, apart from this is the savings and investments section and not the energy one, if you dont like it then there is nothing stopping you for not having that payment option and moving to traditional billing where you pay what you owe when its due.

Dustonh, I hope your financial advice is better than your tips on how to pay for domestic energy. The reason to pay by direct debit isn't convenience, but to get a substantial discount. The gas and electricity companies ought to be a lot better at estimating customer usage than they are. Their usual trick is to set the monthly payment too low initially and then too high at the annual review.

theGrinch

if you are on direct debit they will increase your payments if you owe them far less less than £150. they are supposed to give you notice but I didnt get any notice, which clearly shows one rule for us and one for them. Im trying to get answers why they have increased my DD. I suspect many people will overlook it.

rb10

apt wrote: »

The gas and electricity companies ought to be a lot better at estimating customer usage than they are.

Then don't let them estimate your bills.

If you submit a meter reading every month - even if they don't ask for one - then you'll never receive an estimated bill, and at the time of your review they will know exactly how much electricity you have used, so can set the DD payments accordingly.

Lokolo

rb10 wrote: »

Then don't let them estimate your bills.

If you submit a meter reading every month - even if they don't ask for one - then you'll never receive an estimated bill, and at the time of your review they will know exactly how much electricity you have used, so can set the DD payments accordingly.

^^ this is what we do in our student house.

mongmoney

My issue is that we have to fight for what is our cash. In every phone conversation with customer service about my credit amount or to alter my DD, it has been a nightmare. My gas usage for the last quarter was £62-56, and my credit was £63-43. All payments made since last bill have thus sent me into more credit, £105. I don't mind the DD going up in the winter months, when we all use more energy, but I see no just reason for the companies to keep us in credit, particularly by so much. I've just had my annual statement and I worked it out for the next 12 months, less DD amounts than the company want. do they actually force us into credit?

Lokolo

mongmoney wrote: »

My issue is that we have to fight for what is our cash. In every phone conversation with customer service about my credit amount or to alter my DD, it has been a nightmare. My gas usage for the last quarter was £62-56, and my credit was £63-43. All payments made since last bill have thus sent me into more credit, £105. I don't mind the DD going up in the winter months, when we all use more energy, but I see no just reason for the companies to keep us in credit, particularly by so much. I've just had my annual statement and I worked it out for the next 12 months, less DD amounts than the company want. do they actually force us into credit?

So you'd rather paying say £100 a month in winter and then £30 a month in summer? It would create more complaints, with people saying "OH i didn't know you were going to increase it and now I've been charged £25 for a returned directdebit from my bank, I'm not paying it, it's your fault" etc.etc.etc.

And what energy supplier is this? After we left our student house with British Gas we got a refund of £30, but we were moving out rather than continuing.