Some Advice Please

Murphy_Gooner

Hi,
Could someone please offer me some advice and what my rights and options are.

Im currently with N Power as a dual fuel customer on their Online Tariff v14 and i had been paying £70 per month for Gas & Elec.
Last year in May 2010 i had my bill after the cold winter which left me £10 in debit. Npower wanted back then to increase me monthly direct debit to £120 per month which i said i just couldnt afford so they kept it at £70 and the same when my bill came in Oct/Nov 2010.
Now come May/June 2011 and im £160 in debit which i have paid (from my bonus) and i have asked N Power to keep the monthly direct debit at £70 or at a push £80 per month. But they are unwilling to allow me to pay what i wish each month and the advisor made out "because im running up a bill" even though i thought i was infact putting money into a pot each month so that the bill could be paid in 6 months time.
N Power said they would reduce my monthly DD to £100 from the £120 they want but i just cannot afford this but always reiterated the fact that any shortfall's that would occur would be paid come the date when the bill came.

Im unsure what my rights are. Can an energy company dictate what i pay each month by DD?
I know i can get a better deal elsewhere from looking at the comparison and i know my other option is pay the bill quarterly but the savings are not as much compared to paying monthly DD.

The whole thing really annoys me because i have my budget in place of how much i spend on all the bills from mortgage to food etc but i just dont have the allowance to pay an extra £30 per month

Premier_2

You have signed up to a deal that allows the company to collect an amount every month that covers your usage. You have agreed to this not only contractually with the supplier but also by agreeing to a variable monthly DD arrangement. At present you are using more than you are paying for and that is not the deal.

If you don't like the deal, you can ask to pay on receipt of bill. That way you will only pay for what you actually have used, usually every quarter. Note that this method may well be more expensive (based on the same usage) than your current deal, but you know if you use less that will instantly result in a lower bill at the end of the quarter ... so you may use less meaning you spend less

If you continue to struggle, consider a prepayment meter. That way you pay in advance and cannot use what you cannot afford to pay for. So again, whilst more expensive on a same usage basis, if you can't pay for it you won't be able to use it, so again may save you money in the long run

Murphy_Gooner

Thank you for the advice.
I will probably look at other companies as the deal im currently on is outdated now and even being on a standard tariff paying quarterly would save me £10 on my annual bill.

I just dont understand the justification behind how they feel increasing my monthly DD from £70 to £120 when considering i dont have the gas running during the summer months.
They really do grab you where it hurts because they offer great deals if you pay by DD yet anything else is higher priced and i wont even consider pre-payment as that is a right robbery on their prices.

Premier_2

Murphy_Gooner wrote: »

Thank you for the advice.
I will probably look at other companies as the deal im currently on is outdated now and even being on a standard tariff paying quarterly would save me £10 on my annual bill.

I just dont understand the justification behind how they feel increasing my monthly DD from £70 to £120 when considering i dont have the gas running during the summer months.
They really do grab you where it hurts because they offer great deals if you pay by DD yet anything else is higher priced and i wont even consider pre-payment as that is a right robbery on their prices.

The usual intention is to ensure that the total of the monthly payments over a year equals the cost of what you use.
(Some people prefer this as they get paid a regular amount each month so want to spend a regular amount each month, rather than have a huge bill in winter, and a small one in summer, to settle)
Some suppliers complicate this by having a specific date in the year when they expect your account to be zero (so joining mid-yeaer can upset the payments initially)
Finally nPower have their sculpting policy for gas that may affect you too.

But best to pay on receipt of bill if you only want to pay for what you have used when you use it