British Gas - In credit £107 - Refund with a catch

Naf

Or you could choose the cheapest general tarriff, sign up for whatever billing is cheapest, but then opt to pay yourself by SO or BACS/FPS. I do this; for my own convenience I have a spreadsheet set up to calculate my bills for me. I take regular readings etc.etc.etc. and work out the total usage over the whole year. I then pay this amount over just 10 months (I'm debating making this 9) so that come November & December I don't have to make any payment at all as my account is fully paid up for the year.

Plushchris

Naf wrote: »

sign up for whatever billing is cheapest, but then opt to pay yourself by SO or BACS/FPS.

But if you sign up for a tariff thats direct debit only and then change the payment method you will then lose the cheaper tariff.

Not paying by direct debit limits the choices you have regarding tariffs and even suppliers..

Naf

Plushchris wrote: »

But if you sign up for a tariff thats direct debit only and then change the payment method you will then lose the cheaper tariff.

Not paying by direct debit limits the choices you have regarding tariffs and even suppliers..

Sometimes you can get away with paying in advance, so the account is paid up before the DD is actioned. I've done this with BT.

Plushchris

Naf wrote: »

Sometimes you can get away with paying in advance, so the account is paid up before the DD is actioned. I've done this with BT.

Then thats just poor advice to the OP who was concerned about being in credit.

Telling them to load the account even more in credit is ridiculous.

Naf

The OP was concerned with the amount of credit, and I got the impression the lack of control.

Plushchris

Naf wrote: »

The OP was concerned with the amount of credit, and I got the impression the lack of control.

Also in post 6 says they would prefer the money in their bank than the suppliers.....

Irratus_Rusticus

Ah, the old BG refund catch 22. :rotfl:

BG used to reduce my monthly DDs to ridiculously low amounts (once £3) just so's I didn't trigger their refund level at the next review. This meant I'd have ended up in arrears once the credit balance was used up. I preferred my payments left untouched and a refund in the summer. Things used to be that way.

Seems to me it's hardly rocket science for companies with such BIG computers...;)

Setting monthly payments in 'grandmother-sucks-eggs' steps:

UK seasonal averages suggest monthly payments need to cover:-
(You'd need to look back over a few years to come up with your own averages)

15% of projected annual cost in any quarter ending in June.............(5% a mnth)
15% of projected annual cost in any quarter ending in September.. (5% a mnth)
30% of projected annual cost in any quarter ending in December....(10% a mnth)
40% of projected annual cost in any quarter ending in March...........(13.3% a mnth)

Paying monthly is 8.33% of projected annual cost; each quarter = 25%.

By appliance of science, for any projected annual cost, a straightforward percentage calculation is relevant no matter when customer starts paying:-

Example: Annual projected cost: £1,000
Customer makes first payment in March

Monthly percentages for annual projected cost:-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
............PMNT%.......SEASON %......BAL%.......BAL £.....(bal% rounded)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mar......8.33%........13.3%..................-5%..........£50 underpaid
Apr.......8.33%..........5%.....................-2%..........£20 underpaid
May......8.33%..........5%......................2%..........£20 in credit
Jun.......8.33%..........5%......................5%..........£50 in credit
Jul........8.33%..........5%......................8%..........£80 in credit
Aug......8.33%..........5%....................12%........£120 in credit
Sep......8.33%..........5%....................15%........£150 in credit
Oct.......8.33%........10%....................13%........£130 in credit
Nov......8.33%........10%.....................12%.......£120 in credit
Dec......8.33%........10%.....................10%.......£100 in credit
Jan.......8.33%........13.3%....................5%..........£50 in credit
Feb......8.33%........13.3%.....................0...............£0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can create your own table for any start month and subtract the season % for each month from the payment % to find your expected running balance at each month end. Doing it monthly allows for different start months.

No excuse for company withholding refunds or increasing payments when refunding (or customer complaining about refunds) if % balances remain in line with table.

If utility company executives can't cope with percentages, do what BBC news does and treat 10% as one jelly bean in ten.

Also, if actual use is above original estimate, that's what account reviews are for.

More to the point, do grandmothers ever suck eggs?

Naf

Plushchris wrote: »

Also in post 6 says they would prefer the money in their bank than the suppliers.....

Sorry, to be honest I was really extolling the virtues of paying by SO over DD in this case. Gives you control, and as long as your account is paid up, the energy company can't complain. Regain control.

backfoot

Irratus_Rusticus wrote: »

Ah, the old BG refund catch 22. :rotfl:

BG used to reduce my monthly DDs to ridiculously low amounts (once £3) just so's I didn't trigger their refund level at the next review. This meant I'd have ended up in arrears once the credit balance was used up. I preferred my payments left untouched and a refund in the summer. Things used to be that way.

Seems to me it's hardly rocket science for companies with such BIG computers...;)

Setting monthly payments in 'grandmother-sucks-eggs' steps:

Brilliant post. :T (snipped the calculations but totally relevant).