Non-Account Holder paying Gas/Electricity Bill

patwa_2

Hello.

Our gas/electricity account, which my mum pays, is in debt due to the fixed monthly spend being considerably less than the cost of the actual energy used. Now I know that a considerable proportion of the bill stems from my own energy usage. Therefore, I feel it only right and fair that I contribute towards the payment of the bill, either by paying off the balance completely, or paying a monthly contribution for my share as I do have the means to do so.

I know mum wouldn't accept it if I simply 'gave' her the money, we're very 'closed' like that - it's a house bill so she'd pay it, regardless that 75% of the bill would not be there if I didn't have my servers/systems on all the time.

I was wondering if Energy companies (we're with EDF Energy for Dual Fuel) would allow a non-account holder to make payments towards the account? furthermore, would they need to inform the account holder that this payment had been made, apart of course from the quarterly statement? It would not go down well if a letter stating that xxx had paid yyy towards the bill just arrived.

Furhermore, could I set up a private arrange with EDF Energy to debit say £30 a month for electricity/gas usage from my bank account on top of whatever mum pays, and would this have to be done with the account holder's permission?

I just want to make things easier for mum, she's paying a lot for travel costs later this year, plus work is tiring her out, and if I can help make things better without her feeling stressed or guilty about it I'd love to be able to. I'm asking here as I don't want to make a fool out of myself or blow it with the energy company, or get mum involved for no reason that, as said above, would make her feel guilty or cause a massive arguement, particularly as I'm already pushing to pay her back for stuff she's bought me.

Hussein.

a&akay

I'm not with EDF but their site, which I've just looked at, would allow you to see your Mum's account online. I do this with my Mum who's with Scottish Power (she is not online and lives 80 miles away) and advise her to increase her DD so there is no unexpected shock with all the recent utility increases. I've also looked at EDF Energy on my Nationwide site which gives sort codes and account numbers for most organisations. EDF Energy Electricity and Gas are both the same, Sort Code 400530 and Account No 22083167. The Reference you use is the account number from your Mum's bill. Electricity starts 66 and must have 13 digits in total. Gas starts 63 with 13 in total. As your Mum's is dual fuel the first 2 digits may be different. Why not register her account online and set up a single payment of say £1 just to see if it works? You could then make furhter single payments or set up a SO using the same details once you see the payment online (you may have to wait some time depending on how the payments are shown). She will see these payments on the quarterly? paper bill and I would be surprised if there is any way around this. You may be allowed to go paperless on their site but she would then want to know why she is not being billed and worry! You are going to have to tell her.

patwa_2

Hi, and thank you so much for that info. II have already got EDF to give me account info over the phone so simply telling it as I have here should get me the reference numbers I need.

I'll try the £1 test first. Am I doing the right thing? Maybe those of you who are parents could give me that prospective on this. Would you be hurt/offended if your children did this? I know that sounds very odd, but it could almost be taken as an insult if I were to do it, which is not what I want, but I do want to make life easier on her, but not have her feel like I'm trying to go solo or don't need her or anything crazy like that.

Thanks.

a&akay

I'm in the reverse situation. My mother-in-law lives with us in a granny flat with no separate meters. She is quite happy to pay her fair share of gas/electricity/council tax by SO and would not dream of not doing so. Also our eldest daughter was using the net so much we were over the gB usage limit and we were soooooo slowwww. She works at Sainbury's part time and was quite happy to pay the £7/month upgrade for a better package. If it is fair and reasonable, I think you are worrying too much.

tripled

Under DPA they are not legally allowed to disclose information on the account to you unless you are named on the account. If they have, they are breaking the law.

However if you call up with the customer reference number and say "Please could I make a debit card payment for £x onto this account" there shouldn't be a problem, as they do not have to divulge information. The last address I lived in I shared with 4 others and we used to each pay a portion of the bill, we used to do this with BG and Swalec all the time without a problem even though only my name was on the bills.

patwa_2

Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better about doing this. I'll see if I can get a monthly arrangement set up - £30 a month should suffice for the moment until the balance is brought under control.

tripled

They wouldn't be able to set up 2 direct debits onto the same gas account. It may be possible for you to set up a standing order though, but the annual dd reassessment couldn't take this into account and your mum would have to call in each year and ask them to manually reduce her payments to allow for the fact you are making a contribution.

patwa_2

that might actually be a good idea in the long run, I can imagine she'd be pleasantly surprised to find she's due a credit Thanks for the tip about the DD, I'll speak to them about a standing order. Now just to wangle the latest bill and I'm set.

chelle

I pay money into my parents Gas/elec account. We live in there house, they pay a set amt by DD, and with us living there (an extra 6 people), the DD does not cover it, so I set up an account online (after having the bill), and have paid via my debit card online. We are with SWALEC.

patwa_2

Hi. When you say you set up an account online, do you mean you set up a separate account with the energy company or did you mean a bank account?

tripled

Most if not all energy companies now let you access your bill online and make additional payments via debit card. You wouldn't need to set up a new gas or bank account, just set up the account so it can be viewed online.

To register it you would need a recent bill, then follow this link