Electricity DD - Help me work it our please!

pimento

My annual statement for my electricty has just landed in my inbox. They want to put my monthly DD up from £34.00 to £59.00 If I give you the details, can you tell me if it's worth calling them or going onto a variable DD?

Balance brought forward £60.17 in credit
What you've paid £34.00
Electricity used this period £48.58
Your discounts £4.31 credit
VAT @5% £2.21

Your new account balance £47.69 in credit

347kWh over 28 days (meter read by me)
First 55 kWh x 23.214p = £12.77
Next 292 kWh x 11.005p = £32.13

I have a dual fuel discount and my gas DD has stayed the same £34.00

I wonder if I'd be better off to go variable DD as I read the meter every month. Or should I just suck up the £25 a month increase?

Thanks

dogshome

There is something awry with the figures you posted as the itemised charges for power used total £44.90 whilst the statement lists the cost as £48.58.

However, judgeing your annual use/cost on Direct Debit payments ain't the way to go - You must establish your Annual consumption of Gas & Elec in Kwh.
( if you have been with your supplier for a year or more they will tell what the Kwh figures are when phoned - If you have less than one years history, post the figures from the bills you do have and someone will respond with a close estimate)

With annual Kwh figures you can punch them into the 'switchwithwhich' site. On the list of comparitive supplier prices that comes up, press the "Compare tariff" icon on any one of them. This will bring up the fine detail of that suppliers tariff directly alongside the fine detail and Annual cost of your own - Divide this by 12 and that's your D/debit figure

On the figures you have given, the demand for an extra £25 a month certainly looks OTT - Do the homework then phone the supplier to challange their figures, then if they want to argue ask them to give you their figures to you in writing


your annual cost

jalexa

pimento wrote: »

I wonder if I'd be better off to go variable DD as I read the meter every month...

That is really up to you whether you want the risk of a variable amount hitting your bank account every month at whatever notice period is agreed (max of 10 working days).

As the previous poster pointed out the DD calculation cannot be checked without knowledge of the supplier's "assumption" of annual consumption. This will be your consumption with the supplier if you have been a customer for 12 months, failing that previous supplier actual consumption obtained from industry meter services, or failing that an estimate based on house type. In my experience it is not clear that the "assumption" is much influenced by regular customer reads. So for starters you need to obtain the "assumption" and the source of the "assumption". Challenge that if you don't agree it is a "reasonable" assumption of projected consumption.

The next relevant factor is the *exact* date of the next 'annual review'.

Post that data and you might get more meaningful advice.

pimento

OK, 25 mins on the phone and I have negotiated a new DD figure of £48 a month for my electricity.

My usage over the past 12 months has been as follows:

Electricity 4630 Units
Gas 9531 kWh.

pimento

jalexa wrote: »

The next relevant factor is the *exact* date of the next 'annual review'.

Post that data and you might get more meaningful advice.

I got both annual statements this morning, so November 28th is the exact dates (as per the dates on the statements).

jalexa

pimento wrote: »

I have negotiated a new DD figure of £48 a month for my electricity.

Probably a good result. I would have said the £59 was in the right ballpark.

pimento

Thanks Jalexa. I'm off home to turn down the thermostat by another degree.