Flexible Direct Debits - Who Is the Best ?

soul1

Hi everyone, just a quick question please. Was just wondering out of the big 6 Energy Companies, which are the easiest and most flexible to deal with when it comes to direct debits and setting them at the level that you as the customer are happy with.
What I like to do is set my direct debit at a certain amount and if at the end of the 3 month billing period, there are monies owing on top, I just pay it off.
I've read a few posts on various sites including here that some enery companies do not like you setting the direct debit as you want, will insist on putting it up and there is nothing you can do about it.
Also, which energy companies are better in terms of giving a refund if the account is in credit ?
Reason for asking is that we are currently with SSE and their customer service is top notch. They don't give you any hassle if you want the direct debit set at a certain amont etc etc.
However, they have recently put their prices up.
I don't mind paying a bit more for energy if customer service is also good, however if we did decide to move elsewhere just wanted to know which companies are easier/better to deal with.

Any advice or input is greatly appreciated !

Cheers

Wywth

soul1 wrote: »

Hi everyone, just a quick question please. Was just wondering out of the big 6 Energy Companies, which are the easiest and most flexible to deal with when it comes to direct debits and setting them at the level that you as the customer are happy with.
What I like to do is set my direct debit at a certain amount and if at the end of the 3 month billing period, there are monies owing on top, I just pay it off.
I've read a few posts on various sites including here that some enery companies do not like you setting the direct debit as you want, will insist on putting it up and there is nothing you can do about it.
Also, which energy companies are better in terms of giving a refund if the account is in credit ?
Reason for asking is that we are currently with SSE and their customer service is top notch. They don't give you any hassle if you want the direct debit set at a certain amont etc etc.
However, they have recently put their prices up.
I don't mind paying a bit more for energy if customer service is also good, however if we did decide to move elsewhere just wanted to know which companies are easier/better to deal with.

Any advice or input is greatly appreciated !

Cheers

No supplier will allow the customer to set their monthly payments at a level the customer would like to pay.

Monthly payments by direct debit are carefully calculated to try to ensure the customer does not accumulate debt (or credit) over time.

In its simplist form, the amount will be 1/12 of your expected annual cost, but the eaxct rules each supplier uses does vary.

All the major suppliers offer a tariff where the customer may opt to pay on receipt of bill (i.e. only pay for what they used in that last billing period). Suppliers will also accept credits mid-cycle to the account.

amiehall

Both EDF and Southern have set DDs at the level I requested after their computers generated the comical amount of £12 a month. If you call up and ask to change the amount (to a reasonable amount), I've never had problems with a supplier refusing to do it.

soul1

Hi many thanks for both of your replies. I have been with EDF before a few years back and whenever they would increase the dd, I would just give them a call and they would put it back down.
It seems that most Energy Suppliers will allow you to do the same as long as you are not building up a huge debit balance.
I also just don't like the idea of having a credit balance on my account and the Energy Companies earning interest from it.

yoda011087

The main thing that stands in your way is that by paying off extra lump sums when it suits, you are working against the fixed monthly direct debit system.

Most systems are designed to calculate a payment based on your annual cost divided by 12, therefore no extra shortfall to make up. Lump sum payments should never have to be made as payments are increased and decreased by the company once accurate billing takes place to cover any deficit or credit balances (EDF are excused from this in my opinion - their billing system troubles are legendary on this forum).

There is something that might be better suited to how you wish to manage your account however; Energy Smart. Take a look on the British Gas website for a quote of how they come up in your area for cost (probably not the cheapest!). The advantage of their monthly billing would be that your DD amount will be to cover the actual cost of gas and electricity for that month. I'm not sure if other suppliers have any monthly billing tariffs, but it's always worth checking.

Wywth

soul1 wrote: »

Hi many thanks for both of your replies. I have been with EDF before a few years back and whenever they would increase the dd, I would just give them a call and they would put it back down.
It seems that most Energy Suppliers will allow you to do the same as long as you are not building up a huge debit balance.
I also just don't like the idea of having a credit balance on my account and the Energy Companies earning interest from it.

Some suppliers will pay interest on credit balances.

Scottish Power and Ovo are two such companies that spring immediately to mind, there may well be others.

Ovo, for example, pay 3% on credit balances. This is given as a discount on the bill before the application of VAT, so is equivilent to 3.15%. Considering this is paid, entirely legally free of any income tax, I think you will struggle to find a similar rate on your savings anywhere else
Many savings accounts currently only pay 0.1% ... and then you will get charged tax on that!

As mentioned earlier, if you are so averse to allowing the supplier to hold your money, you can always elect to pay on receipt of the bill and so only pay for what you have already consumed. (but you will probably end up paying more this way!)

soul1

Once again, many thanks for your replies and useful info. Apologies for earlier post. We were with Eon (Powergen) for quite a few years and not EDF.
I think the worry about allowing the Energy Companies to increase and decrease direct debits comes from a very bad experience that my parents had with British Gas many many years ago. My parents had a huge credit balance on both their Gas and Electric and British Gas wanted to increase the direct debits and would not refund the credit balance.
Also, having the direct debit set at a level that we want has sometimes resulted in us having to make quite large payments on top to cover the balance owing especially in the colder winter months so I guess it works out the same if the dd is allowed to varied depending on usage.
I presume nowadays, Energy Companies are much better at dealing with the above and if there are any problems, you can raise a complaint with the Energy Regulators.
If Southern Electric keep increasing their prices, or remain expensive when compared to other suppliers in the market, then we will have no choice but to move suppliers and trust that our new supplier is managing our direct debits properly.
Cheers