Paying By Direct Debit.

[Deleted User]

Hi, this year will be the first time i will be paying my all electric bill by direct debit. Its obvious from my meter readings the amount im paying isnt going to be enough to cover the whole bill. So is it advisable to ring up the company now and increase my direct debit (i dont want to create a bill though). Or is it better to wait until the bill is due in 5months time. I dont want to have the amount increased by too much in Sept and would like to increase the amount now but i really do not want a bill because atm i am -£114.00 and would rather spread this over the next 5months than have to pay a lot more for the direct debit in september. This is one of the reasons i dont like paying by direct debit. Or another way can i pay the outstanding balance separately at the end of the year term which is September. What im trying to say is i dont want a bill sent out atm because im on E7 which obviously ive used a lot of night rate electric which i wont be using now as the storage heaters are now turned off. Sorry for the long post but any advise would be welcome. I didnt want to ring up the electric company without speaking to people on here for advise. Thankyou.

Fire_Fox

Why don't you want a bill now? The bill doesn't have to be settled in full, that is the point of a direct debit, all they do is up the DD so it covers past ongoing and sometimes future use. The bill is for information and for you to check it is accurate.

Read your meters every months and pass the readings to the supplier, usually the DD will be adjusted around April time, if it's not call and ask for it to be manually adjusted.

[Deleted User]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Ive never done direct debit as ive said and online it says the bill is due in sept. I presumed that i would only get one bill. If i ring them up will they adjust the amount with what they want or can i set another amount up. Ide like to obviously clear the -£114 over the next 5months on top of paying for the next 5 months usage. But because im on E7 its a bit difficult to work out how much to pay as my electric usage will be going down now, but still not enough to cover the whole bill with the amount im paying now.

Fire_Fox

How often you are billed can depend what tariff you are on and how often you supply meter readings. In September may be the minimum frequency. Most suppliers would want your account to be in credit by September/ October time, not just breaking even. The ideal would be to calculate annual usage and divide it by twelve, but it needs to be higher if you switch supplier right before winter without building up a credit. For some reason that has not happened here which is why you have a debt. plus the cold winter.

If you only want to pay for what you use plus the debt and not go into credit you may need to go back to a quarterly in arrears billing system. Monthly DD is generally a budgeting system whereby you spread your annual use evenly through the year. They will use a computer programme to adjust the DD amount and should always inform you of any changes before a payment is taken. This information may not be a paper letter if you have an online tariff, it may be on your bill so make sure your e-mail account is set up to accept their e-mails, not divert them to the spam folder.

You can generally submit readings online or with a smartphone app you don't need to spend time and money on telephone calls. If you are on an online tariff it's normal to manage your account online day to day, only telephoning if you have a problem that cannot be resolved by just submitting readings and checking bills.

[Deleted User]

Im on E7 and EDF set the tarriff with old meter readings i had from the previous year. There was no credit to build up as i changed to EDF in sept. But because its been colder ive used more on the night rate. I used to pay by quarterly bills, and now online it says my bill wont be due until sept. I do take meter readings regularly so im not surprised at the - amount i owe. I think i will ring them as ask if i can up the direct debit as i have got the -£114, so i could put it into my bank account to conteract the money i owe. This is why i hate paying by direct debit. I hate owing money lol. But apparently i get a 6% discount by doing this. Its not their fault, its this blooming weather

Buzby

You are confusing Direct Debit with a payment plan. They can happen together, but a DD customer can pay their bill in full too.

You are not asking to amend the DD, but change your budget scheme plan to reflect increased usage. That said, user often find winter consumption is higher BUT in summer is less, so averages out over the year.

On the day of reckoning it should balance. If it doesn't - they will automatically recalculate next years figure and te monthly charge will go up - however you pay it!

Nada666

Note that the increase to the debit may to start with be three times or more the expected amount. That is, £114 is £9.50 over twelve months and £19 over six. But you need to repay the debit and cover the ongoing costs that are higher than you were paying. So an increase of £28.50 for the first six months and after that back down to £9.50. And since you are doing this over five months it may be over £30. (Plus, of course, there is an additional consideration for using more over summer.)

[Deleted User]

It wont balance. But i will definately be using less electric over the next 5months. Ive turned the storage heater off last Tuesday evening. I read the meter last monday morning so im going to do another reading tomorrow morning to see how much electric ive used and atm reading the meter this morning ive used just under £9 (with the storage heater on over the two nights which were last sunday and last monday) so it will be going down. But not enough to cover the -£114.00. What i dont want is a huge rise in the direct debit in september as said by Nasa666. I want to tell EDF want i want to pay which i will work out myself.

sassy165

ImDoingItForMe wrote: »

It wont balance. But i will definately be using less electric over the next 5months. Ive turned the storage heater off last Tuesday evening. I read the meter last monday morning so im going to do another reading tomorrow morning to see how much electric ive used and atm reading the meter this morning ive used just under £9 (with the storage heater on over the two nights which were last sunday and last monday) so it will be going down. But not enough to cover the -£114.00. What i dont want is a huge rise in the direct debit in september as said by Nasa666. I want to tell EDF want i want to pay which i will work out myself.

I am with EDF and can confirm that if you contact them you can increase your direct debit by as much or as little as you want. I did this myself in January when I realised my payment would not cover my usage. If you are in credit when you get your next bill you can ask for a refund or carry it forward.

Hope this helps

[Deleted User]

Thankyou sassy165. This is exactly what i want to do as ive have to £114 in my bank anyway. so i wanted to divide it by 5months so spread the cost now rather than try to do this in september when i will increase my direct debit for the winter. I will ring them tomorrow. Thankyou again

[Deleted User]

Just an update. I had no problems at all with EDf and readjusting my direct debit. I done it all online rather than by phone calls. And they were very prompt. I upped it from £42 to £65 and now have the money in the bank for the increase in the next coming months. I would rather do this than have an extra bill in September. Ive worked out throughout the year the DD should have been £50 per month not £42, but as ive read the meter reading today and im -£118 in arrears the £65 will cover £23.60 per month over 5months for the arrears and £41.40 per month for normal electric usage over the the next 5 months which will be more than enough, as i tend to use £5 to £10 in the spring and summer. God you dont 'alf have to be good at maths dont you haha :rotfl: