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Switch to Ebico - deposit required
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My housemate's mum is a low user and only has a post office account for her DLA etc. so pays quarterly by cash.
I did a comparison for her and Ebico came out cheapest. I started the switch but yesterday she got a postcard from SSE on behalf of Ebico asking her to call them as something was holding the switch up.
She was told that because she had asked to pay quartery a £150 deposit would be required but if she paid monthly by direct debit no deposit would be asked for.
As she didn't have the money for this she called Ebico to cancel the switch. The person from Ebico was shocked about the deposit requirement and said she had never heard of this before.
Is this a common thing? Asking for money up front if you do not pay be DD? Or is it an SSE thing?
I did a comparison for her and Ebico came out cheapest. I started the switch but yesterday she got a postcard from SSE on behalf of Ebico asking her to call them as something was holding the switch up.
She was told that because she had asked to pay quartery a £150 deposit would be required but if she paid monthly by direct debit no deposit would be asked for.
As she didn't have the money for this she called Ebico to cancel the switch. The person from Ebico was shocked about the deposit requirement and said she had never heard of this before.
Is this a common thing? Asking for money up front if you do not pay be DD? Or is it an SSE thing?
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Can she not set up a DD on her PO account though?
If she wants to pay quarterly then she is requesting credit over a quarter rather than 1 month, and with no DD in place there is a further risk of default.
If she has little or no credit history because she tends to do everything by cash, then it's harder to get credit: hence the request for a returnable 12m deposit.
Declining DD payment also means that many of the most competitive tariffs (though not all) are not available.No free lunch, and no free laptop0 -
I pay Ebico quarterly and was not asked for a deposit when switching. It could be a credit history thing as macman suggests.
It's not strange in general though - both BT and Sky required deposits from me when I signed up but these were returned in the first bill. Is it known if the deposit amount will be taken off the first quarterly bill?0 -
My housemate's mum is a low user and only has a post office account for her DLA etc. so pays quarterly by cash.
I did a comparison for her and Ebico came out cheapest. I started the switch but yesterday she got a postcard from SSE on behalf of Ebico asking her to call them as something was holding the switch up.
She was told that because she had asked to pay quartery a £150 deposit would be required but if she paid monthly by direct debit no deposit would be asked for.
As she didn't have the money for this she called Ebico to cancel the switch. The person from Ebico was shocked about the deposit requirement and said she had never heard of this before.
Is this a common thing? Asking for money up front if you do not pay be DD? Or is it an SSE thing?
I would not say it was common.
Ebico supply many customers on a pay on receipt of bill basis, and most are not asked for any form of deposit.
However, it is a credit account, and like any sensible credit provider, the creditor may make a credit check. A poor credit check may result in a request for a security deposit.
(This is refundable after 12 months with interest, assuming all bills are paid in full and on time)
Alternatively, your housemate's mum could ask for prepayment meters. There is no charge for these by Ebico, and Ebico customers pay the same no matter what the payment form.
So don't allow your housemate's mum to cancel the cheapest deal for her - just change the payment method to avoid the requirement for a security deposit :beer:0 -
I would not say it was common.
Ebico supply many customers on a pay on receipt of bill basis, and most are not asked for any form of deposit.
However, it is a credit account, and like any sensible credit provider, the creditor may make a credit check. A poor credit check may result in a request for a security deposit.
(This is refundable after 12 months with interest, assuming all bills are paid in full and on time)
Alternatively, your housemate's mum could ask for prepayment meters. There is no charge for these by Ebico, and Ebico customers pay the same no matter what the payment form.
So don't allow your housemate's mum to cancel the cheapest deal for her - just change the payment method to avoid the requirement for a security deposit :beer:
She was on pre-payment meters with nPower but had them changed over to credit meters. Her mobility issues were making it difficult for her to go and get her meters topped up. As she uses an electric wheelchair outside the home, and with the winter weather, she decided it would be easier for her to pay a bill every 3 months instead of having to go out to get her card/key topped up as and when she needed it and she had security that her supply wouldn't be cut off.0 -
So if she has mobility issues, what could be easier than paying by DD, as long as the funds are in place?No free lunch, and no free laptop0
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So if she has mobility issues, what could be easier than paying by DD, as long as the funds are in place?0
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Has she actually got anything approaching a credit rating? Does she have any credit accounts at all - presumably no contract mobile phone or credit card or overdraft facility? If so that is probably the problem. Not that she has a bad credit rating but that she has no history, similar to a teen.Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0
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Not that simple I'm afraid. She budgets down to the last penny so she knows how long her benefits will last her every 2/4 weeks so prefers dealing with cash. We have urged her to get at least a basic current account but she is quite stubborn in that regard.
So if she can budget that precisely (good on her), then she should be able to be confident that the funds will be in place to pay a DD.No free lunch, and no free laptop0 -
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... and so much more likely to not get into financial trouble by getting a sudden large winter quarter bill she suddenly has to pay off in full.
We will look at other options for her but thanks anyway0
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