British Gas Upping Direct Debit

[Deleted User]

Just had an email saying British Gas are upping my monthly direct debit for electricity from £46 a month to £66 month.

What a con. Yes I may have used more electric over winter but now that it is summer I am using less so it is all going to balance out. But instead I now got to pay more each month when I'm using less. I bet they are not this quick to reduce payments again!

Knew all this monthly direct debit stuff was a con. Think I will go back to quarterly billing.

closed

you'll probably pay more if you do

DevCoder

Maybe you are in arrears (normal during winter) so the increase is to repay the arrears plus the usual monthly cost.

penrhyn

If you have an online account you can tweak your dd yourself.

cootuk

By about this time, your account should be at zero balance so summer/autumn months are used for building up a positive balance for the winter bills. If your account isn't at zero, they will probably adjust your payments to pay off the debit over the next year.

MK55

download app reduce yourself...

[Deleted User]

Just reduced it but only allow me to reduce to £59. By August it will be in credit.

Nada666

Deleted_User wrote: »

Just reduced it but only allow me to reduce to £59. By August it will be in credit.

So it is not a con. In fact, it is months in your favour. You should be in credit by last month. The fact that you will only start to be in credit by August means you are being allowed a generously low instalment.

Obviously the deltas are smaller with the non-heating fuel so there is a chance it is not reasonable. How much do you expect to be in credit by next March if you pay £59?

[Deleted User]

Nada666 wrote: »

So it is not a con. In fact, it is months in your favour. You should be in credit by last month. The fact that you will only start to be in credit by August means you are being allowed a generously low instalment.

Obviously the deltas are smaller with the non-heating fuel so there is a chance it is not reasonable. How much do you expect to be in credit by next March if you pay £59?

Not sure. I use alot of electric in winter with fan heaters etc on (no gas and very cold house) but hardly anything over summer. Maybe 3-5 units a day between June-September.

DirectDebacle

It depends when your balancing date is. DD should be set to achieve zero balance after 12 consecutive payments. Say you joined BG in August and first DD taken September then account should theoretically be at zero after August DD has been paid.

They have increased your DD by about 43%. We have had an exceptionally long cold winter and this may account for additional usage not allowed for in the original DD setting. Hence arrears on the account by your balancing (anniverary) date.

You should be able to calculate what the balance of your account is likely to be on your anniversary date, using the new payment, the number of payments remaining to your anniversary date and the balance of your account at the monent, with reasonable accuracy.

Joyful

The British gas website will tell you what the account status will be like at the end of the 12 month period if you have changed your payment. Why not download the App and keep in more control? I did this last week and love it.

As has been said, at the 12 month date you should have a zero balance if the amount you pay monthly is correct.