Is This A Scam? Your Not Paying Enough Money On Your Electric

Ascot

Hi.

Re: Your Not Paying Enough Money On Your Electric

For the last 4 years i've been with different companies, always done the
Standard No Standing Charge Monthly Direct Debit Gas and Electric together

Anyway, every company has done this to me.

1, Few months into my service, i get a letter stating i'm not paying enough money for my Electric and i have to pay more.

2, Or before i change over to another company, the one i've been with sends
me a bill for more money because they have been under charging me for Electric.

I have always paid the same amount stated.

It's always for Electric.

Is this a scam can i claim any of this money back?

espresso

Why don't you work it out for yourself, it's not rocket science. You know how many kWh units you consume from past bills and how much your current supplier is charging per unit, so do some simple sums to see if your DD will cover your annual usage.

tripled

Prices have been rising sharply over the last 4 years which will be a contributory factor in this, compounded with the fact one or two less scrupulous sales agents or switching sites may artificially lower an initial direct debit to help win business.

I'm afraid you have no case to get it back, you are contracted to pay the notified rate for power used. Your direct debit is simply an agreed method of payment not a 'fixed rate' regardless of prices/consumption.

bengal-stripe

Have you ever taken a reading? Do yo have any idea how much you consume? When was your meter read last? Are your bills based on estmates or actual readings?

Utility bills are based on consumption not on monthly subscriptions.

dc

This is the problem posed by direct debits.

They tend to make us lazy, as other people are doing the work for us by making a regular demand and payment without our involvement.
This is ok when prices are static, however when prices rise you end up in debt because the "fixed" payment is not covering the cost of units used. Prices have been rising rapidly over the last few years, until recently, hence your problem

When prices drop you will likely end up in credit, ie lending the utility company money.

You may realise I dont like direct debits as I like to control what little money I have left over.

full-time-mum

A tip for using those comparison sites - put in your actual usage rather than the amount you have paid/are currently paying by DD in £s.

Last year I did an experiment. Firstly, I typed in the amount my bills had cost in £s over the past 12 years and it came up with Company A. I took company As figures and manually calculated (sad, I know) what my bills would have been over that period and the figures produced by the comparison site were way out. I then plugged in my actual usage and got a more accurate result.

The reason for this is because current prices are higher than prices a year ago. The comparison site says "Ah, you've spent £X00 this year", divides by the current price to give your actual usage in KW or whatever. This is why the comparison is wrong.

This doesn't sound very clear - sorry, let me try and clarify.....

Last year you used £500 of fuel paying £5 per unit (giving you 100 units usage).

Prices have risen and now a unit costs £10.

Comparison site is using the current prices of £10 per unit so it works out that you used 50 units last year and goes away to work out what each company will cost you for 50 units.

Your DD for this year coming year will be calculated as around £42. (50 * £10 / 12)

At the end of the year, you have used 100 units at £10 each - ie:£1000 but have only paid 12 * £42 = £504

Also bear in mind when working out your usage from your bills that you won't get an exact year as bills come at different times during the quarter so you may have figures for 54 weeks for your gas and 50 weeks for your elec - but putting in the actual usage still gives a better estimate.