Direct Debit amount changes

chirpchirp

I updated my energy usuage online and a few days later noticed my Direct Debit had been amended by £39!

Surely for this to be right I would need to be in credit by over £400! I could understand if they took the amount I'm in credit by and divided by 12 and said this was the amount they were amending it by which would mean about £14.

I find it really annoying that they change the amount at this time of the year and then end up increasing it again in March time. It's pretty obvious that in Sep/Oct that you're likely to have a credit on your account after the summer.

Are energy companies under some legal obligation not to allow credits to build up. Surely it would make more sense to assess credits after the winter has passed!

Nada666

Your numbers aren't very clear. I can't even work out if your instalment is going up or going down!

You are correct with your last sentence - companies target the end of the winter. But they do have interim assessments every quarter or six months - for a small delta they let the debit not be changed but over a threshold it can be changed every quarter or every time you provide a reading.

For most suppliers you should have several times your monthly payment in credit at the start of winter. They will want your balance to be zero Mar/Apr. Others will want your zero point to be the anniversary of when you joined up. As it is five or six months to April a £39 change suggests a difference of £240 rather than £400.

Don't forget that any increase or decrease can be double or treble the actual difference once ongoing and price changes are accounted for. (That is, if you were underpaying by £13 then you have to pay back the underpayment of £13 plus you have to pay £13 for ongoing usage plus you may have a price increase of £13. So a change of £39 may result from a shortfall of only £13. This is why it is important for every household to keep an eye on what they are using when paying by direct debit.)

Nada666

(Rereading your post it seems you are suggesting your debit has been decreased by £39. Shows you that the suppliers just can't win - 90% of direct debit complaints on this forum are about suppliers wanting to maintain accounts in credit. :wall:)

chirpchirp

Just to clarify figures, my DD has been amended downwards by £39. I have a credit on the account which when divided by 12 becomes approximately £14.

It appears that my company like my 0 point to be at the anniversary of when I signed up with them which is a real pain as it's the start of Autumn.