In credit on electricity statement

suzeesu2000

Hope I am in the right place for this....

My mum is 91 and lives in a two bed sheltered flat with my sister aged 73 who has learning disabilities.

Mum currently pays £55 per month by direct debit for her electricity, they have no gas.

She has just received a statement covering May to November 2013 which shows she is in credit to approx £250.

When she rang the SSE asking for a cheque to the sum she is in credit by, they told her she could not have it. They, apparently, said she could have approx £150 but the rest has to go towards her next bill.

I am a bit confused by this; has mum got confused and misunderstood or is this correct practice?

Would appreciate advice before I go wading in...

Thanks

Nada666

Asking to be £100 in credit at the start of winter is not unreasonable.

I would concentrate on ensuring she is spending enough and keeping warm - £43 is a very low sum to be averaging for an electricity-only two adult bedroom household.

Nada666

... and if you yourself are 'confused' by this then this suggests you are not very experienced at shopping around or finding a cheaper tariff. Take yourself to a comparison site and have at look at how much you can save by switching tariffs.

macman

As above-less than £100 credit at end November is going to leave her in debt at the end of winter.

matelodave

She would be better looking for any repayment for credit in May, rather than November otherwise she could end up with a large debit after the winter.

Most people will use about 60-65% of their energy in the 5 winter months and 35-40% in the 7 summer ones, so assuming she is paying £55 = £660 a year she'll need to be paying £85 a month or more in the winter and about £33 in the summer.
By going into winter with a surplus means that her monthly payment shouldn't need to increase.
If she takes the surplus and her payment stays the same she'd end up being £150-200 in debt in the spring (or possibly more if you factor in the recent price rises or the winter is everso cold). Could she cope with that?

Swipe

I agree with the other posters. in fact, i find it quite annoying when npower auto-refund any credit over £60 without asking you and then put up your monthly payments on your next bill.