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In credit but they still ant to up my payments

Posts: 61 Forumite
Ninth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
I am with Southern Electric and on that economy seven. I spent most of this winter under a duvet and watching TV. No extra heating on but bill still sky high. All I use is one storage heater in my bedroom and use that to dry the washing. I also put the storage heater to mid setting in sitting room. I am all electric but live on my own. After much hagggling this time last year I finally got monthly payment s down to £80 a month, They wanted £124. When I phoned them they admitted that £124 was a big hike. Low and behold I have been in credit over the last 2 bills. This one that I got last week was £120 in credit but they now want £92 a month. I am a pensioner and it does not seem to matter that I keep cutting back on my usage, they still keep putting up my monthly payments. They have given my a prediction that in the next 12 months I will use such and such electric, but I notice that they then devide it by 11 months so the payments are more than needed.They even charge now if I want my metre checked out. I am beginning to think that no matter what I do or who I change to that I just can't win.

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Comments

  • Posts: 16,327 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 18 June 2014 at 4:34PM
    You can choose whatever monthly payment you want, as long as you are prepared to make up any shortfall. You can also ask them to check periodically whether their systems are showing a debt building up.

    You might want to look at replacing one or both storage heaters. If they are quite old, then new ones will probably be more efficient.

    You might also consider looking at your usage in detail. (In the lead-up to winter, take meter readings daily and try turning one heater on, and the other off one night, and swap over the next). You may find (particularly with the bedroom one), that 20 minutes of a fan heater will do a better job for less cost.

    edit: Also consider asking them if you would be better off not being on Economy 7 at all.
  • Posts: 2,112 Forumite
    pink_boots wrote: »
    I am with Southern Electric and on that economy seven. I spent most of this winter under a duvet and watching TV. No extra heating on but bill still sky high. All I use is one storage heater in my bedroom and use that to dry the washing. I also put the storage heater to mid setting in sitting room. I am all electric but live on my own. After much hagggling this time last year I finally got monthly payment s down to £80 a month, They wanted £124. When I phoned them they admitted that £124 was a big hike. Low and behold I have been in credit over the last 2 bills. This one that I got last week was £120 in credit but they now want £92 a month. I am a pensioner and it does not seem to matter that I keep cutting back on my usage, they still keep putting up my monthly payments. They have given my a prediction that in the next 12 months I will use such and such electric, but I notice that they then devide it by 11 months so the payments are more than needed.They even charge now if I want my metre checked out. I am beginning to think that no matter what I do or who I change to that I just can't win.

    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits :)
  • Posts: 2,217 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Uniform Washer Rampant Recycler
    Cornucopia wrote: »

    You might want to look at replacing one or both storage heaters. If they are quite old, then new ones will probably be more efficient.

    No they wont. They might be more EFFECTIVE, but not more efficient.

    If you put 5kW in to a Storage heater, 5kW will come out of it. It can't just vanish.

    What may change is that you get better control of when that heat is released.
  • Posts: 16,327 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I was going for a real world meaning, not the science lab one.

    Nice save, though - who could possibly have known what I meant?
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