Direct Debit

waterman3

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice as I find energy billing a little confusing.

My Npower dual fuel account ends at the end of November and my current balance is £330. I live in a 1 bedroom flat and so don't use much energy really.

The balance of £330 seems quite high and I'm wondering if I should call them and ask for my DD to be reduced.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts or advice!

cheers

JJ_Egan

Yes but if you intend to continue with the same supplier it may be worth building up credit for the winter months .

matelodave

Is your balance based on actual meter reads or estimates. Check your bills to ensure that you really have a credit and if so then it's probably worthwhile to reduce your direct debits.
JJ has a good point about making sure that you've got a bit in hand for the winter if you are going to stay with your existing energy company but conversely its a good idea to whittle it down if you aren't

dazd1970

Right now i am having a real battle with NPower over direct debits. Only this morning I have had an email from them to say that they agree with my figures of using £21.23 per month, and in the very next line they say that they calculate I am using £52.96 per month.

Last week I went onto their site through my account login and went for a direct debit quote. First I entered the true reading, and was told the DD would be £39.95 per month. Then I dropped the read by 100 kwh, and I was told that the monthly DD would be £39.95 per month. Not one to be beaten I then set the kwh to ZERO, and again, monthly DD of £39.95 per month.

At my highest I have used £25 per month and yet at the start of all of this they were insistent that I need to pay £63 per month. With the best will in the world my usage is not going to increase by that much during the winter. As with the OP this is a small one bed flat, open plan lounge/kitchen/diner so not even separate rooms to heat, and it is gas fired central heating on a combi boiler.

All they are doing is using every way possibly to use our money to invest into commodities and stocks to boost their coffers. This is never ever mentioned by anybody when they say about sorting the energy companies out.

I am no idiot with numbers, as I have pointed out to NPower. I have made a spreadsheet so that I can micro manage my utility bills, so I am confident of my figures, and yet, they insist that I should give them two or three times as much per month compared to what I am actually using.

My account is now running at £70 in credit and I have had to cancel the DD to stop them from taking stupid amounts per month. I have twice told them that along with the credit I have an amount of £10 per month will cover the bills for a fair few months, and yet they refuse to lower it. And surprise surprise I cannot set the amount, they have to. Next I will be told that my tariff has changed due to not paying by DD.

People really need to be aware of this conglomerate scandal.

Horseunderwater

My hubby often says we'd be better off on one of these DD tariffs - but I prefer to be on a PPM - that way I buy what I want/can afford at that time & it can be done at home as brit gas sent me 2 devices to plug into PC. Yes it is standard rate - no exit fees though.

Bigphil1474

OP, its not unusual to get in credit in the summer months, but £330 credit sounds a bit high. I'd ring them and aks if they can review your payment taking into account what you've used so far. With 4 months to go and a current meter read, they should be able to do it.

Horseunderwater - I'd listen to your hubby. I've not seen a standard rate which is cheaper than virtually any 'dual fuel pay by direct debit' rate, and PPM are usually extortionate. The OP is right in his frustration with the energy companies basically borrowing our money for free. However, your basically giving them money for free by paying the higher rate, at least the OP will get his credit back. We were in credit by £145 in March which we got refunded. Reckon we'd lost at most £1 from if we'd had that £145 in the savings account for 3 months. If you're paying 5%/10% or more on your energy bill by paying on PPM, then you're losing a fortune. £10 - £20 per month??

I'd rather be in credit with the energy company anyway, its like getting a little windfall every 6 months, and they usually are happy to reduce the monthly payment if you're in credit, just depends what time of year i.e. you will usually get in credit in the summer, but use 4 or 5 times more energy in the winter (at least). From recollection , we were using around £150 per month in Dec - Feb, but probably around £30 per month in summer, and somewhere in between in Autumn/Spring. Works out at £80 per month through the year.

molerat

Is your account accurate ? NPower's current computer system adds 2 and 2 and comes up with 27.6 so can not be trusted to give you an accurate figure. You need to work out your consumption, costs and payments yourself to see if it is correct and decide where to go from there.

nPower

waterman3 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice as I find energy billing a little confusing.

My Npower dual fuel account ends at the end of November and my current balance is £330. I live in a 1 bedroom flat and so don't use much energy really.

The balance of £330 seems quite high and I'm wondering if I should call them and ask for my DD to be reduced.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts or advice!

cheers

Hello waterman,

Thank you for your post.

I will be able to look into your account and payments. If you can send me an email to the address on my profile page I will be more than happy to help.

Thanks

Carmel