What is acceptable credit on fuel account?

Millie321

I currently have £250 credit on my dual fuel account with FLow, have been customer for 4 months. I've requested a review but after 3 weeks they wrote to say they can't review until i've been a customer for 6 months.


I've just telephoned, explaining i want to reduce my payments as i would rather hold my extra cash than have them earning interest on it.


I've been taking regular readings and it is clear to see, even with winter ahead, i will not be using anywhere near as much as they estimated (i've explained this is partly due to change of circumstances and number of people in the home).


But they won't have it.


So my question - what is your average credit on your dual fuel accounts in the summer months?

cifpower

Millie321 wrote: »

I currently have £250 credit on my dual fuel account with FLow, have been customer for 4 months. I've requested a review but after 3 weeks they wrote to say they can't review until i've been a customer for 6 months.


I've just telephoned, explaining i want to reduce my payments as i would rather hold my extra cash than have them earning interest on it.


I've been taking regular readings and it is clear to see, even with winter ahead, i will not be using anywhere near as much as they estimated (i've explained this is partly due to change of circumstances and number of people in the home).


But they won't have it.


So my question - what is your average credit on your dual fuel accounts in the summer months?

How much interest do you think they are making with rates near 0%? How much interest are they losing by those in debt?

A £250 credit at the end of September just as the weather is getting colder and the central heating will be turning on is about right in my opinion. I would rather have a larger credit in September/October than a larger debt in March/April and a higher direct debit.

Millie321

Yes but £250 multiplied by many customers with no choice like myself, will earn them plenty of interest, and i have a feeling thats why they have these rules. As a single mother of 4 i'm grateful for any cash i can save, if that means reducing my monthly payments to them by £10 every penny counts to me, but they won't even let me do that until my 6 month anniversary.

cifpower

Millie321 wrote: »

Yes but £250 multiplied by many customers with no choice like myself, will earn them plenty of interest, and i have a feeling thats why they have these rules. As a single mother of 4 i'm grateful for any cash i can save, if that means reducing my monthly payments to them by £10 every penny counts to me, but they won't even let me do that until my 6 month anniversary.

What is your current direct debit and what is your annual consumption?

Bark01

As said above £250 is a very low level of credit to be taking into the window. As a rough rule of thumb 80% of an annual bill happens in the winter months. If you reduce your DD now and get a refund its likely that your DD will rise again significantly at your 6 month review.

Some suppliers (EDF for example) offer something called DD whole amount where you pay by DD, but pay the billable amount rather than an attempt to smooth out payments over 12 months.

I can assure that any money made on credit is vastly outweighed by the amount suppliers lose to bad debt. Bad debt generally adds 5-8% onto everyones bills.

Most suppliers reviews DD's after 6 months and refund credit after a year. The information below is from the start of 2014.

British Gas now gives automatic refunds on any in-credit amount. Previously it only offered automatic refunds of sums of £100 or more.

EDF now gives automatic refunds on any in-credit amount. Previously it'd have to owe you £75 or more before it gave an automatic refund.

First Utility now gives automatic refunds on sums of £5 or more. Previously customers had to ask for a refund, or have it roll over to the following year.

Npower will begin refunding customers automatically if they're in credit by £5 or more. This will begin later this year. Previously it only offered automatic refunds of sums of £60 or more.

SSE now gives automatic refunds on in-credit cash of £5 or more. Previously it'd have to owe you £100 or more.

lstar337

cifpower wrote: »

A £250 credit at the end of September just as the weather is getting colder and the central heating will be turning on is about right in my opinion.

But that is completely dependent on the usage profile of the customer. As an example, £250 is more than my annual gas bill by £44, so I wouldn't expect to ever build up a £250 credit balance.

OP, what do you expect you will use over winter?

JJ_Egan

My current balance is about £250 in credit as it usually is this time of the year . Nice buffer for the winter months and i would earn b all deposited in a savings account over 6 months .

undaunted

Acceptable to whom? (You are the only one that actually matters here!) Put your request in writing for a refund in. Ofgem has been clear that suppliers should refund a credit balance upon request by the customer or if refusing to do so must provide valid reasons for any such refusal. If you are dissatisfied with these reasons you can then take your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman (which will cost the supplier)

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/83041/directdebitfactsheetjan2015englishweb2.pdf

Alternatively, what tarrif are you on & if there is one just how much would the "fair exit fee" be if you were to switch to another supplier today? Start asking and see whether they become any more flexible if it sounds viable for you to do so

Millie321

Thanks for all your replies. Undaunted thats particularly useful information thank you.


And yes i know they're not making a heap of money out of me, but similarily why should i satisfy myself that the money they are making from people like me, counteracts the debt that other people - not myself - are creating?


I pay £101 a month to them, this was an amount they picked based on my previous years usage. During the previous year, my ex moved out, and subsequently my four children spend a few days with him. Also i went from being a stay at home parent, to working fulltime. So there is so much less usage its unreal. This i have explained to them.


That £250 credit has been accumulated in just 4 months with them. i requested to reduce my payments to £80, which as far as i can gather, having compared previous bills and winters, should still cover extra usage during winter.


And it is largely a principal thing, why should a company keep that much of my money. I have a very low income, i'm a home owner, and manage all my bills on a very tight budget, every penny counts to me. I'm not asking to get into debt with them, i'm not even asking for a refund, just a reduction in payments.

I'm off to read those links...

System

Millie321 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. Undaunted thats particularly useful information thank you.


And yes i know they're not making a heap of money out of me, but similarily why should i satisfy myself that the money they are making from people like me, counteracts the debt that other people - not myself - are creating?


I pay £101 a month to them, this was an amount they picked based on my previous years usage. During the previous year, my ex moved out, and subsequently my four children spend a few days with him. Also i went from being a stay at home parent, to working fulltime. So there is so much less usage its unreal. This i have explained to them.


That £250 credit has been accumulated in just 4 months with them. i requested to reduce my payments to £80, which as far as i can gather, having compared previous bills and winters, should still cover extra usage during winter.


And it is largely a principal thing, why should a company keep that much of my money. I have a very low income, i'm a home owner, and manage all my bills on a very tight budget, every penny counts to me. I'm not asking to get into debt with them, i'm not even asking for a refund, just a reduction in payments.

I'm off to read those links...

Energy companies cannot b e expected to know the personal circumstances of every customer that they supply and, understandably, place great store by the historical data collected for energy usage in your property. If you want your credit back, then they are required to initiate a refund; however, do not be surprised if your monthly DDs go up as a result. As others have said, you might - and I emphasise might - get a better result by switching. I say 'might' because this is the action that I took when I disagreed with the DD amount. The result was that my gas meter reading was totally ignored on switch, and the third party that looks at gas usage based its collection on past usage. I ended up paying my old supplier for energy that it hadn't supplied. I will probably pass the opening/closing meter reading in mid November.

footyguy

Millie321 wrote: »

I currently have £250 credit on my dual fuel account with FLow, have been customer for 4 months. I've requested a review but after 3 weeks they wrote to say they can't review until i've been a customer for 6 months.


I've just telephoned, explaining i want to reduce my payments as i would rather hold my extra cash than have them earning interest on it.


I've been taking regular readings and it is clear to see, even with winter ahead, i will not be using anywhere near as much as they estimated (i've explained this is partly due to change of circumstances and number of people in the home).


But they won't have it.


So my question - what is your average credit on your dual fuel accounts in the summer months?

Have you actually been billed for your consumption yet? Some suppliers only bill quarterly, despite you paying monthly.(edit: it appears you have been billed for at least some, if not all, of your consuption to date)

If you have been billed, your monthly payment would have been based on 1/12th of your annual cost based on the anticipated annual consumption figures you used when you joined flow.

What were those figures you provided?

If you are now suggesting they were wrong, then you could well be on the wrong tariff (supplier). Might be worth re-running that comparison to find the best deal for you