Scottish Gas - Bank Standing Order

slenderkitten

Hi

is there anyway to force Scottish gas to accept standing orders from my bank account. i dont have a direct debit with them and i dont want to. but i do not want to have to take a card to a pay point and give cash. i prefer to pay all my bills by standing order on the same day of the month.

slenderkitten

does anyone know if its possible?

CashStrapped

Yes it is easy...

You can send one of payments via your bank to energy companies. A standing order is just a scheduled one off payment.

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/customer-services/bills-payments/payments/telephone-online

Phone your bank or go online and set up a payment to an existing company (your bank usually has a pre-existing list). If it is not on the list, just enter the sort code and account number of Scottish power and then your Scottish Poweraccount number as a reference.

Do be aware that you will be charged a premium for not using a direct debit. I save £134 by paying via direct debit.

Furthermore, with a direct debit, you have a direct debit guarantee. This means your bank must return any funds that are taken in error.

If you supply regular meter readings, the amount that is taken by direct debit should be more accurate and prevent large debits/or credits building on the account.

People have problems with direct debits because.

1) they do not check the account
2) They do not supply regular meter readings

This can mean the direct debit is set too low so when a meter reading is given you end up with a large debt on the account

or

The direct debit is set too high and when you give a meter reading, you have a large credit on the account which takes ages to be returned by the energy supplier.

I give a meter reading every month after the direct debit has gone. This allows me to see exactly what my energy use is and how much credit or debit my account is in.

patanne

What you will get with a SO is the worst of both worlds. You might just as well pay by cheque quarterly. At least you can have the money in your account for 1/2/3 months.

[Deleted User]

It sounds like the OP is complaining that Scottish Power will not accept a SO as a method of payment. How to send a SO is not the question, that is easily answered from the banks themselves.
If the OP wishes to pay her bills at standard tariff that is the OPs choice. Personally I d go for the direct debit one year fix and get a 25% discount.