FU arghh

girlsmum

Sorry just want to moan,

about 12-18 months ago, despite having a Direct Debit set up the not so wonderful First Utility failed to claim it for a few months (they had previously it was their system error) . I did not realise so my bill went up.

It has been going down and i appreciate that i need to pay it, but when i spoke to them they did not seem bothered.

I got an email yesterday saying they are increasing my direct debit from £108 to £190 per month.

I currently owe about £350, bear in mind that my account should be debited with £140 warm front discount so i will owe £210 by the end of the month.

I have just totalled all my bills over the last 12 months and they come to £934. I am paying at the moment £108 = £1296 the excess went to pay the over payment, if they take £190 that's £2280 pa :eek: how on earth have they come to that figure???

I have got to call them later, which is a nighmare. I don't want the DD increased as it will be impossible to get it decreased again. plus they want to take an extra £82 giving me 2 weeks notice and before my next pay day, i have budgeted for this month.

Rant over....

System

You don't say what type of contract you are on? Suppliers are required to set monthly payments which will achieve a zero balance at the end of the contract term. FU seems to suggesting that if they do not change your DD by £82 per month then you will have a debit balance of £82 by X ( where X is the number of months remaining on your contract term). FU is not suggesting that your payments will total £2280 for the next 12 months.

You need to look at the annual energy projection on your last bill. This will give you an idea as to your actual usage compared to your anticipated usage. If you fee that FU's failure to collect the DDs is the major reason for your debt then ring them and try to get them to agree a repayment plan over a longer term.

girlsmum

Hengus wrote: »

You don't say what type of contract you are on? Suppliers are required to set monthly payments which will achieve a zero balance at the end of the contract term. FU seems to suggesting that if they do not change your DD by £82 per month then you will have a debit balance of £82 by X ( where X is the number of months remaining on your contract term). FU is not suggesting that your payments will total £2280 for the next 12 months.

You need to look at the annual energy projection on your last bill. This will give you an idea as to your actual usage compared to your anticipated usage. If you fee that FU's failure to collect the DDs is the major reason for your debt then ring them and try to get them to agree a repayment plan over a longer term.

According to the email they sent i will have unsderpaid £348.21 by 21 July, so that is 5 months at £82 = £410 still does not make sense, £70 extra i can understand, i am going to call later and sort something

alderpoint

Just tell them to change you to a variable direct debit: they then just charge you for what you've actually used in the previous month. Obviously this means you pay more in the winter than in the summer, but that's because you use more.

girlsmum

I might do that once the account is cleared