How do I work out credit on statement?

teddysmum

Sosumi wrote: »

Where, pray tell, do you believe I have ever mentioned whether or not our domestic water supply is metered?

In point of fact, we wash our cars with rainwater, stored in covered vats linked by simple syphons and fed directly by the downpipes from the gutters on our roofs. We don’t do that because it’s free; we do it because the water is pure and it’s gentler on the cars. We’ve been doing this for over 25 years.

The 'you' who could stress themselves over usage of water etc is not you personally but the general you, sometimes referred to as 'one'.


Regarding electricity and gas, surely knowing that your direct debit will cover (with small debit or credit changes) the predicted usage there is no need for spread sheets. Just check, every three months, at bill time, that your debit or credit is very small.

Sosumi

teddysmum wrote: »

Regarding electricity and gas, surely knowing that your direct debit will cover (with small debit or credit changes) the predicted usage there is no need for spread sheets. Just check, every three months, at bill time, that your debit or credit is very small.

The simple strategy you suggest may well work in uncomplicated and unchanging situations. And if it has worked for you, I’m happy for you.

I would, nonetheless, point out that you get billed for what you have actually used, not what you may have predicted several months ago that you would use.

And, furthermore, that if your supplier turns rogue during the term of your fix, screws up its entire customer accounts system and is unable to issue any meaningful bills, quarterly or otherwise, either online or by mail, you will have no reference point with which to work and no way of being able to prove to your supplier, to OFGEM or to a court what your bill should actually be.

Clearly, you were not a customer of Co-operative Energy in March of 2015 and thereafter (still, one reads). I am glad you were spared that.


If, however, you switch suppliers and tariffs several times a year (not least to avoid letting a fix run until it expires, leaving you stranded) and if you do find that your supplier does a Co-op Energy on you, you need to be equipped with the tools to deal with it. A well structured spreadsheet, updated weekly, gives you that and is simple to maintain.

I’m prepared to accept that that you have never (yet) encountered a situation that could not be dealt with in the manner you suggest.

I feel, however, that you, in return, should accept – even if you cannot understand it – that others have experienced situations that cannot be resolved in the manner that you recommend and need, instead, a spreadsheet to resolve satisfactorily.

One thing, though: if your gift of prescience is such that you are able to predict reliably the severity of next winter, and thus how much energy you will need to heat your home, I really do think you should be generous enough to share this information with the rest of us, so that we can all adjust our Direct Debits accordingly.