Big direct debit fee after leaving ?

dragoncurt

Hi, I was with British gas until I see on the energy club a better deal so I am moving over to EDF. So I was paying the direct debit which was £80 for gas nad £30 for electricity a month. The thing is I was all up to date with payments and even had a smart meter so they automatically sent them to BG. The thing is now though is as I am just about to move over to EDF I get a bill of £330 which I knew I was going to pay something but how do I get the bill that high when I was paying monthly DD.

The other thing to mention is when I got smart meters in around October last year I was supposed to be put on DD variable but someone from BG told me that it did not get changed till last month in which I think why the final bill is that high.

I am wondering if I can do anything as no way should it be that much I was at 0 when I was leaving and the final bill I got yesterday is £330 I don't see how they should make me pay it when they did not advise me to up my direct debit.

I could move back to them as the new deal I will be on has no exit fees but I am just wanting people opinions.

Thanks

molerat

The DD is only a payment on account and is only likely to be changed on account review. If you have been billed regularly then you will have seen your debit building up and would have had the opportunity to adjust it yourself.

dragoncurt

Oh, I understand what you are saying but they did not put the payment up at all or did not inform me in any way to say it should go up. Do you think they can get away with asking me for that much?

Robin9

Did you ever look at your previous bills - with a debt of £300 this must have been building up for months.

trickytree1963

I guess if you have switched with a big outstanding balance you could discuss with old supplier if you can pay off the final bill by instalments? I take it you cancelled their Direct Debit? Or are they intending to take the final bill in one fell swoop?

matelodave

It's not a case of them "getting away" with it. You've used the energy, so you've got to pay for it.

You can't just blame BG for not checking the meter or your bills/statements yourself to make sure that you aren't ramping up a big debit (or credit). They'll review your consumption once or twice a year, you should be checking yourself at least every month and get the DD adjusted if it's not covering your consumption.

A lot will also depend on when you started your contract. Your DD is designed to balance out over 12 months, asumming that you gave the supplier a reasonably accurate estimate of your consumption. Most people use 60-70% of their energy in the winter and the rest through the summer so it's quite feasible that you could owe a fair bit at this time of the year

However if you start in, say October/November, you'll end up with a big debit at this time of the year (after the winter heating season) which should diminish to zero by September.

If your contract starts in April you should be several hundred pounds in credit by October/November to carry you through the winter and you'll be about zero at the end of March

The clever bit is to monitor your consumption against your estimate to make sure that you stay on track.

dragoncurt

No nothing showing that it'll rise

dragoncurt

Also though I did check my Balance and statements and nothing made me think I should change it as I was thinking it would be covering it as I do have the smart meter so I see my consumption easier.