Utilities - monthly meter readings and direct debits

Naomim

Morning all,

On the boards I read a lot about people giving their meter readings in monthly which is something I haven't done before.  I last read my meter in May and sent in new meter readings last Friday 10th July, and my DD has jumped from £111 a month to £162     I know we're using more electricity as both MrM and I are working from home and have a teen and tween constantly online gaoming & streaming, but my question is.. if I provide meter readings every month, will the DD eventually even out again?

I last switched in Nov to Scottish Power dual fuel fixed Dec 20.  I got £75 cash back but there's an exit fee if I leave early so I can't switch just yet.

Thanks

Naomim

dan958

It may depend on the provider, but if you give your meter readings and have been overpaying, then they should issue you the credit back. 

Naomim

I get that over-payments in summer cover you for the winter costs, but I was wondering if the costs even out better if you provide monthly meter readings?  To jump from £111 a month to £162 is a lot, especially as I'm debt clearing and this is a substantial amount.

sourcrates

All it does is provide more accurate billing, i`m not a fan of these utility companies who want you to build up large amounts of credit over the summer months, thats my money, why should they have the benefit of it for 6 months of the year.

It will depend on your usage again, but monthly readings are quite common these days.

BooJewels

You'll need to pay for the fuel you use, so when you submitted a recent meter reading, that presumably caught up with the fact that you'd probably been using more fuel than you'd been paying for - no doubt added to during lockdown and the additional burden on your power use of all being at home. 

It's all down to what you actually use and therefore paying for it.  If you start a thread in the Energy board, with some recent meter readings and your tariff, some of us can work out the numbers for you and see what your usage level is and where you're at.  Have you got a bill from the same period last year with meter readings for comparison?

dan958

Naomim said:

I get that over-payments in summer cover you for the winter costs, but I was wondering if the costs even out better if you provide monthly meter readings?  To jump from £111 a month to £162 is a lot, especially as I'm debt clearing and this is a substantial amount.

It may not 'even out', but you will be paying for what you used otherwise they are just guessing what you are using (and they always guess way too high for me!). You will eventually get it back in credits if they over-charged, but I always submit meter readings each month so that I just pay for what I use.

Naomim

BooJewels said:

You'll need to pay for the fuel you use, so when you submitted a recent meter reading, that presumably caught up with the fact that you'd probably been using more fuel than you'd been paying for - no doubt added to during lockdown and the additional burden on your power use of all being at home. 

It's all down to what you actually use and therefore paying for it.  If you start a thread in the Energy board, with some recent meter readings and your tariff, some of us can work out the numbers for you and see what your usage level is and where you're at.  Have you got a bill from the same period last year with meter readings for comparison?

Thanks for this, no I don't have any bills from last year. I regularly swap providers as a member of the cheap energy club on here, but I never print off the bills or take much notice of the usage.   I will start providing monthly meter readings, printing the bills and see where I'm at.

Many thanks again @dan958 @BooJewels and @sourcrates

Naomim