Why do Bristol energy not reduce your monthly payments when in credit.

atseghill

I am over£100 in credit for my electric at Bristol energy, I pay £53 per month as it is only a small one bed flat. I asked to reduce my payment to £35 as I am only working part time and on the minimum wage.
They refused and after being directed to customer support the compromise was to pay £44 per month. However by the end of the next 3 months I will be more in credit,but Bristol Energy feel fine with this even though this is still a struggle for me each month. 

Apparently if I want to reduce my payment I have to go to a debt agency, even though I am managing my bills. Surely this is ridiculous as I am not in debt but need  money to live on.
It seems they have my money so don’t care if I can afford food to live.
I know it is only a small amount but every pound counts and when you are on a small income,you do not need heavy handed treatment.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Robin9

At this time of year you should expect to be in credit ready for the big winter bills ahead.

How long have you been in your flat ? Do you know your annual consumption ?

I assume all electric - is it storage rads, panel heaters ?

Gerry1

You haven't stated your annual metered usage, but the risk is that if the DD is set to the summer level you'll soon become a cropper when winter kicks in and your DD rockets to £70.

matelodave

Most people use lots more energy in the winter than in the summer so there will be some times during the year that you'll be in credit and some when you be in debt. Ideally you should be in credit to at least twice your monthly direct debit by September/October (possibly more if you use a lot of energy to heat your place in the winter)

As Gerry says, would you be happy to have your DD doubled around about Christmas or the New Year because you are ramping up a large debit? It's not hard to work out when you'll be in credit or debit if you've got a fairly accurate estimate of your annual consumption.

As an example, based on your £53 a month then you'll spend around £53 x 12 in a year = approx £636 (which isn't very high but may be OK if you've got a small flat). You'll use about 65% of your energy in five months (Nov-March) costing around (636 x 65%) = £413 but you'll only pay 5 x £53 = £265, so you'll be £148 in debt. 
Conversely you probably use about 35% of your energy in the other seven months (636 x 35%) = £226 but you'll pay 7 x £53 = £371 meaning that you'll be in credit by £145 which balances out your debt. If you use more than £636 worth of energy then you'll be be in debt at the end of 12 months

If you get your DD reduced to £44 but still use £636 worth of energy you'll only pay £528 and end up with a debit of £108 which means that you'll either have to find another £108 or that next years DD will increase to £53 to cover your existing consumption plus another £9 (making it £62) to pay off your arrears. Reducing it to £35 would make it significantly worse.

Robin9

@atseghill - how long have you been with BE ?   Are able to switch without an exit penalty ?   If so BE will have to refund your credit.

There is a danger in doing so because a new supplier  will take an initial DD at an early stage and you effectively pay twice in one month.

And then you still have the problem of paying for what you use -  even the £53 sounds low over a year - but we don't know what your annual consumption is.

MWT

atseghill said:

Apparently if I want to reduce my payment I have to go to a debt agency, even though I am managing my bills. Surely this is ridiculous as I am not in debt but need  money to live on.

The logic is that your current payment is set to cover your bills over a full year, if you have told them you need to reduce the payment because you need the money for other bills, food etc. then they need assurance that you are going to be able to pay the higher bills coming your way in winter.

Effectively you are telling them that you can't afford your annual energy costs, hence the debt management agency...

RelievedSheff

You should be building up credit on your account at this time of year to cover your much higher winter bills. That is how monthly direct debit works. 

matelodave

This explains how you DD works and why you are in debit or credit at different times of the year
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6176989/incorrect-eon-markers-on-credit-report-stopping-a-mortgage#latest