Is it OK to cancel the direct debit?

liz_bartun

Hi.  I'm switching from British Gas to Pure Planet on 31st December.  I've taken meter readings and I will owe British Gas about £15 but they are due to take £108 on 1st Jan.  If I cancel my direct debit with British Gas now and pay the £15 manually (they're producing a bill on these readings), will there be any repercussions on my switch or credit rating?  I really don't want to be paying such a large amount to British Gas when I won't owe it to them.

[Deleted User]

British Gas cannot produce a final bill until it has received industry-checked closing/opening readings from your new supplier. This process can take 5 to 14 days from the day of transfer of supply. British Gas has 6 weeks to produce a final statement. All overpayments will be returned as a credit on your Final Bill.

MWT

liz_bartun said:

If I cancel my direct debit with British Gas now and pay the £15 manually (they're producing a bill on these readings), will there be any repercussions on my switch or credit rating?  I really don't want to be paying such a large amount to British Gas when I won't owe it to them.

If your tariff requires that you pay by DD then yes, there can be repercussions as they have the right to switch you to their more expensive default tariff for your final bill.

They may or may not do that of course but in general it is not advisable to cancel the DD until your switch has actually taken place...

MWT

... also, when you submit a reading taken a few days before the switch date you also increase the risk that your reading will be adjusted by the adjudicator who sits between the gaining and losing supplier, so there is a good chance that your final bill will not be exactly as you have calculated it...

Streaky_Bacon

There is a pretty good explanation of the validation process here, which should help you decide if your final reading will be validated.

https://help.so.energy/support/solutions/articles/7000046241-opening-reading-validation-process

If it will be then you could cancel your DD if you wanted to, and just pay the right amount by bank transfer, but make sure you do it before the DD is due.

It would be best to make sure that you pay a bit extra just to make sure you pay enough.

If the last DD is not needed at all then the supplier would not have any real argument to play about with your tariff (because any money that you were due to pay was already paid, before that last, unnecessary, DD was to be taken).

It all depends on whether you mind waiting for the credit (which you will eventually get back).

It is also possible that they won't actually try to take the DD on the 31st, but will wait for the final bill. Have they told you that they definitely will be taking it?

If you're leaving us

We'll send you a final bill, though we're sorry to see you go.

If you've got any credit, we can refund it into your bank account. Or we can arrange to take a one-off payment for anything you owe us, as long as your Direct Debit is still up and running. We'll take this between 10-14 working days after we close down your account.

liz_bartun

MWT said:

... also, when you submit a reading taken a few days before the switch date you also increase the risk that your reading will be adjusted by the adjudicator who sits between the gaining and losing supplier, so there is a good chance that your final bill will not be exactly as you have calculated it...

Yes they will produce another bill that will be the final one.  They haven't produced a bill since June (apparently they only bill 6-monthly now) so offered to produce one on the readings I took today.  These are also the readings I submitted as opening readings to Pure Planet but if they are adjusted that's fine.  I'll take photos on 31st Dec as well in case the adjustment is way off.

Thank you.  I've decided to run the risk of having to pay for 3 day's supply at the default tariff.  I've made a separate payment for the extra £15 and cancelled the direct debit.

liz_bartun

Streaky_Bacon said:

There is a pretty good explanation of the validation process here, which should help you decide if your final reading will be validated.

https://help.so.energy/support/solutions/articles/7000046241-opening-reading-validation-process

If it will be then you could cancel your DD if you wanted to, and just pay the right amount by bank transfer, but make sure you do it before the DD is due.

It would be best to make sure that you pay a bit extra just to make sure you pay enough.

If the last DD is not needed at all then the supplier would not have any real argument to play about with your tariff (because any money that you were due to pay was already paid, before that last, unnecessary, DD was to be taken).

It all depends on whether you mind waiting for the credit (which you will eventually get back).

It is also possible that they won't actually try to take the DD on the 31st, but will wait for the final bill. Have they told you that they definitely will be taking it?

If you're leaving us

We'll send you a final bill, though we're sorry to see you go.

If you've got any credit, we can refund it into your bank account. Or we can arrange to take a one-off payment for anything you owe us, as long as your Direct Debit is still up and running. We'll take this between 10-14 working days after we close down your account.

Thank you, interesting about the validation process.  I've been submitting my meter reads monthly so should hopefully be OK.
And yes, the DD is showing as due to be taken on 1st Jan - probably because my contract was originally due to end on 31st January.