Direct Debit Error

Steamboat

Hi.
If an Energy Company estimated based on my usage that the Direct Direct needs to be £50 (my usage hasn't changed) and then a year on says I owe £450 because that estimate was incorrect, is my best option that they agree a payment plan or can I argue they messed up and they also haven't attempted to correct that over the last year?
Yes I should have been taking more notice but with online billing I've blissfully assumed all was fine
Thanks

Brie

An estimate is just that, a guess at what you might use and need to pay.  That's why regular readings are required.  

Most companies will be happy to agree to payment over time so that over 6 - 12 months you are back on track.  

[Deleted User]

Steamboat said:

Hi.
If an Energy Company estimated based on my usage that the Direct Direct needs to be £50 (my usage hasn't changed) and then a year on says I owe £450 because that estimate was incorrect, is my best option that they agree a payment plan or can I argue they messed up and they also haven't attempted to correct that over the last year?
Yes I should have been taking more notice but with online billing I've blissfully assumed all was fine
Thanks

A hard lesson to learn, but an important one. Any money that you pay a supplier is just money on account from which charges for energy used are deducted. Given that we had a very cold and prolonged Winter, I would surprised if your usage hadn’t increased. Were you providing your supplier with regular meter readings or just leaving it to them to make an algorithmic guess? The problem with not giving readings is that supplier has no way of reassessing your monthly DD payment. In sum, these shocks can be avoided if you provide regular readings and monitor your online account.

yelias

Steamboat said:

Hi.
If an Energy Company estimated based on my usage that the Direct Direct needs to be £50 (my usage hasn't changed) and then a year on says I owe £450 because that estimate was incorrect, is my best option that they agree a payment plan or can I argue they messed up and they also haven't attempted to correct that over the last year?
Yes I should have been taking more notice but with online billing I've blissfully assumed all was fine
Thanks

Your best option is not to allow such a huge debit (or credit) accrue on your energy bill over a year by providing regular meter readings (or get yourself a smart meter if your supplier can read one) and keeping an eye on your regular statements.

Argue all you like, but you will have to pay for what you have used.

What if it was a credit that had built up? Would you be prepared to write that off as you were paying the supplier based on an estimate of your EAC? Or would you want it returned as you had paid for something you had not used.

How can you claim your usage hasn't changed when your billing suggests you have used over the past year about 75% more than was originally estimated?

niktheguru

Agree with the other posters here. If you can afford it then pay off the debit balance and consider switching to a company who may be cheaper.

If you can't afford to pay it contact them and arrange a payment plan. It's really important to monitor your usage and at the very least provide regular meter readings and look at your bills. Bills being online is not a suitable excuse to not look at them. It just takes 2 mins to see if they are using your actual readings rather than estimates and to see your balance.....it would have saved you this surprise a year on.
If the company hadn't produced a bill for you despite submitting meter reads, over the course of a year then that's a different story.

Hope you get it all sorted.