Bulb - Should I cancel my Direct Debit if I'm in Credit?

chr15macca

Hi, with the latest goings on at Bulb and other energy suppliers in the UK, I was wondering if it is wise to cancel my Direct Debit with them in the event that they go into administration.
I am about to move house anyway and I'm £80 in credit and currently only use about £50 a month (despite them taking £89 via DD). So reluctant to give them any more money really.

Crdw

I phoned them on Tuesday and asked for and got a payment holiday.
My September bill (October DD) is being covered by the credit in my account.
Don't think it's wise to cancel the DD just yet.

Crdw

Take meter readings before calling so they have up to date figures

hydratoad

Crdw said:

I phoned them on Tuesday and asked for and got a payment holiday.
My September bill (October DD) is being covered by the credit in my account.
Don't think it's wise to cancel the DD just yet.

As a general rule, this sounds like the smart solution. While Bulb doesn't appear to have a typical tariff structure, cancelling a direct debit with an operating supplier is likely to get you bumped onto a more expensive rate. 

BeerSavesMoney

Are you not able to reduce it to a lower amount instead?

Crdw

In my case, it seemed the better option, as I have a 1st payment to Sainsbury's energy coming out the same week, so suited my budgeting.
I'll get the small remaining credit back when I switch, or at some point down the road if bulb goes bust.

OPs credit is also relatively small, so I don't see how asking for some back will help much.

chr15macca

BeerSavesMoney said:

Are you not able to reduce it to a lower amount instead?

Nope, they do allow you to change it on their website, but only to a higher amount!

Jakbo

Your balance is safe, read the terms of the site, some say that by cancelling DD you create a material breach of contract which may affect your tariff.

You might ask them to repay £50 and if they do not comply within 28 days then take more drastic action

The way I see it, if I am moved to a new supplier who demands direct debit I will say "not until you show my credit" I took a video of my account showing the balances, all the payments and all the bills, I had downloaded all the bills in PDF before.

I am not having any smart meter so if whoever I am moved to has that scam going I will leave them. 

[Deleted User]

Jakbo said:

Your balance is safe, read the terms of the site, some say that by cancelling DD you create a material breach of contract which may affect your tariff.

You might ask them to repay £50 and if they do not comply within 28 days then take more drastic action

The way I see it, if I am moved to a new supplier who demands direct debit I will say "not until you show my credit" I took a video of my account showing the balances, all the payments and all the bills, I had downloaded all the bills in PDF before.

I am not having any smart meter so if whoever I am moved to has that scam going I will leave them. 

How exactly is a smart meter a scam? They are just meters that record usage and pass the usage on to your supplier via a network. Currently, because I am on a smart meter tariff, I get electricity at 5.5p/kWh for 5 hours each day. 

Penguin_

I'm a bit worried about Bulb going under, my DD is £70 a month for Gas & Elec but when I'm looking at comparison sites they're quoting me at least £125 a month.

Crdw

Penguin:
First off, your direct debit amount isn't the same as the cost of the amount of energy you are actually using.
The quote increases are also just generalisations on an "average user", so no-one in particular.
You need to find your yearly usage in khws (on your statement) and then do a comparison based on your actual usage.