Variable direct debits

DiseasedBunny

Can they simply be requested to your supplier? Thinking along the lines of ridiculous amounts of credit people get into, in my case it was only approximately £150 for both electricity and gas, when they failed.

bristolleedsfan

Larger suppliers Octopus, E.ON Next, EDF. Scottish Power, British Gas all support Variable direct debits,  usually need to contact them to ask to change

Brewer21

Recently been with Igloo now Eon.Next.

Before that I was with Npower and I left purely because they wanted me to pay a DD which was way way above what I considered to be a DD I was happy with. I rang them to discuss (remember when you could do that without much trouble?) and they were adamant that they were correct.
As I say I switched to Igloo for three years, they suggest what my DD should be then I put what I think I want to pay. It seems to work well.
Now having been forced to move to Eon.Next they suggested a DD of £95 I disagreed and set it at £70, my latest bill was for 30 days was £61. If it does increase (usage) and I guess it will I can always alter the DD accordingly.

I reckon some folk just have their DD set by the company and just carry on paying them. Some companies will adjust it for you come the summer months others may not. One who recently moved from Igloo came on this forum complaining about they were owed £500 by Igloo when they went under. I mean a credit of £500 just really coming out of summer. Their fault for not checking what the DD was set at and how much they were actually using to warrant such a high in credit balance.
We don't know why of course in that instance but I'd be worried about overpaying that amount.

MWT

Brewer21 said:

I mean owing £500 just really coming out of summer. Their fault for not checking what the DD was set at and how much they were actually using to warrant such a high in credit balance.

£500 does seem excessive, but the end of summer is when the balance should be at its highest to deal with the winter bills to come, so just having a larger balance at that point in the year would be reasonable if you are paying the same amount each month.

The aim is to end the winter period at zero, or a balance equal to one months payment if that is what your supplier requires.

Gerry1

If Ofgem were any good they'd have made Monthly Variable DD the default.  It would have stopped the Ponzi companies that funded their businesses (and often themselves) by setting fixed DDs far too high.  We're all having to pay more since they went bust.

Astria

Gerry1 said:

If Ofgem were any good they'd have made Monthly Variable DD the default.  It would have stopped the Ponzi companies that funded their businesses (and often themselves) by setting fixed DDs far too high.  We're all having to pay more since they went bust.

Some people find a fixed amount per month to be more easily budgeted for than an unknown amount per month so it's understandable, but personally I would prefer to submit a reading, be billed and the direct debit to take the funds automatically like they do with my water bill and mobile phone bill, and do away with all this "You are in too much debt, you need to make a manual payment; you are in too much credit - we need to refund you" .

Gerry1

Astria said:

Gerry1 said:

If Ofgem were any good they'd have made Monthly Variable DD the default.  It would have stopped the Ponzi companies that funded their businesses (and often themselves) by setting fixed DDs far too high.  We're all having to pay more since they went bust.

Some people find a fixed amount per month to be more easily budgeted for than an unknown amount per month so it's understandable

True, but the same people are likely to end up wailing that 'Big Energy set my DD to £10/month but suddenly they want to make it £200 per month', so it's not really doing them any favours.

At least MVDD means that they are more likely to be alerted to high usage in a timely manner.  Fixed DDs could still be made available on request, preferably after signing a big red warning 'I understand that it's not All You Can Eat and that my DD can rocket, especially if I don't send monthly meter readings'.

Astria

 I thought that was the idea of smart meters - alerting you to high usage in a timely manner and sending in regular meter readings?

wild666

DiseasedBunny said:

Can they simply be requested to your supplier? Thinking along the lines of ridiculous amounts of credit people get into, in my case it was only approximately £150 for both electricity and gas, when they failed.

I had £900 credit when I left Bulb in January, that's because I used the typical usage for a 2 bedroom property when I got the quote and used anything from £20 to £35 less than my monthly DD. 
My usage is anything but typical as, like my grandparents did, I turn things off that I am not using, I don't mean standby but off at the socket and my usage is around 120 kWh per month, sometimes less, if I go out for the day.

@Brewer21 Sometimes they take no notice of the actual usage that a customer uses the the average usage for the type of property you are in when you use less than average in a 12 month period.
With Bulb when my credit increased to hundreds of pounds I had the option to reduce the DD to less than £15 per month but just let the DD ride as was until I left them.

[Deleted User]

Astria said:

 I thought that was the idea of smart meters - alerting you to high usage in a timely manner and sending in regular meter readings?

Smart meters will most certainly give out information about the amount of energy used, and when it is used, but it is down to individual consumers to decide what to do with it. My statements from Octopus are routine and accurate, and for electricity the statement has a page of detailed information for each day of the month.

tunde10

I always pay by Variable D/D. I am not strapped for cash or bad at budgeting that i need an energy company to even out the amounts for me.

I prefer to pay as i use and budget accordingly over the year. I won't choose a company that do not support Variable D/D's. It should be all compulsory for all energy suppliers to offer the option with probably 1 month payment in advance at the start as we have with most other Utilities.