Is it worth paying anything owed on Energy before the 1st April?

suestew · 18 March 2022 at 6:23PM

HI, I know we have been advised to do a meter reading on the 31st March, but we actually owe some money (£180) due to the monthly direct debit not being enough to cover what we have actually used. I did put the direct debit up myself but my question is, is it worth paying the outstanding amount, will it reduce our new monthly payment slightly after 1st April if we are all caught up? Hope that makes sense.

[Deleted User] · 18 March 2022 at 6:31PM

Anything to pay will reduce your DD payment going forward.

suestew · 18 March 2022 at 7:37PM

[Deleted User] said:

Anything to pay will reduce your DD payment going forward.

sorry to confirm, anything we pay of the debt will reduce the d/d going forward? thanks

[Deleted User] · 18 March 2022 at 9:30PM

suestew said:

sorry to confirm, anything we pay of the debt will reduce the d/d going forward? thanks

Assume that your annual cost for electricity is £960 and you have a minus credit balance of £180. The supplier should calculate a DD amount of £960+£180= £1140/12 or £95 per month. If you pay off the £180 debit balance then a fair DD would £960/12 or £80 per month.

Having said all that, you might end up having a difficult conversation with customer services. Mathematical competency and logic do not appear to be in the job specification.

suestew · 19 March 2022 at 2:07PM

[Deleted User] said:

suestew said:

sorry to confirm, anything we pay of the debt will reduce the d/d going forward? thanks

Assume that your annual cost for electricity is £960 and you have a minus credit balance of £180. The supplier should calculate a DD amount of £960+£180= £1140/12 or £95 per month. If you pay off the £180 debit balance then a fair DD would £960/12 or £80 per month.

Having said all that, you might end up having a difficult conversation with customer services. Mathematical competency and logic do not appear to be in the job specification.

Great thank you for this.

cymruchris · 19 March 2022 at 2:17PM

If your worry was the future direct debit - and you had a spare £250 in the bank now - you could put your account in credit, which could also lower the DD. You'll end up paying the same amount, the use will still be the use, and you'd not earn any interest on your £250 in their account - but it could lower the DD by another £20 a month if that's a concern over the year...