Bulb charges

lela87

Hi, 
I'm a bulb customer , I'm currently in credit and they wany to increase my bills by 90%. I told them no way but the only option I had was to go on a tariff where once the bill is due I have to pay in full in 10 day. 
Has any one else had this? Any other ideas?

Brie

I had to tell bulb "no" repeatedly.  over and over.  and eventually because they were putting the actual costs up I moved elsewhere just before everything started to go very wrong last year.  I thing the only thing that worked with them is acting like a whiny child asking "why?" and pointing out your credit.  

it may be the best alternative to move elsewhere thought I don't know if you will actually be better off.  

and - by in credit do you mean really in credit based on real readings or estimates?

Alnat1

Do you know your annual usage? See if you have actual readings (not estimates) from a year ago and take up to date ones if possible. There will be an figure on your bill for annual usage but they can be way out and that will be the one used by Bulb to work out your DD.

Post figures once you have them with details of your tariff and how much you are in credit. Someone on here will have a look and given you an idea of how much you will need to pay. You need to realise that energy companies will be calculating in the Oct price rises too as the DD will be worked out for the next 12 months.

lsur02

I posted yesterday about my own solution, which is to cancel the direct debit and put a standing order in place. I emailed Bulb a few times and they said this was ok.  You need their sort code, account number and your customer reference.  You don't need permission to cancel a direct debit and either you or your bank can set up the standing order as you wish.

I set mine up to pay on the same date as the direct debit and send them meter readings a day or two before that date. I pay them a bit more than I use but not the excessive amount they were asking. You cannot change the amount below what they allow if you are using adirect debit but you can absolutely do so with a standing charge.

Your Bulb account may say you need to set up a DD but I am ignoring that.  The payments are ging through according to my bank statement and my Bulb online account.

I

lsur02

Just to add, you can email Bulb and they should give you all the required bank details. They use Metro Bank.

pochase

lsur02 said:

I posted yesterday about my own solution, which is to cancel the direct debit and put a standing order in place. I emailed Bulb a few times and they said this was ok.  You need their sort code, account number and your customer reference.  You don't need permission to cancel a direct debit and either you or your bank can set up the standing order as you wish.

I set mine up to pay on the same date as the direct debit and send them meter readings a day or two before that date. I pay them a bit more than I use but not the excessive amount they were asking. You cannot change the amount below what they allow if you are using adirect debit but you can absolutely do so with a standing charge.

Your Bulb account may say you need to set up a DD but I am ignoring that.  The payments are ging through according to my bank statement and my Bulb online account.

I

You are aware that you are going to pay more expensive unit rates if you use a standing order? Same is probably true for @lela87 if you have to pay yourself.

The better solution is to go on a variable direct debit. You keep the cheaper rates, but they will only deduct the what you used. 

Alnat1

You do have to realised that winter usage will be much higher than summer and it might be a good idea to build up some credit over summer if it will help you budget for the big bills.

Some would rather save the cash themselves now and can cope with huge bills in future, others prefer their annual cost to be made in 12 equal payments.

The payments appear huge and scary but unfortunately they may be correct.

Lisalouise1974

We are with Bulb, in April our bill was £135, I paid £200 by DD, this  month so far it is £89 and I have pushed my DD up to £225. We are £250 in credit and I am attempting to build up a pot to help get through the winter, we are on economy 7 with dreaded storage heaters. Our biggest winter bill was £190 (Jan this year) so I am expecting be to circa £400 per month this winter, so trying to get head of the game, I expect my DD to go to £300 in Autumn / Winter.

Alnat1

You sound very sensible and realise that it can help if you plan now for the winter ahead.

t0rt0ise

pochase said:

lsur02 said:

I posted yesterday about my own solution, which is to cancel the direct debit and put a standing order in place. I emailed Bulb a few times and they said this was ok.  You need their sort code, account number and your customer reference.  You don't need permission to cancel a direct debit and either you or your bank can set up the standing order as you wish.

I set mine up to pay on the same date as the direct debit and send them meter readings a day or two before that date. I pay them a bit more than I use but not the excessive amount they were asking. You cannot change the amount below what they allow if you are using adirect debit but you can absolutely do so with a standing charge.

Your Bulb account may say you need to set up a DD but I am ignoring that.  The payments are ging through according to my bank statement and my Bulb online account.

I

You are aware that you are going to pay more expensive unit rates if you use a standing order? Same is probably true for @lela87 if you have to pay yourself.

The better solution is to go on a variable direct debit. You keep the cheaper rates, but they will only deduct the what you used. 

There is only one rate with Bulb so there is no higher rate for anyone.