The £400 discount

MWT

Sea_Shell said:

 If you changed suppliers in Autumn you could be running a substantial debit balance by spring.   But that's how level DDs are supposed to work.

Except that most suppliers these days include the caveat that you must keep your account balance positive at all times, and some go further and require a balance equal to a months payment.

So it does even out after the first year, but switching in Autumn and pocketing the refund balance from the old supplier could leave you with a hill to climb at the new supplier...

I suspect that few suppliers are willing to just let the debt build up over winter these days, but there will be some for sure, particularly the few remaining that don't bill monthly...

So if you are trying to find a supplier likely to let the debt build then look for the ones with the lest frequent billing...

Sea_Shell

I'm looking at the "general" picture, not for myself.

From what I've seen of Eon's bills, they usually start with a "recommendation" to increase a DD.

I'm not sure when they move to "we will increase" your DD 😉

MattMattMattUK

Sea_Shell said:

MWT said:

pochase said:

I would assume they are working from the assumption that the normal direct debit will cover the usage.

In this case after you get the £400 back you still have fully paid your energy bill, and you have the £400 back in your pocket, thus having reduced your energy cost.

Exactly, people seem to be missing the point that the £66 is paid into your account to go against your use, the DD is reduced by £66 so you are better off having paid £66 less.

As long as your DD is set correctly then you are benefiting by £400 that you will not have to pay for your energy...

If your DD is not sufficient to cover your use, then yes, you should increase it by £66 to make sure the money goes against your energy debt...

So how many people are actually going to have a DD that accurately reflects their costs/usage with effect from 1st October, before £66 is deducted???   

I'd suggest not many, especially as some will try and keep their DD as low as possible for as long as possible, unless FORCED to increase it!!   I've seen this already with family.  

They may well do, but I would say that is a self-inflicted problem. The government cannot force people to be financially responsible, that is down to the individual. 

MWT

MattMattMattUK said:

They may well do, but I would say that is a self-inflicted problem. The government cannot force people to be financially responsible, that is down to the individual. 

Sadly I have to agree, this will be only one of many poor financial choices that many will have been making, but you can't fix it by changing how the money is paid, if they are determined enough they will find a way around the system.

I'd rather make sure that the money is there to be used appropriately by those who want to do so, than try to change the system in a futile attempt to prevent those determined to do otherwise...

GeorgianaCavendish

Does anyone know what happens in the (admittedly rare) situation where the customer's direct debit and usage are set below £67 a month? 

MWT

GeorgianaCavendish said:

Does anyone know what happens in the (admittedly rare) situation where the customer's direct debit and usage are set below £67 a month? 

The current expectation is a 'refund' to the customers bank for the difference...

Mstty

I hope Eon Next give us the option to keep our fixed DD the same and just have the £66.6x.

I guess we can always sent a manual payment into the account if they insist on refunding it for the six months.

Mobtr

It’s a crazy situation. All those who’s direct debit doesn’t cover their usage now will be in the same situation if it’s deducted from their payments or refunded. It’s fair enough for those who are paying enough but don’t understand why it’s being done like this 

Spoonie_Turtle

Mobtr said:

It’s a crazy situation. All those who’s direct debit doesn’t cover their usage now will be in the same situation if it’s deducted from their payments or refunded. It’s fair enough for those who are paying enough but don’t understand why it’s being done like this 

It means they will have to put up their DD by £66/67 less than they would have done without the assistance.  Without it they'd be having to put it up even more. 

Or, if people still can't pay enough to cover their usage, they'll be in less debt than they otherwise would have been.

MWT

Mobtr said:

It’s a crazy situation. All those who’s direct debit doesn’t cover their usage now will be in the same situation if it’s deducted from their payments or refunded. It’s fair enough for those who are paying enough but don’t understand why it’s being done like this 

It is far easier to allow the suppliers systems to do what they are supposed to do already, which is set the DD level according to the estimated use, and then treat the Government support as a part payment of that DD.

If the customers have resisted the changes to the DD and reduced them then they just have to increase the DD by the £66/67 and the money will stay in their account to top up the incorrect DD amount that they were paying...

It would be 'crazy' to predicate the handling of this payment on the assumption that everyone was already under-paying...

There may still be some wrinkles in the system, such as only deducting the £66/67 from the DD if the account is in credit for example, but honestly, I'm not expecting this to be made any more complicated than it has to be given this is a novel delivery method being rolled out to a lot of different suppliers...