The £400 discount

Mr_Spoon

I'm currently lucky enough on a fixed legacy deal until Sep 2023 and my direct debut is enough to cover my usage. Therefore, by the time March comes I should be £400 in credit thanks to this payment. Can I then just claim it as a refund to my bank account as cash or does it need to remain with the energy company to be used for energy? I know I could lower my DD to skin the cat a different way but would rather just leave my DD as is (and not have to deal with Eon customer services).

MattMattMattUK

Mr_Spoon said:

I'm currently lucky enough on a fixed legacy deal until Sep 2023 and my direct debut is enough to cover my usage. Therefore, by the time March comes I should be £400 in credit thanks to this payment.

Likely you will not be as the way this payment is being managed is that the monthly Direct Debit you pay is reduced, but the amount is credited to your account. So if you have monthly payments of £200 per month, they will be reduced to £134/133 pcm, but your account will still show a £200 credit each month.

Mr_Spoon said:

Can I then just claim it as a refund to my bank account as cash or does it need to remain with the energy company to be used for energy? 

You can claim attempt to claim a refund of a large credit at any point, but generally they will not let you claim a refund if you have less credit than one months payment, unless you switch to variable direct debit. Even with a fix until 09/2023 I would generally leave the money on the account because your rise in a year's time is going to be significant. 

Mr_Spoon said:

I know I could lower my DD to skin the cat a different way but would rather just leave my DD as is (and not have to deal with Eon customer services).

If I were you I would leave the Direct Debit as well as any credit you build up in anticipation that your unit rates will double or more in September next year. 

Mr_Spoon

MattMattMattUK said:

Mr_Spoon said:

I'm currently lucky enough on a fixed legacy deal until Sep 2023 and my direct debut is enough to cover my usage. Therefore, by the time March comes I should be £400 in credit thanks to this payment.

Likely you will not be as the way this payment is being managed is that the monthly Direct Debit you pay is reduced, but the amount is credited to your account. So if you have monthly payments of £200 per month, they will be reduced to £134/133 pcm, but your account will still show a £200 credit each month.

Mr_Spoon said:

Can I then just claim it as a refund to my bank account as cash or does it need to remain with the energy company to be used for energy? 

You can claim attempt to claim a refund of a large credit at any point, but generally they will not let you claim a refund if you have less credit than one months payment, unless you switch to variable direct debit. Even with a fix until 09/2023 I would generally leave the money on the account because your rise in a year's time is going to be significant. 

Mr_Spoon said:

I know I could lower my DD to skin the cat a different way but would rather just leave my DD as is (and not have to deal with Eon customer services).

If I were you I would leave the Direct Debit as well as any credit you build up in anticipation that your unit rates will double or more in September next year. 

If it's automatically deducted from the monthly DD then fair enough, I can just save it myself. I take your point about building up credit for when I come off my fixed deal, and that's what I plan to do with it, but I might want to switch from my current provider so would rather have it in my own bank account than having to wait to get it back from them. I don't really believe in having my money sitting in energy companies bank accounts earning them interest.

littlemoney

Mr_Spoon said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Mr_Spoon said:

I'm currently lucky enough on a fixed legacy deal until Sep 2023 and my direct debut is enough to cover my usage. Therefore, by the time March comes I should be £400 in credit thanks to this payment.

Likely you will not be as the way this payment is being managed is that the monthly Direct Debit you pay is reduced, but the amount is credited to your account. So if you have monthly payments of £200 per month, they will be reduced to £134/133 pcm, but your account will still show a £200 credit each month.

Mr_Spoon said:

Can I then just claim it as a refund to my bank account as cash or does it need to remain with the energy company to be used for energy? 

You can claim attempt to claim a refund of a large credit at any point, but generally they will not let you claim a refund if you have less credit than one months payment, unless you switch to variable direct debit. Even with a fix until 09/2023 I would generally leave the money on the account because your rise in a year's time is going to be significant. 

Mr_Spoon said:

I know I could lower my DD to skin the cat a different way but would rather just leave my DD as is (and not have to deal with Eon customer services).

If I were you I would leave the Direct Debit as well as any credit you build up in anticipation that your unit rates will double or more in September next year. 

If it's automatically deducted from the monthly DD then fair enough, I can just save it myself. I take your point about building up credit for when I come off my fixed deal, and that's what I plan to do with it, but I might want to switch from my current provider so would rather have it in my own bank account than having to wait to get it back from them. I don't really believe in having my money sitting in energy companies bank accounts earning them interest.

My provider has sent me an email wanting to increase my direct debit. I am a little in debit and was going to increase my monthly payment. But with the government paying £400 to my energy provider I told them I wanted to keep my direct debit the same, as my current direct debit plus the £400 will cover my winter bills.

I would rather have my money in my account rather than with my energy provider. I spoke to customer services who confirm that the £400 had not been taken into account.

In the spring I had a refund from my energy provider as I had so much credit and my current contract expires mid 2023 and who knows what will be happening then so I'd rather not have a large credit balance and have problems getting my money back.

Chrysalis

Normally I would say it should just be added as credit, but knowing that the energy companies have a habit of building up credit on people's accounts, this system seems reasonable.

Robster88

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? 

That’s the (fortunate) situation I am currently in, however my fixed period is due to end March 2023 when the cost will jump significantly. 

I am hoping that I can keep my existing direct debit payment as is, and that the extra rebate will just be applied as credit in my account, however I have not seen anything that confirms whether this is the case. 

Has anyone seen anything that clarifies what happens in this situation? 

MWT

Robster88 said:

I am hoping that I can keep my existing direct debit payment as is, and that the extra rebate will just be applied as credit in my account, however I have not seen anything that confirms whether this is the case. 

Has anyone seen anything that clarifies what happens in this situation? 

The current expectation is that the residual amount would be refunded to your bank account each month...

The Government is trying to ensure that the £400 actually results in a reduction in your payments and doesn't just inflate account balances held by the suppliers, so they are going to have to show that they have not simply retained the Government money and kept your usual payment as well...

[Deleted User]

I think that Ofgem - sensibly for once - is also trying to negate the need for suppliers to carryout millions of DD reviews etc. The Government is just contributing towards the agreed monthly DD payment. If £66 a month is more than the agreed payment, then the balance will be refunded via the DD mechanism.

Robster88

Robster88 said:

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? 

That’s the (fortunate) situation I am currently in, however my fixed period is due to end March 2023 when the cost will jump significantly. 

I am hoping that I can keep my existing direct debit payment as is, and that the extra rebate will just be applied as credit in my account, however I have not seen anything that confirms whether this is the case. 

Has anyone seen anything that clarifies what happens in this situation? 

I’ve just had an email from Eon with more details about the discount payments. 

It says ‘If the £67 EBSS payment is greater than your monthly DD amount, we’ll put you on a ‘payment holiday’ until April 2023’. 

Does anyone know what this means exactly? As stated in my previous comment I’m currently on a fixed tariff that expires in March 2023, and so my DD bills are low (below the £67 payment amount). They will rocket however in April 2023. 

If I’m just put on a ‘payment holiday’ until April 2023 then I will miss out of a lot of the £400 discount. Can anyone confirm if that’s what they mean? 

[Deleted User]

Robster88 said:

Robster88 said:

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? 

That’s the (fortunate) situation I am currently in, however my fixed period is due to end March 2023 when the cost will jump significantly. 

I am hoping that I can keep my existing direct debit payment as is, and that the extra rebate will just be applied as credit in my account, however I have not seen anything that confirms whether this is the case. 

Has anyone seen anything that clarifies what happens in this situation? 

I’ve just had an email from Eon with more details about the discount payments. 

It says ‘If the £67 EBSS payment is greater than your monthly DD amount, we’ll put you on a ‘payment holiday’ until April 2023’. 

Does anyone know what this means exactly? As stated in my previous comment I’m currently on a fixed tariff that expires in March 2023, and so my DD bills are low (below the £67 payment amount). They will rocket however in April 2023. 

If I’m just put on a ‘payment holiday’ until April 2023 then I will miss out of a lot of the £400 discount. Can anyone confirm if that’s what they mean? 

Probably a poor explanation.  I've never seen any suggestion that someone would get less than the £400 payment unless the don't have a supply for some part of the six months.

Suppliers are reluctant to have (and some billing systems don't allow) a negative DD payment, so they probably mean that you will pay no DD but the full £400 will make its way onto your account.