Should i still pay by DD or pay bill normallywhen it comes in.

Barney15c

Is the cost that much higher  paying when the bill comes in  rather than DD.
The thought mortifies me that my energy provider can just take whaking amounts out of my account at will.
If more people did this than pay by DD  would it make the energy companies  think different, we are after all effectively giving them interest free loans.

TheMilkmansDad

Depending on your supplier, you can ask to go on Variable DD. You'll need to be able to mange larger bills in the winter to endure you can pay.

pochase

It's a 7% difference to not use the direct debit account. I don't think you can earn this much in interest.

 Otherwise as per @TheMilkmansDad pay by variable direct debit if you supplier allows it. You will need to call them/chat  with them to check.

macman

Depends on tariff. Some require DD payment, some surcharge you for quarterly billing. They can' just take it 'at will'. They have to advise you if they want to change your DD, and if they do so without prior notification then under the DD guarantee the bank must refund you on request.

jimjames

Barney15c said:

Is the cost that much higher  paying when the bill comes in  rather than DD.
The thought mortifies me that my energy provider can just take whaking amounts out of my account at will.

They can't just take amounts at will and if they do you can get them refunded. They have to tell you the amount in advance which you can dispute. EDF repeatedly assured me that a DD would not be taken, it was regardless but the bank refunded the same day.

7Phil

DD-only tariffs are the cheapest ones and the ways they can make them cheap are via things like, as you say, money being paid in advance. Customers that are less mindful of their balances can also build up large credits unwittingly.
They can also save money on payment processing, eg: not having to pay someone to take payments and a reduction in the number of overdue debts. I'm sure there are loads of other reasons why this payment model makes for a cheaper tariff.

If you prefer to pay your bill the regular way and in arrears, then you will most likely exclude yourself from the cheapest tariffs depending on your supplier.

pochase

7Phil said:

DD-only tariffs are the cheapest ones and the ways they can make them cheap are via things like, as you say, money being paid in advance. Customers that are less mindful of their balances can also build up large credits unwittingly.
They can also save money on payment processing, eg: not having to pay someone to take payments and a reduction in the number of overdue debts. I'm sure there are loads of other reasons why this payment model makes for a cheaper tariff.

If you prefer to pay your bill the regular way and in arrears, then you will most likely exclude yourself from the cheapest tariffs depending on your supplier.

That is not completely really true, you can pay by variable direct debit, which is one month in arears and you get the direct debit discount.

Main reason is less administration as they are "asking" for the money and it goes directly into the correct account, so it is less cost. 

[Deleted User]

Barney15c said:

Is the cost that much higher  paying when the bill comes in  rather than DD.
The thought mortifies me that my energy provider can just take whaking amounts out of my account at will.
If more people did this than pay by DD  would it make the energy companies  think different, we are after all effectively giving them interest free loans.

They are paying their wholesalers in advance of supply. I just make sure that there is a credit balance at the start of the month which is enough to pay the following month’s bill in FULL, and I play tunes on my supplier’s DD adjuster. If my maths are off, I just make a top up. The supplier hasn’t cried foul: YET. My ‘system’ does require me to monitor my usage cost closely which I do via the BRIGHT App.

Flight3287462

Just now is the time to starting to build a credit balance things are only going to get worse and if French and German year ahead prices are anything to go by a lot worse.