British Gas explanation of how the EBSS scheme will work

Sea_Shell

Ultrasonic said:

Just to add, if customers didn't end up paying less to energy companies than they otherwise would have then the government scheme wouldn't actually have helped anyone with the immediate issue. 

So what is the immediate issue?

High direct debits, or high bills?

As we know, your DD isn't your bill.

It may give people a lower DD payment temporarily, but the massive bill remains, unless the credit remains within your energy account and not paid out as cash.

Ultrasonic

Sea_Shell said:

Ultrasonic said:

Just to add, if customers didn't end up paying less to energy companies than they otherwise would have then the government scheme wouldn't actually have helped anyone with the immediate issue. 

So what is the immediate issue?

High direct debits, or high bills?

As we know, your DD isn't your bill.

It may give people a lower DD payment temporarily, but the massive bill remains, unless the credit remains within your energy account and not paid out as cash.

I'm afraid you still seem to be misunderstanding this - the higher DD/bills are still being paid, it's just that £66 of them is being paid by the government. That's the point.

(No DDs and bills are not the same thing but they should roughly line up and the distinction isn't relevant here.)

Ultrasonic

Sea_Shell said:

It's going to be a very small % of households who only have an annual bill of £780, after October! ☹️

Absolutely. But where this exchange started was for the small group of people who do. Specifically why the difference between their DD amounts and £66 is credited to their energy accounts rather than their bank accounts. 

Section62

Ultrasonic said:

Sea_Shell said:

Ultrasonic said:

Just to add, if customers didn't end up paying less to energy companies than they otherwise would have then the government scheme wouldn't actually have helped anyone with the immediate issue. 

So what is the immediate issue?

High direct debits, or high bills?

As we know, your DD isn't your bill.

It may give people a lower DD payment temporarily, but the massive bill remains, unless the credit remains within your energy account and not paid out as cash.

I'm afraid you still seem to be misunderstanding this - the higher DD/bills are still being paid, it's just that £66 of them is being paid by the government. That's the point.

The BiB only holds true if the DD has been reviewed and increased to reflect the October prices... otherwise people's net payments into their (electricity) energy account stay the same as the current (lower) amounts.

The examples being given (here and on the supplier's websites) imply that the total added to the energy account each month stays the same, and doesn't go up from October.

It would be better if the worked examples showed an increase in the total to be paid (reflecting the cap increase)... but as the simple version will be as clear as mud to a lot of people, I can understand why the energy co's/government wouldn't want to complicate the examples further.

Sea_Shell

So in my example, explain how customer 1 is in the same position as customer 3, if they've spent their £66 rebate on, say, a meal out?

Customer 1 has an energy balance of £166, customer 3 has a balance of £100.

Ultrasonic

Section62 said:

Ultrasonic said:

I'm afraid you still seem to be misunderstanding this - the higher DD/bills are still being paid, it's just that £66 of them is being paid by the government. That's the point.

The BiB only holds true if the DD has been reviewed and increased to reflect the October prices... 

Agreed. Which is absolutely what should happen and you're right to infer that I'm coming from the perspective that this will happen.

Ultrasonic

Sea_Shell said:

So in my example, explain how customer 1 is in the same position as customer 3, if they've spent their £66 rebate on, say, a meal out?

Customer 1 has an energy balance of £166, customer 3 has a balance of £100.

Your customer 3 example isn't happening.

Sea_Shell

Ultrasonic said:

Sea_Shell said:

So in my example, explain how customer 1 is in the same position as customer 3, if they've spent their £66 rebate on, say, a meal out?

Customer 1 has an energy balance of £166, customer 3 has a balance of £100.

Your customer 3 example isn't happening.

Sadly IMO

But you could put yourself in the position of customer 3 IF you made a one off payment "back" to your supplier of £66.

Ultrasonic

For all those who have signed up to fixed tariffs recently they will already be paying higher DDs of course, although not quite as high as the October SVT will likely indicate.

pochase

Sea_Shell said:

It's going to be a very small % of households who only have an annual bill of £780, after October! ☹️

Maybe more than you think. Don't forget we are talking electricity only here.

There are those who have gas with another supplier, or use different fuel for heating. You still would need to have below 1500KWh electrify usage to qualify.