Refund on electric bill

adrian5517

I presently pay 76 pounds a month for my electric bill I am 213.78 in credit I contacted them for a refund and have been told they Will decide within 7-10 days I have since contacted then to find out and have 
been refused a refund but I had no notification of this another direct debit is due to go out on the 1st of august and at the moment I owe them 48 pounds in electricity and a direct debit which is 76 pounds will more than cover that I have contacted them again this morning and have been told I will have to wait another 7 to 10 days for a decision am fuming that they are holding on to my money please can you advise me on the next step ultimately I am un happy with Sse and have been with them for years thanks 

Aylesbury_Duck

Change supplier, if you're unhappy with SSE.

It sounds like they're trying to encourage you to build up a credit balance in advance of a) higher consumption as we move into autumn and winter, and b) because unless you're on a fixed rate, the unit cost is going to rise significantly in October as well.

pochase

To be £214 in credit by the end of August is not a lot, even for a low user.

Are you heating with gas or electricity? 

You are aware that energy cost is going up by expected 82% in October, and might go up by another 40% in January.

So £48 in a summer month will become £75 in October, and £100 by January, And that is if you are also having gas or other fuel for heating. If you use electricity it will look much worse.

Ofgem has agreed a few days ago that suppliers can already today increase debit orders based on the predications for the cap increase, so they can also withhold balances back that they believe to be required for during that time.

[Deleted User]

adrian5517 said:

I presently pay 76 pounds a month for my electric bill I am 213.78 in credit I contacted them for a refund and have been told they Will decide within 7-10 days I have since contacted then to find out and have 
been refused a refund but I had no notification of this another direct debit is due to go out on the 1st of august and at the moment I owe them 48 pounds in electricity and a direct debit which is 76 pounds will more than cover that I have contacted them again this morning and have been told I will have to wait another 7 to 10 days for a decision am fuming that they are holding on to my money please can you advise me on the next step ultimately I am un happy with Sse and have been with them for years thanks 

If SSE was to agree to your request for a refund, then by return of post, they would increase your monthly DD payment.

A credit at this time of the year is normal. We are about to enter into the Autumn/Winter period with a potential increase in the Cap of 80% in 5 weeks time - with a further increase expected in January 2023. 

What tariff are you on (standing charge/unit price) and how much is your annual usage in kWh/year? Is the £223.78 credit based on an actual meter reading?

adrian5517

Thanks for your comments I agree the electric will be increasing how ever it’s the gas usage that changes I use pretty much the same electricity and do not use a tumble dryer the credit is by smart meter so is acurate as of today if needed at a later date I will increase my direct debit but if they are doing this to every customer they are making even. More money out off us 

adrian5517

I’m really in happy that they didn’t give inform me that there will be no refund am also wanted to change from sse so would like what they owe me back 

TheMilkmansDad

adrian5517 said:

I’m really in happy that they didn’t give inform me that there will be no refund am also wanted to change from sse so would like what they owe me back 

Once you change suppliers you will get your credit back. you do not get the credit back 1st.

pochase

The moment you leave them you will get a final bill and get you money back.

Only problem is there are not many suppliers that accept new customers. I am only aware of EDF and Octopus that might accept you if you call them, maybe repeatedly.

Aylesbury_Duck

adrian5517 said:

Thanks for your comments I agree the electric will be increasing how ever it’s the gas usage that changes I use pretty much the same electricity and do not use a tumble dryer the credit is by smart meter so is acurate as of today if needed at a later date I will increase my direct debit but if they are doing this to every customer they are making even. More money out off us 

I doubt they are.  Profits for utility companies are currently limited, and if it was such a profitable industry, why have so many energy suppliers gone to the wall in recent times?

What they are almost certainly doing is trying to help customers budget, by smoothing out expenditure as much as possible.  Even if you consume no more electricity for September to December as you did in the same period last year, the cost of that electricity will be much higher this coming autumn/winter, so your current DD amount will probably not cover it.

Neil_Jones

adrian5517 said:

I’m really in happy that they didn’t give inform me that there will be no refund am also wanted to change from sse so would like what they owe me back 

Doesn't work like that.

You pick another provider, sign up, go through the whole 4-6 week switching process, give some meter readings to the new provider, they get validated, passed to the old provider, who generate your final bill and then you get back the balance.

Astria

adrian5517 said:

Thanks for your comments I agree the electric will be increasing how ever it’s the gas usage that changes I use pretty much the same electricity and do not use a tumble dryer the credit is by smart meter so is acurate as of today if needed at a later date I will increase my direct debit but if they are doing this to every customer they are making even. More money out off us 

If you don't like a balance sitting in your energy providers account then you can typically request a variable direct debit instead of a budget direct debit, but of course this means vastly higher bills in winter and smaller bills in summer.

Good luck changing from SSE though, as not many companies are accepting customers at the moment unless you sign up to an expensive fixed rate.