Standing Order means lower bills.

lsur02

If you pay energy bills by Direct Debit, change to paying by Standing Order. You then control how much you pay monthly and can change this as you usage changes every few weeks.
Get the company's sort code, account number and your customer reference.
Companies are taking advantage of the Direct Debit system. Standing Orders give you control over payments.
I have done this for 5 months with Bulb with no problems. Look into it to reduce payments!

jimexbox

Variable DD is fine as long as you factor in the energy price increase in October and January, and winter usage. Then save sufficient to cover the massive increase in monthly DD amounts. 

Sea_Shell

Well that's a misleading title if ever I saw one!!

With most suppliers, paying "other" than by DD will actually increase your bills.  

You may be getting what you perceive to be "cheaper" bills at the moment....it's still summer, so come back in February and let us know how it's working out for you then.

MWT

The payments you make are not the bills, and as Sea_Shell has explained, changing from DD to any other form of payment with most (...but not all) suppliers will result in increased bills, not lower...

Astria

Variable DDs are so much more flexible, they bill me the exact amount and they take that exact amount from my bank account. I don't have to worry about whether I'm paying too much or too little like you would with standing orders. Like others have said, DD is cheaper too.

Sea_Shell

MWT said:

The payments you make are not the bills, and as Sea_Shell has explained, changing from DD to any other form of payment with most (...but not all) suppliers will result in increased bills, not lower...

And for those (few) suppliers who don't charge more for non DD, at best it will be exactly the same ...not "cheaper"!

[Deleted User]

There is a deal of confusion within this forum - and in the wider Press - about energy payments. In most cases, payments made monthly DD or by standing order are payments on account from which charges for actual energy consumed are deducted. The exceptions being variable DD payments and other payments such as cash etc on the presentation of a bill: these are payments in full.

Paying by DD or standing order can lead to lower charges. 

Put simply, what I am challenging is the implication in your post that paying by standing order reduces payments (read: from title 'lower bills'.) It patently doesn't do that as any under/over payment will remain on the account as a debit/credit balance. What it might offer is more control of your monthly outgoings which is fine if you are particularly adept at managing your home budget.

Alnat1

Most energy suppliers discount the rates for people who pay by DD, usually by around 5-7%, because it's the method that requires the least admin. Fixed or Variable DD both get the discounted rate.

Paying by standing order, cash or cheque is likely to result in your rates increasing and higher bills. Before yelling it's cheaper, check the rates you are being charged haven't gone up.

Section62

If you pay by SO you'll miss out on DD cashback from Santander's 123 accounts. (normally worth 2% for energy bills)

dunstonh

The thread title is complete rubbish.

If you pay energy bills by Direct Debit, change to paying by Standing Order. You then control how much you pay monthly and can change this as you usage changes every few weeks.

You can change your direct debit just as easily.

Companies are taking advantage of the Direct Debit system. Standing Orders give you control over payments.

Most consumers have the same control over their direct debit.

I have done this for 5 months with Bulb with no problems. Look into it to reduce payments!

Alternatively, you can log into bulb and press the "change payments" button and enter the amount.  

pochase

Your payments, if by direct debt or standing order, are not bills, they are just payments into your account, creating a credit, or in case of variable direct debit and all forms of pay per bill paying the complete bill.

The rates used for the real bill depend on what form of payment you chose, for direct debit (fixed or variable) you get a 5% to 7% discount for most suppliers. Octopus for example does not have different rates depending on the form of payment, but most suppliers do.

So you are just reducing your upfront payment, but you are increasing what you pay for your energy by 5% to 7% at Bulb. Also as it seems you are only trying to pay for what you believe you used, you will have very high bills in winter.

The fixed direct debit evens your payments out, you will pay more in summer than you use, and less in winter than you use. You are paying the average usage per month over a 12 month period. If you are now in summer are not paying what is needed, you will have to pay mor elater.

If you really want more control, use variable direct debit if your supplier supports it (Bulb does). You are only paying what you used for the last month giving a monthly meter reading. But beware, you are setting yourself up for the high winter payments, same as you are doing now by a changing standing order.