Standing Order means lower bills.

lsur02

[Deleted User] said:

There's nothing wrong with you choosing to do things that way.

My salary is the same each month, my other outgoings are similar each month, and I don't really fancy having my payment to the energy supplier quadrupling in the winter.

Leave off with the comments about people who disagree just not knowing enough though - there are many knowledgeable people come on here to help others and it's offensive for you to essentially be accusing them of being corporate shills.

That's a complete misrepresentation of what I have said! Obviously a site like this has absolutely no readers or contributers from the energy industries. Why would multi-billion pound businesses ever want to influence public opinion, particularly on a site so few readers? Strange thing to suggest.

Section62

lsur02 said:

pochase said:

Maybe you can just tell us what your annual usage is, and what the DD is set to?

I don't have the yearly figure to hand. I am being charged twice as much as for what I currently use by Bulbs DD minimum.

You aren't being "charged" twice as much.  Posters have tried explaining this to you countless times.

You are charged for the amount of energy you actually use.

You pay a direct debit amount which should be calculated to ensure your energy account has enough in it to pay for the energy you use over the course of a year.

If more money has been direct debited than is required to pay for energy, that money is still yours.  And in many cases if you want it back you can just ask for it to be returned to your bank account.

Your thread title is misleading and by continuing to make claims such as "I am being charged twice as much..." you are risking spreading misinformation which could.lead others into making very poor choices about the way they pay for their energy.

lsur02

Section62 said:

If more money has been direct debited than is required to pay for energy, that money is still yours.  And in many cases if you want it back you can just ask for it to be returned to your bank account.

Your thread title is misleading and by continuing to make claims such as "I am being charged twice as much..." you are risking spreading misinformation which could.lead others into making very poor choices about the way they pay for their energy.

I still have to ask for it and notall companies are straight forward in the repayment. 

The title is perfectly good. A bill is what one is being charged, in this case on a monthly basis.  The DD has a minimum amount and Bulb do not allow any lower figure to be set.  The current figure is twice what I am using based on meter readings and Bulb's own monthly statement to me.  By using SO, I pay what I use not the double sum they take.

[Deleted User]

lsur02 said:

Section62 said:

If more money has been direct debited than is required to pay for energy, that money is still yours.  And in many cases if you want it back you can just ask for it to be returned to your bank account.

Your thread title is misleading and by continuing to make claims such as "I am being charged twice as much..." you are risking spreading misinformation which could.lead others into making very poor choices about the way they pay for their energy.

I still have to ask for it and notall companies are straight forward in the repayment. 

The title is perfectly good. A bill is what one is being charged, in this case on a monthly basis.  The DD has a minimum amount and Bulb do not allow any lower figure to be set.  The current figure is twice what I am using based on meter readings and Bulb's own monthly statement to me.  By using SO, I pay what I use not the double sum they take.

And are you going to compensate people with other suppliers who read your title and then get charged 5-7% more because they cancelled their DD?

RobM99

With a smart meter, what's wrong with paying as-you-go each month? You can't get "overcharged" then. (Note electricity pun).

lsur02

A couple of points here regarding the direct debit calculations.

They are based on the estimated use over the coming year.  This is invariably on the high side even under normal circumstances but will be even higher given the huge increase in the price cap. 

The companies are using the price cap not as a maximum for those using using that amount or more, but more as a minimum figure for all of us. DD levels will reflect this and continue to rise way above actual usage.  They will never be reduced.

Many pople cannot pay based on the year's estimate as they are struggling to pay here and now.  Pensioners, low income families. claimants and so on cannot pay the excessive DD in the hope that they will save 5% in a year's time.

The whole system is the result of failure by Tory 'sell off public assets for private profit'. philosophy, from M. Thatcher on, and we are now paying the price.

Pay by SO and you 'take back control' of your monthly expenses.  A year is too long to wait to save 5%!

MattMattMattUK

lsur02 said:

Section62 said:

If more money has been direct debited than is required to pay for energy, that money is still yours.  And in many cases if you want it back you can just ask for it to be returned to your bank account.

Your thread title is misleading and by continuing to make claims such as "I am being charged twice as much..." you are risking spreading misinformation which could.lead others into making very poor choices about the way they pay for their energy.

I still have to ask for it and notall companies are straight forward in the repayment. 

If you have a credit you can ask for it. All the energy providers are relatively straightforward, the only time they will generally now allow a credit refund is when the Direct Debit payments are lower than current usage and repaying the credit would mean the customer would be in debt after the next bill.

lsur02 said: 

The title is perfectly good.

The title is factually incorrect. 

lsur02 said:
A bill is what one is being charged, in this case on a monthly basis.  

No it is not. You do not get to redefine a term, then claim everyone else is wrong because they do not agree with your redefinition. 

lsur02 said:
The DD has a minimum amount and Bulb do not allow any lower figure to be set.  

You keep saying this, but provide no specifics. Bulb make no mention of "minimum Direct Debit" payments. They do say that if you want to pay by fixed Direct Debit then it needs to be reflective of annual usage, or you can opt to use a variable Direct Debit and pay your bill in full every month.

lsur02 said:
The current figure is twice what I am using based on meter readings and Bulb's own monthly statement to me.  

You have previously said you don't know what your energy usage is, so which is it, you either know, in which case it will be on your bill and you can tell us the figures, or you do not, in which case you do not know if you are correct or not.

lsur02 said:
By using SO, I pay what I use not the double sum they take.

You have said you do not know what you use, so how can you be sure?

QrizB

lsur02 said:

 The title is perfectly good. A bill is what one is being charged, in this case on a monthly basis.

At the risk of fuelling this binfire of a thread even further, your bill is not your payment.

Fixed monthly DD is a payment plan where you pay 1/12th of your estimated annual bill every month. In summer months this payment will be greater than the cost of the energy you have used, in winter months it will be less.

Many people prefer this payment method as it avoids having to pay large winter bills in Dec/Jan/Feb when there are other seasonal expenses to meet.

jimexbox

lsur02 said:

Section62 said:

If more money has been direct debited than is required to pay for energy, that money is still yours.  And in many cases if you want it back you can just ask for it to be returned to your bank account.

Your thread title is misleading and by continuing to make claims such as "I am being charged twice as much..." you are risking spreading misinformation which could.lead others into making very poor choices about the way they pay for their energy.

I still have to ask for it and notall companies are straight forward in the repayment. 

The title is perfectly good. A bill is what one is being charged, in this case on a monthly basis.  The DD has a minimum amount and Bulb do not allow any lower figure to be set.  The current figure is twice what I am using based on meter readings and Bulb's own monthly statement to me.  By using SO, I pay what I use not the double sum they take.

Have you not checked last years usage, so you can work out your own DD? When you get to May or whenever your account review is, your balance should be close to zero. The DD is just about smoothing the peaks and troughs of usage. 

Your idea is great in the summer, not so in the winter when normal usage is massively increased. 

Hopefully you're saving for the winter. 

pochase

lsur02 said:

A couple of points here regarding the direct debit calculations.

They are based on the estimated use over the coming year.  This is invariably on the high side even under normal circumstances but will be even higher given the huge increase in the price cap. 

The companies are using the price cap not as a maximum for those using using that amount or more, but more as a minimum figure for all of us. DD levels will reflect this and continue to rise way above actual usage.  They will never be reduced.

Many pople cannot pay based on the year's estimate as they are struggling to pay here and now.  Pensioners, low income families. claimants and so on cannot pay the excessive DD in the hope that they will save 5% in a year's time.

The whole system is the result of failure by Tory 'sell off public assets for private profit'. philosophy, from M. Thatcher on, and we are now paying the price.

Pay by SO and you 'take back control' of your monthly expenses.  A year is too long to wait to save 5%!

Yes the direct debit orders are based on the estimated usage for the next 12 months. So what is their estimated use for you?

The estimated usage does not increase, just the direct debit based on the unit rates. Their estimates for you are based on the current rates, but as you realise there is an increase of 80% on the 1st of October, and potentially the next one of 50% in January.

Do you have meter readings that are 12 months apart? And what is the direct debit they were suggesting for you?