Scottish Power Direct Debit hike!

RussellR7777

I received an email from Scottish Power saying they were increasing my direct debit (even though my account is currently in credit and I’ve never missed a payment). I decided to reduce the direct debit back to my current level with a view to making ad hoc payments as required to maintain my account. Went online, amended the direct debit amount and then get a message saying in order to do this, I have to make a one off payment of almost £450! Remember, I am already in credit! I went onto their online chat … came off after waiting over 10 minutes. E mailed to say if they do not revert my direct debit to its current amount, I will cancel my Direct Debit and revert to paying my bill quarterly. Just had an email back saying they will not respond by email! Surely the idea of direct debit is that I control how much goes out of my bank account!

daveyjp

The only calculation is whether the new dd is enough to cover your use for the next 12 months.

You suggest it isn't when you say you want to top up as necessary.  Your contract may not allow for this, hence the need for a lump sum payment now.

Most monthly dd accounts should be in credit at this time of year to cover the increase in consumption over winter.

lisyloo

If you want their “budget” system then they decide how much it is.
personally I think in general suppliers set it too high.
they expect you to be quite a bit in credit right now as you’ve had low usage months all summer, so their expectation of credit level seem higher than yours (I think they are wrong and do it too much in their favour).
if you go cash/cheque then you won’t get DD discount.
I would ask about variable DD where you pay for the whole of you bill.
you do need to be aware though that your bills will be a lot higher in winter.
if you can manage the variation then that’s the way to go.
I agree they set it too high and also don’t appear to be factoring in the £400 we’re getting.

MWT

RussellR7777 said:

Surely the idea of direct debit is that I control how much goes out of my bank account!

Actually no, the point of Direct Debit is that the supplier controls what goes out of your account, but they do have to tell you before they make a change, as they have done.

Also keep in mind that if you cancel the DD it may put you onto a higher cost tariff as you pay more for a credit account than you do for one paid in advance by DD.

There have been a few similar posts from SP customers and for the most part the calculations they are using didn't seem unreasonable, but if you want help with this, please post your actual annual use, not an estimate, and your tariff details.

pochase

If you cancel your direct debit, your unit rates will be around 7% more expensive as you no longer receive the direct debit discount.

You could go for a variable direct debit instead.

dunstonh

I received an email from Scottish Power saying they were increasing my direct debit (even though my account is currently in credit and I’ve never missed a payment). 

Hopefully you would be in credit over the summer but from recent posts, it appears many people are not in credit by as much as they think they need to be.

I decided to reduce the direct debit back to my current level with a view to making ad hoc payments as required to maintain my account. Went online, amended the direct debit amount and then get a message saying in order to do this, I have to make a one off payment of almost £450! 

This sounds like you are under estimating your annual usage and the increase in costs.

Remember, I am already in credit! 

That in itself is irrelevant.   It only has relevance if we knew how much your annual use is and if the amount is correct to where you should be.

E mailed to say if they do not revert my direct debit to its current amount, I will cancel my Direct Debit and revert to paying my bill quarterly. Just had an email back saying they will not respond by email! Surely the idea of direct debit is that I control how much goes out of my bank account!

That could cost you more if Scottish Power are on that charges extra if you do not pay by direct debit.  Plus, some suppliers require you to pay your estimated energy in advance.    

The idea of direct debit is that the supplier is in control and it should aim to average out your usage over 12 months.   

So, the questions we have are:
What is your annual usage in kW/kWh?
What is the current amount of your direct debit?
What is the amount of your credit?

If you can answer those, we can see whether you are where you think you are or whether its Scottish Power that are right.

Ultrasonic

What tariff are you on? For most energy prices are increasing in October which in itself would be a reason for DD amounts to increase.

Note that over the next 6 months you'll be getting government support of £66/67 per month too, which will either temporarily reduce DD amounts actually taken or you'll get this amount refunded. 

Hedgepigs

lisyloo said:

...
I agree they set it too high and also don’t appear to be factoring in the £400 we’re getting.

Scottish Power are taking the full DD then refunding the £60-odd back, so no, their calculations are correctly in this case not taking into account the £400

lisyloo

Hedgepigs said:

lisyloo said:

...
I agree they set it too high and also don’t appear to be factoring in the £400 we’re getting.

Scottish Power are taking the full DD then refunding the £60-odd back, so no, their calculations are correctly in this case not taking into account the £400

Thanks, I hadn’t realised that would deducted from DDs.

Ultrasonic

Hedgepigs said:

lisyloo said:

...
I agree they set it too high and also don’t appear to be factoring in the £400 we’re getting.

Scottish Power are taking the full DD then refunding the £60-odd back, so no, their calculations are correctly in this case not taking into account the £400

Oh that's good to read - I'm an SP customer and I'll get more Santander 123 cashback this way  .

molerat

lisyloo said:

Hedgepigs said:

lisyloo said:

...
I agree they set it too high and also don’t appear to be factoring in the £400 we’re getting.

Scottish Power are taking the full DD then refunding the £60-odd back, so no, their calculations are correctly in this case not taking into account the £400

Thanks, I hadn’t realised that would deducted from DDs.

That seems to be the misunderstanding of a large portion of the population. For the vast majority of suppliers the £400 should be completely ignored and the DD set as if it didn't  exist.  The £400 will then be returned to the customer's bank account either by an automatic reduction in the correctly set DD or by a refund direct to the bank account.