Everyone paying for utilities on direct debit should check if they have overpaid now!

Jackalynann

My 90-year-old mum has all her bills on direct debit. With all the hype about electricity and gas prices increasing, I decided to check what she was paying. To my horror, I discovered she had nearly 300 credit in her gas and electricity as SSE had grossly overestimated her consumption and increased the direct debit in line with that. SSE promptly actioned her account move to OVO rather than refund the money. That was how we discovered SSE was changing everyone over to OVO. That meant a delay. Mum asked OVO for a refund. Then there was an email saying due to their recommendations they were sending 64.50 to her account and NOT the over 200 she was expecting. I rang them and explained we did not want them to keep anything in hand as they had already set the direct debit based on SSE's over-estimation. The person on the end of the phone apologised and refunded the entire amount. She was, however, unable to change the direct debit so mum and I will keep an eye on her consumption and demand her money back - unless Mum wants to stop the direct debit and pay quarterly.


I am now watching both accounts carefully. Mum is 90 and not really capable of using apps and checking her account online, but has me to do it for her. Please check your own account with whatever utility companies you use, and also and especially that of any older relatives. 

Part of the problem was that at 90 Mum had wondered what the funny gadget in her kitchen was for and unplugged her Smart Meter - even so, I think they were overcharging on the direct debit. 

lisyloo

Firstly it's normally to be in credit before the winter if you're on a fixed "budget" type DD.

The other option which may suit is to pay the bills by DD on a variable basis and just pay for what you use.
This means there will be no credit and you still get DD discount.
Bills will of course be much higher in winter.
Personally I prefer this.
Most companies offer this option (there may be one or two that don't) so why not ask them for a variable Direct debit?

GrumpyDil

That funny thing in the kitchen is the in house display (IHD) rather than the smart meter. No need to keep it plugged in as it will not affect the readings being sent to the supplier.

As regards the credit the way electricity companies are required to work is to build up credit during the warmer weather when you use less energy to cushion the impact of using more energy as we get into the colder season. The idea is to stop customers building up charges which they may then struggle to pay.

So your mum was not really overpaying but rather building up a credit balance during the warmer months to make it easier to pay for the colder months. 

GingerTim

Indeed, and £300 isn't a huge amount to be in credit when going in to the winter.

Jackalynann

Actually, given the direct debit is still too high it is a great deal of money to someone on a pension. 

Jackalynann

And we have done this before and mum had never underpaid, and her usage currently will not reach the 159 they are trying to take on direct debit. I have been checking daily and her usage is way below that amount.

Variable direct debit was not offered when I asked. You should be able to pay for what you use when you use it and so we will be doing this.

MattMattMattUK

Jackalynann said:

Actually, given the direct debit is still too high it is a great deal of money to someone on a pension. 

On that basis, how would you feel, having potentially got the numbers wrong and not understanding the way the system operates, if she receives an additional £300 bill early next year when the Direct Debit payments do not cover the winter usage?

The monthly Direct Debit will be set to cover slightly over 1/12 of the predicted annual usage, in most cases this will be based on the previous year's usage, with the amount revised to account for cost increases. It is therefore normal to accumulate credit during warmer months and run this down during colder months, £300 credit at this point in the year sounds on the low side for the majority of people.

If you would like someone to check then post the annual usage figures, these are on the bottom of her bills, as well as the tariff, and Direct Debit amount and we can calculate how the figures would work out over the course of a year.

Jackalynann

Nobody is getting the point there was a huge overestimation. Or that I know what a smart meter does but a 90 year old may not understand it.  Mum will be in credit again this month because they could not reduce the direct debit. This again will build up. 

MattMattMattUK

Jackalynann said:

Nobody is getting the point there was a huge overestimation. Or that I know what a smart meter does but a 90 year old may not understand it.  Mum will be in credit again this month because they could not reduce the direct debit. This again will build up. 

If there was a "huge overestimation" then the credit would be far larger than £300, which is entirely reasonable for this time of year on the budget Direct Debit option.

GrumpyDil

If you are happy with the position and are certain that your mother will have the money to pay a larger bill if she ramps up usage over the winter then that's fine but for a lot of people having a small credit balance going into winter might mean they will struggle to pay the larger winter bills.

I know I am happy that my mother in law (85) is carrying a decent credit balance into winter as she will ramp up her heating when the cold weather hits and would find the larger bills harder to pay.

[Deleted User]

ackalynann said:

To my horror, I discovered she had nearly 300 credit in her gas and electricity as SSE had grossly overestimated her consumption and increased the direct debit in line with that.

Hi,

you go on about overestimation, have you checked online account to see if supplier is actually receiving smart meter readings?