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

lisyloo

maisie_cat said:

I manage my 86yo FIL's SSE account and it's easy to reduce the DD, he is £800 in credit gas & electric, for some reason they increased it quite recently but I simply reduced it.
His wife has just left hospital on end of life care and the house is like a sauna so he needs a decent sized credit to cover the winter period. A £300 credit is a good sized credit for winter but not huge.
Before we started to input regular readings the account was all over the place, but it's settled now the algorithm has some actual data to work with.

I tried to reduce my Dads bill to EDF to what it should be based on actual usage and actual tarriff.
They would not allow it.
I did reduce it but to a higher figure.

Just saying it's not always a "yes".

dunstonh

So, having read the thread from the start, it appears that the OP is using the summer credit figure as being an overpayment despite it being reasonable for the level of direct debit amount being paid.   The OP also shows a complete lack of understanding of how paying for energy works when you average it out over the year.

Her 90 year old mum is going to be asked to increase that direct debit some point soon because the summer credit has been removed.

wild666

I was paying Bulb £67 per month and got over £900 in credit in the time I was with them as my monthly bills were only £40, or less, per month for electric and gas. When I moved to then I was going of the average usage rather than my yearly usage figures that's why the DD was so high back in 2019. 

dunstonh

wild666 said:

I was paying Bulb £67 per month and got over £900 in credit in the time I was with them as my monthly bills were only £40, or less, per month for electric and gas. When I moved to then I was going of the average usage rather than my yearly usage figures that's why the DD was so high back in 2019. 

That one stands out like a sore thumb.  Summer credit, assuming your regular monthly figure is an accurate representation of what your annual use is, should be around 3-6 times your monthly amount (it varies due to varying differences in scale of winter use vs summer use).

Until recently, for me, Bulb was not very good at calculating annual use where you had a significant difference between summer/winter.  They would get it wrong by a significant margin.   However, for the last 6 months or so, their annual projections have been pretty close to the mark.   Maybe they just needed time to build the profile and understand the use.

molerat

Dolor said:

There is also a lack of consumer appreciation (some might say denial) about the increases in the cost of energy over the past 13 months.

Yep.  A few simple facts

Last year a winter month gas bill of, say, £87 at capped rates

This year that exact same use is £212 on the cap

Next year it could be £370 according to some predictions

And Mr & Mrs 3200 PA electric

£64 per month last year

£103 this year

and predicted £189 next.

SAC2334

GingerTim said:

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

That is roughly what I have in credit now , and I m a low user and doing my best to avoid putting on the full central heating yet  coming into November .

 My supplier Octopus know what they are doing and have suggested I increase my monthly direct debit considerably .

personally I m adding an extra £300 making £600 in credit as £300 is not enough given that in April 1 st when the generous £67 a month ends we could all be faced with gas and electric double what the price cap is now. 

Winter is where my gas bill really takes off and so will the OP s Mums and in April its still bitter cold on many days into May 

I would urge the OP not to touch the credit but to boost it .

Suppliers have many years historical data at their disposal and even with the extra £67 a month a 90 year old feels the cold much more than younger people and will want 21 c every day all day and evening .

EssexHebridean

This worries me - £300 in credit at this point in the year and with the energy prices we have now for a vulnerable user is akin to a drop in the ocean of what will likely be required for seeing her through the winter in a comfortable and safe manner. My fear is that the OP has not taken kindly to the very sensible advice already given here, and that we may now not see her return - I hope this is not the case though, or that at least if otherwise her Mum’s financial state is being overplayed and in fact she will be OK to clear the debt that is - without any question in my mind - going to have arisen come April.

I currently have a zero account balance with Octopus as we have literally only just switched to them. I am awaiting my first bill which will be for a part month, and my £130 DD (which should be about correct for our use - dual fuel with approx £12 gas and the balance electricity) will go to them at the beginning of the month. Waiting in the wings however is the £900+ “credit” made up of the council tax rebate, and the difference into aount between the lower level of DD I was paying my previous supplier and the correct level for average use over 12 months. This “fund” will let me top-up my Octopus through the colder months to ensure it stays clear of debt - then once the warmer weather kicks in next year we will hopefully be in a position to begin to build credit with the supplier in the usual way. 

If we had £300 credit in our account now in normal circumstances I’d be extremely concerned that it would not be sufficient for the winter months - yet I would bet that we are lower users than the OP’s Mum! 

OP - if you are reading this, PLEASE ensure that the credit amount plus any difference in the DD amount being suggested, and the DD amount your Mum is paying gets ringfenced ready to pay back to the account when (or if you prefer, if) needed, and also take account of the Government EBSS payments and any other help for bills your Mum receives in this as well. If, come the spring, you were correct and it wasn’t needed, then no harm done, a nice little treat for your Mum perhaps. If however as is a awful lot more likely, the advice being given on this thread was correct, having that money ready and waiting ugh save your Mum a lot of stress and subsequent hardship. 

lisyloo

winter fuel allowance is coming nov/dec. Might be £500 (depending on circs).
For some people it's going to be easier to pay their bills in arrears rather than in advance.

LindsayT

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

[Deleted User]

lisyloo said:

LindsayT said:

The OP's Mum will be getting £600 Winter Fuel Allowance (though I know plenty of pensioners who don't think this should be put towards bills) plus the £400 we are all getting. I don't know if she is on benefits but if so, she will get the £650 as well, so maybe she will be able to pay the higher winter bills. Just a thought.

I'm pretty sure my Dad will be getting £500, how did you get to £600. Very interested.

This is the government explanation.