Help - SSE taking higher monthly payments without permission and inspite of large amount in credit.

[Deleted User]

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

They're asking several times because you keep saying no.  Their calculations must clearly be indicating that you will end up in debt given the unit price rises and the increase in usage over the winter. Also, they don't need your permission to increase the DD, they just need to tell you (which they have).

We can't possibly help unless we know how much you use.  "Several hundred pounds of credit" could be one month (in which case it would not be enough) or one year (in which case it would be).

I understand where you are coming from on this point.

Maybe i will give it a few months over the winter - when our increased useage at the increased unit costs kicks in, but i still feel that the way my account is going i am already sufficiently paying enough based on my useage.

At worst if I  wasnt , it might take a fair few months for that £800 credit to be consumed to an amount where i would need to start paying them even more.

Are you paying a similar amount in DD as last winter?  Gas prices have more than doubled since then, and electricity prices similar.

Each £100 of your bill last December could easily be £250 this December.

In answer to your Question Yes i have been continuing to pay the same amount as last year - for quite some time i have been paying £77 for my elec and £76 for my gas (and even tho i respect its not a large amount, its landed me at where im at today at £400 in credit on each of my gas and elec accounts - i would estimate this is because i dont use much gas or elec during the summer months ..... i do fully appreciate that unit costs have gone up - however i am £400 in credit on each account  - that was my reasoning for thinking they shouldn't need to increase my payments??

Do you suggest the unit costs have gone up at such a rate that my £400 credit on each account will quickly be consumed by the higher unit cost rates and my increased useage over the winter and that i should infact start paying more??

If you followed the typical monthly curve, using the amount of energy that you have stated, based on a representative unit rate based on the EPG cap, your monthly electricity bill would vary between £70 and £100, with your monthly gas bill varying between £40 and £225.

I have no idea how close your actual monthly pattern is to this, or how close your rates are to the ones I've used, but overall it'll be about right.

nickpe

ariarnia said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

They're asking several times because you keep saying no.  Their calculations must clearly be indicating that you will end up in debt given the unit price rises and the increase in usage over the winter. Also, they don't need your permission to increase the DD, they just need to tell you (which they have).

We can't possibly help unless we know how much you use.  "Several hundred pounds of credit" could be one month (in which case it would not be enough) or one year (in which case it would be).

I understand where you are coming from on this point.

Maybe i will give it a few months over the winter - when our increased useage at the increased unit costs kicks in, but i still feel that the way my account is going i am already sufficiently paying enough based on my useage.

At worst if I  wasnt , it might take a fair few months for that £800 credit to be consumed to an amount where i would need to start paying them even more.

Are you paying a similar amount in DD as last winter?  Gas prices have more than doubled since then, and electricity prices similar.

Each £100 of your bill last December could easily be £250 this December.

In answer to your Question Yes i have been continuing to pay the same amount as last year - for quite some time i have been paying £77 for my elec and £76 for my gas (and even tho i respect its not a large amount, its landed me at where im at today at £400 in credit on each of my gas and elec accounts ..... i do fully appreicate that unit costs have gone up - however i am £400 in credit on each account  - that was my reasoning for thinking they shouldnt need to increase my payments??

Do you suggest the unit costs have gone up at such a rate that my £400 credit on each account will quickly be consumed by the higher unit cost rates and that i should infact start paying more??

its' really a combination of two things. one energy has gotten a lot more expensive and two you use a lot more energy in winter than summer (heating. cooking. spending more time at home). so its normal to be in credit at this time of year and to be 0 or in debt by feb or march. 

working out your annual usage sparky and i both seem to agree you should be paying around 210 (assuming that youve not drastically changed anything about how you live since last year such as someone move out or get a new boiler or whatever) 

but it could be warmer or colder or you might be taking steps to cut back. maybe as you say hold off and review in a bit but i'd put that cash somewhere if you can just in case you need to make a top up payment?

I am very thankful for your help and understanding of this...

So  i have been paying £153 a month (both gas and elec - £77 elec, £73 gas) for several years.... as things stand as of today i am £455.62 in credit with my gas and £406.60 in credit with my electric.

The latest payment that SSE took was £105 for my Elec and £135 for my Gas..... my frustration came from the fact i was so much in credit i couldnt understand why so much of an increase in monthly payments.

Hope this all makes sense.

ariarnia

nickpe said:

ariarnia said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

They're asking several times because you keep saying no.  Their calculations must clearly be indicating that you will end up in debt given the unit price rises and the increase in usage over the winter. Also, they don't need your permission to increase the DD, they just need to tell you (which they have).

We can't possibly help unless we know how much you use.  "Several hundred pounds of credit" could be one month (in which case it would not be enough) or one year (in which case it would be).

I understand where you are coming from on this point.

Maybe i will give it a few months over the winter - when our increased useage at the increased unit costs kicks in, but i still feel that the way my account is going i am already sufficiently paying enough based on my useage.

At worst if I  wasnt , it might take a fair few months for that £800 credit to be consumed to an amount where i would need to start paying them even more.

Are you paying a similar amount in DD as last winter?  Gas prices have more than doubled since then, and electricity prices similar.

Each £100 of your bill last December could easily be £250 this December.

In answer to your Question Yes i have been continuing to pay the same amount as last year - for quite some time i have been paying £77 for my elec and £76 for my gas (and even tho i respect its not a large amount, its landed me at where im at today at £400 in credit on each of my gas and elec accounts ..... i do fully appreicate that unit costs have gone up - however i am £400 in credit on each account  - that was my reasoning for thinking they shouldnt need to increase my payments??

Do you suggest the unit costs have gone up at such a rate that my £400 credit on each account will quickly be consumed by the higher unit cost rates and that i should infact start paying more??

its' really a combination of two things. one energy has gotten a lot more expensive and two you use a lot more energy in winter than summer (heating. cooking. spending more time at home). so its normal to be in credit at this time of year and to be 0 or in debt by feb or march. 

working out your annual usage sparky and i both seem to agree you should be paying around 210 (assuming that youve not drastically changed anything about how you live since last year such as someone move out or get a new boiler or whatever) 

but it could be warmer or colder or you might be taking steps to cut back. maybe as you say hold off and review in a bit but i'd put that cash somewhere if you can just in case you need to make a top up payment?

I am very thankful for your help and understanding of this...

So  i have been paying £153 a month (both gas and elec - £77 elec, £73 gas) for several years.... as things stand as of today i am £455.62 in credit with my gas and £406.60 in credit with my electric.

The latest payment that SSE took was £105 for my Elec and £135 for my Gas..... my frustration came from the fact i was so much in credit i couldnt understand why so much of an increase in monthly payments.

Hope this all makes sense.

one think i think we should have checked. are you on the cap or on a fix (or did you move off a fix recently)? 

tbh its up to you but with 800 credit that should be about 4 months usage averaged (it could be 2 months in winter) so i can see why you think its a lot. but hopefully its also clear why were saying you might want to increase your dd anyway?

we have a high balance of about the same but thats intentional for us as we're on a fix that ends in march and our prices are going to jump about 400% (plus whatever happens from april). 

i'm hoping that by January we'll have a better idea of whats happening in march and we can look at our dd then. maybe that would also be a good idea for you?

oh but anyway i would say its a good idea to email and say you're not happy they took the money after saying they wouldn't. maybe they should have taken the money but the customer service person shouldnt have said the increase would be stopped if it wasnt. taking the extra without warning can really mess some people's budgeting up (never no also might get £30 out of it )

nickpe

ariarnia said:

nickpe said:

ariarnia said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

nickpe said:

Deleted_User said:

They're asking several times because you keep saying no.  Their calculations must clearly be indicating that you will end up in debt given the unit price rises and the increase in usage over the winter. Also, they don't need your permission to increase the DD, they just need to tell you (which they have).

We can't possibly help unless we know how much you use.  "Several hundred pounds of credit" could be one month (in which case it would not be enough) or one year (in which case it would be).

I understand where you are coming from on this point.

Maybe i will give it a few months over the winter - when our increased useage at the increased unit costs kicks in, but i still feel that the way my account is going i am already sufficiently paying enough based on my useage.

At worst if I  wasnt , it might take a fair few months for that £800 credit to be consumed to an amount where i would need to start paying them even more.

Are you paying a similar amount in DD as last winter?  Gas prices have more than doubled since then, and electricity prices similar.

Each £100 of your bill last December could easily be £250 this December.

In answer to your Question Yes i have been continuing to pay the same amount as last year - for quite some time i have been paying £77 for my elec and £76 for my gas (and even tho i respect its not a large amount, its landed me at where im at today at £400 in credit on each of my gas and elec accounts ..... i do fully appreicate that unit costs have gone up - however i am £400 in credit on each account  - that was my reasoning for thinking they shouldnt need to increase my payments??

Do you suggest the unit costs have gone up at such a rate that my £400 credit on each account will quickly be consumed by the higher unit cost rates and that i should infact start paying more??

its' really a combination of two things. one energy has gotten a lot more expensive and two you use a lot more energy in winter than summer (heating. cooking. spending more time at home). so its normal to be in credit at this time of year and to be 0 or in debt by feb or march. 

working out your annual usage sparky and i both seem to agree you should be paying around 210 (assuming that youve not drastically changed anything about how you live since last year such as someone move out or get a new boiler or whatever) 

but it could be warmer or colder or you might be taking steps to cut back. maybe as you say hold off and review in a bit but i'd put that cash somewhere if you can just in case you need to make a top up payment?

I am very thankful for your help and understanding of this...

So  i have been paying £153 a month (both gas and elec - £77 elec, £73 gas) for several years.... as things stand as of today i am £455.62 in credit with my gas and £406.60 in credit with my electric.

The latest payment that SSE took was £105 for my Elec and £135 for my Gas..... my frustration came from the fact i was so much in credit i couldnt understand why so much of an increase in monthly payments.

Hope this all makes sense.

one think i think we should have checked. are you on the cap or on a fix (or did you move off a fix recently)? 

tbh its up to you but with 800 credit that should be about 4 months usage averaged (it could be 2 months in winter) so i can see why you think its a lot. but hopefully its also clear why were saying you might want to increase your dd anyway?

we have a high balance of about the same but thats intentional for us as we're on a fix that ends in march and our prices are going to jump about 400% (plus whatever happens from april). 

i'm hoping that by January we'll have a better idea of whats happening in march and we can look at our dd then. maybe that would also be a good idea for you?

oh but anyway i would say its a good idea to email and say you're not happy they took the money after saying they wouldn't. maybe they should have taken the money but the customer service person shouldnt have said the increase would be stopped if it wasnt. taking the extra without warning can really mess some people's budgeting up (never no also might get £30 out of it )

In response to your question i believe i am on the SSE "standard tariff" - im not sure if im fixed but ive read previously in emails about the price cap increases.

I believe my original fixed tariff ended in September 2021 and since then i was moved onto the "standard tariff" as SSE told me this was their cheapest tariff to be on - i believe i have remained on that since then.

(Alot of all these discussion topic points are new to me so apologies for my lack of knowledge).

Chrysalis

I recently checked the DD regulations and the government automated payment laws (due to another thread).

On DD regulations as long as you are informed with enough notice it is ok, but you do also have the right to reject the amendment.  So if you disagree, told them that, and they go ahead after you have stated that, then you can get the payment reversed by your bank (with possible repercussion's with the supplier).

You have left out a lot of key information though to offer an informed opinion if they are getting it wrong on your DD amount.

What is your typical monthly cost of energy?
Is it based on estimated or actual readings?
When was your last reading?
Was you in credit end of last winter?

Mobtr

I don’t believe anyone has asked when you were last billed. It could be you’re so much in credit because you haven’t been billed for a while & it’s mounted up until you are 

km1500

You are, of course, covered by the DD guarantee

If the supplier told you on the phone they would take £x, but they took £x+£y then a simple call to the bank will get you an immediate refund of the whole amount.

Whether you want to do this is up to you of course.

Alnat1

The processing of a DD takes about 5 days from the supplier requesting the funds to the funds going out of your bank account. 

Could it simply be that your energy supplier didn't have enough time to alter that months payment and the change will take effect the following month? You should be able to see on your online account how much will go out next time.