Does anyone charge weekly on usage? 6 February at 5:47PM in Energy 8 replies 347 views

optoutDB

I'm with Scottish Power, customer service is not available to discuss monthly payment. Not that I would expect them to change the way they work just for me anyway 

I don't want to be overcharged all summer to build up a big balance ready for winter (over £1000 this year). I just want to be charged weekly for what I have used.

Spoonie_Turtle

You can send readings to Octopus weekly and that triggers a bill.  They offer monthly variable DD but you can also make manual payments that register very quickly on the system (I wouldn't recommend mixing the two without adding what would happen - some suppliers' variable DD systems automatically take the default amount if the timings of readings are disrupted).  They will want a month's worth upfront though.

Alternatively there's prepayment, but I think for single rates that's still usually more expensive than Direct Debit.

_Sam_

When we just bought the house and moved in, the provider was Eon-next. Until I phoned them to open an account, they billed the "occupier" every week, paper bill in the post.

Once they had my name on the account (but no direct debit) they moved to monthly billing online. 

EssexHebridean

I don't think there are any suppliers who would do weekly billing (if by "billing" you mean wanting to pay weekly, that is) to be honest - it would simply be far too expensive for them I imagine. 

Someone else will be able to confirm whether Scottish Power offer variable (or "whole amount") monthly DD though - this is where you pay each month for just the energy you have used - because it is a DD account though you keep the advantage of the cheaper unit rates.

For anyone else reading subsequently - variable  or whole amount monthly direct debit is only appropriate if you have a very tight handle on your household budgeting and are either confident that you have sufficient monthly surplus to cover winter bills being many times higher than summer ones, or you operate a "personal budget plan" where you set aside the average monthly amount for the year into a savings account each month so the money is waiting there in the expensive months. Otherwise it can lead to people struggling to pay the bill in December, January and February. 

Astria

EON can be like Octopus, you can submit a reading weekly, get weekly bills, but you'll still be billed once per month. If you prefer, you can make a manual payment (to create a credit) which they'll use instead. You'll still get the DD discount as it's effectively a whole amount monthly account.

Jonboy_1984

Ovo's online portal updates with a real time £ balance within about 90 seconds of you submitting a meter reading (or daily if you have a working smart meter) and you can pay by card anytime.
Bank transfers seem to take around 48-72 hours to be reflected within the balance, so you could for example submit a reading on the Monday, pay by either method straight away and be ready to go again the following Monday.

They only raise a monthly bill however.

Its just a shame their customer service is so bad at the moment....

McKneff

If you are overcharged in summer it obviously follows you are undercharged all over winter. 

Much easier to budget with a set amount each month,

pseudodox

Why not set up a spreadsheet & record your usage each week, calculate the cost & put the money aside in a dedicated savings pot.  Then when a bill does materialise you will have the means to pay & meanwhile it might even have earned a few pennies of interest, if not pounds.  In winter you will have what I call "normal" usage/costs as we live in a country that guarantees 6 months of generally low temperatures.  In summer cost will be much lower, you need to put less aside leaving money for summer holidays & ice cream!

If you can arrange to pay by variable DD you will have total control of your own money.  If your supplier does not allow VDD vote with your feet & switch.  

Keeping a weekly check does also help to identify where you might make small adjustments to usage - either cutting down because it is proving a bit expensive, or up because your previous frugality was perhaps a bit extreme & you could afford to use a bit more for personal comfort.

Slinky

McKneff said:

If you are overcharged in summer it obviously follows you are undercharged all over winter. 

Much easier to budget with a set amount each month,

Yes, but if you're overcharged all summer, that's money earning interest in their account, not yours. Not so much of an issue when we were getting peanuts for interest, but now there's a better rate of interest it's more relevant. Ideally you want to be undercharged across the winter, and making catch-up payments across the summer, but the energy companies don't like that!

ETA I'm paying by set amount each month and will be in credit across the summer.....sigh....