Direct debits to energy companies seem to be some sort of scam

Alnat1

If the OP could let us know which energy company they are with, we could advise if they allow customers to pay by VARIABLE DD (taken usually 14 days after the monthly meter read is given for the exact billed amount)

The OP might find this suits them and will save them money but not all energy companies allow it.

wrf12345

The govn needs to tell Ofgem to set one capped rate for the whole of England, averaged out from DD, prepayment and pay on receipt, rather than different rates for different parts of the country and different payment methods, would make comparing rates much easier and simpler, especially if the standing charge was rolled into the unit rate. Ebico were doing this years ago until the govn/ofgem stopped them. The widespread abuse of DD's by the energy co's also means they should take some of the added costs out of their income.

dunstonh

I hadn't realised that my energy company was charging me extra  (around £60 a year) for the "privilege" of not paying by direct debit.

Good.

The cost of dealing with someone paying using a method that is not common and involves more time and administration shouldnt be passed to other customers.   Its only fair that you pay for the extra work you are causing.

dunstonh

The govn needs to tell Ofgem to set one capped rate for the whole of England, averaged out from DD, prepayment and pay on receipt, rather than different rates for different parts of the country and different payment methods, would make comparing rates much easier and simpler, especially if the standing charge was rolled into the unit rate.

Currently, the costs of supply in a region are met by that region.  So, what you want is a greater cross subsidy from cheaper areas to more expensive ones.   

Rolling the standing charge into the unit rate is not at all fair.

JohnB47

Ayr_Rage said:

Sorry, but they will not change the Ofgem approved way the energy market works just because of your dissatisfaction.

If you want the discount for paying by DD then move to a supplier that offers Direct Debit Whole Amount Monthly, such as EDF.

I pay my bills monthly in arrears, get the DD rate and EDF never have any of my money in their account.

Same as my arrangement with Octopus. No build up of credit or debit. 

Chrysalis

dunstonh said:

The govn needs to tell Ofgem to set one capped rate for the whole of England, averaged out from DD, prepayment and pay on receipt, rather than different rates for different parts of the country and different payment methods, would make comparing rates much easier and simpler, especially if the standing charge was rolled into the unit rate.

Currently, the costs of supply in a region are met by that region.  So, what you want is a greater cross subsidy from cheaper areas to more expensive ones.   

Rolling the standing charge into the unit rate is not at all fair.

I agree on the regional subsidy thing, e.g. on broadband we dont see villages being charged more by BT vs those in cities when villages are more expensive to provide broadband for.  It makes sense to equalise it. (this is coming from someone with a region on one of the cheaper SC's).

The unit rate vs SC is a debate we going to get continual disagreement on between people, it benefits households with heavy usage and also households with lots of adults.  It penalises singleton households and low energy users.  However there is industry experts including ex Ofgem staff who have stated they think too many things are bundled into SC and should be moved to the unit rate or general taxation, so far Ofgem have ignored them.

jimjames

harryhart said:

1. Stop sending me printed bills which I don’t need, as everything is available online (which is great)

2. Stop sending me email reminders about taking meter readings, as this is clearly marked on my Google calendar, which I constantly check,  and have never missed a reading so far.

You might be well setup to take meter readings but you only need to see posts on this forum to realise that you are in a very small minority that are so well organised. I don't think they'll stop sending emails just because you have a reminder set.
Which supplier is it? Neither of mine send any paper bills.

Spoonie_Turtle

Chrysalis said:

dunstonh said:

The govn needs to tell Ofgem to set one capped rate for the whole of England, averaged out from DD, prepayment and pay on receipt, rather than different rates for different parts of the country and different payment methods, would make comparing rates much easier and simpler, especially if the standing charge was rolled into the unit rate.

Currently, the costs of supply in a region are met by that region.  So, what you want is a greater cross subsidy from cheaper areas to more expensive ones.   

Rolling the standing charge into the unit rate is not at all fair.

I agree on the regional subsidy thing, e.g. on broadband we dont see villages being charged more by BT vs those in cities when villages are more expensive to provide broadband for.  It makes sense to equalise it. (this is coming from someone with a region on one of the cheaper SC's).

Do we not?  Quote from BT is £29.99/month for apparently 1-3Mbps (in reality, 2Mbps is the absolute maximum over the copper wires).  In a nearby town, £26.99 for fibre. 
Our fibre is c.£45/month, not with BT because another company installed it in the village.

dunstonh

I agree on the regional subsidy thing, e.g. on broadband we dont see villages being charged more by BT vs those in cities when villages are more expensive to provide broadband for.  It makes sense to equalise it. (this is coming from someone with a region on one of the cheaper SC's).

On the other hand, the vast majority of villages don't have full fibre and rely on third party companies to install it at a higher cost of the end user than if openreach did it.

So, whilst Openreach may not charge more, they don't install much in villages.  So, villagers are paying more.  

Chrysalis

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Chrysalis said:

dunstonh said:

The govn needs to tell Ofgem to set one capped rate for the whole of England, averaged out from DD, prepayment and pay on receipt, rather than different rates for different parts of the country and different payment methods, would make comparing rates much easier and simpler, especially if the standing charge was rolled into the unit rate.

Currently, the costs of supply in a region are met by that region.  So, what you want is a greater cross subsidy from cheaper areas to more expensive ones.   

Rolling the standing charge into the unit rate is not at all fair.

I agree on the regional subsidy thing, e.g. on broadband we dont see villages being charged more by BT vs those in cities when villages are more expensive to provide broadband for.  It makes sense to equalise it. (this is coming from someone with a region on one of the cheaper SC's).

Do we not?  Quote from BT is £29.99/month for apparently 1-3Mbps (in reality, 2Mbps is the absolute maximum over the copper wires).  In a nearby town, £26.99 for fibre. 
Our fibre is c.£45/month, not with BT because another company installed it in the village.

We dont, what you posting is a comparison of a slow DSL service to a FTTP service, there is town areas with slow DSL as is also villages with FTTP, so your example isnt rural vs urban specific.

In fact rural areas have actually been getting significant government subsidies in the form of the gigabit vouchers and for VDSL the BDUK scheme.