Is my energy provider allowed to change me from paying quarterly to monthly without my consent?

ayers

Hello,
Is my energy provider allowed to change me from paying quarterly to monthly without my consent? I have just noticed a letter from them (for gas and electricity) stating that they have changed my payment frequency from quarterly to monthly.
This is a surprise as I never consented to this. In all my time with my provider, which is 25 years, I have never missed a payment and have always paid on time. Are they allowed to do this and what are my rights to have the payment frequency reverted back to quarterly?
Kind regards

CSI_Yorkshire

ayers said:

 Are they allowed to do this 

Yes.

ayers said:

 and what are my rights to have the payment frequency reverted back to quarterly?

You don't have any.

If your supplier won't do it, then you need to switch to another one that does - but most are closing quarterly payment options very quickly and you might struggle.

cm4ever

Hi, I understand this has come out of the blue and subsequently is going to be a change for you, but I'm struggling to understand how you'd be any worse off?

If anything, the fact that your supplier wants to move you to monthly billing increases your opportunity to catch any future billing issus (like estimated bills etc) quicker?

It also allows you a more frequent view of how your account is actually doing (debit vs credit), unless you're paying by whole bill variable direct debit, in which case it's still a zero loss change.

Mobtr

I’m assuming you’re with EDF & have now gone over to their new system. 

In a nutshell, yes they can & they have. 

Unfortunately that’s the way it is & there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll get used to it 

[Deleted User]

Every company in the land is allowed to change its terms and conditions. I get revised terms and conditions from some company or other every week.

The consumer has rights. You can doing nothing which is seen as acceptance of the revision, or you can switch suppliers.

mmmmikey

Hi @Ayers the energy market has changed beyond recognition in the 25 years that you've been paying quarterly bills. You're certainly not alone in not having changed with it and it's your choice of course. Many people take the view "if it ain't broke don't fix it". But the problem with that is that you end up missing the benefits of anything new.

The most basic change is that it is now painfully simple to change supplier. And the chances are that if you've been with the same supplier for a quarter of a century you've been paying a fair bit more than you need to. Also, are you aware that you get a discount for paying monthly instead of quarterly? This can be worth several hundred pounds a year for many people.

So although it's a surprise it's probably not a bad thing that your payment method has changed if it prompts you to have a closer look at your situation and how much you're paying.

pseudodox

Presumably you were paying quarterly in arrears.  The move to monthly does mean you have to pay more often to cover your energy consumption rather than the supplier allow 3 months of debt to accrue.  However you don't say whether you have been moved to monthly whole bill (pay for what you used each month) or a Fixed DD.  If the latter & the supplier you are with insists on FDD you can move elsewhere.

This happened to me last year after 17 years of paying quarterly with SSE.  They "sold" me to OVO, where FDD was the only option so I moved to EDF.  Very straightforward these days.  And don't be intimidated by the mantra that FDD helps you manage your finances - if you are used to budgeting for quarterly bills you will have no issues with the low bills for half the year & higher ones in winter.  Both EDF & Octopus offer monthly whole bills.

BTW monthly variable DDs qualify for the same discount as FDDs

ayers

Thank you all for your replies. They have been extremely helpful. I am with EDF and I have been moved to monthly whole payment. I need to supply a meeting reading each month so that they can bill me for what I use. It's true that moving from quarterly to monthly is not too bad. It just came as a surprise. Thanks again for all your replies which have been very helpful.

pseudodox

Glad you got sorted easily  EDF should send you a reminder when your meter read is due, but I usually pre-empt them as I take regular readings for a spreadsheet, then when the reading is requested I enter it on my account via the app.  I usually get the invoice available to view/download within 48 hours and they take the payment 10 working days later so you have plenty of time to check all is correct.  They will set you a default FDD amount, but only take this if you fail to give a reading  Make sure you record a reading on your account for 30th June/1st July or they will estimate the split between old and new rates.

ayers

Thanks. That's great advice!

Biscayne

This has just happened to me. My private pension is paid quarterly (I got a slightly better rate) and I have always paid for my Electricity quarterly from it. I moved to EDF from Eon next when the latter stopped quarterly payments.

They informed me of the change in a cheery email telling me what a great benefit paying monthly will be. Six days later they sent me an estimated bill for 43 days supply. I complained that it wasn't a great benefit and that they should have given me more warning. Their response beggars belief:

"we apologize if the changes are a disadvantage with the agreement you first signed up for but we assure you, the changes are beneficial and a success."

They then went on:

"If there is a resolution you would like to bring forward, kindly confirm and I will assist you further."

So I have gone back to them with a request for loss of interest caused by having to withdraw money from a savings account plus £50 for 'Time & Trouble'. Haven't heard back from them yet but the clock for the Ombudsman is ticking.