E-on increasing my Direct Debit when in Credit

molerat

MattMattMattUK said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

Because the switcher transfers just as winter hits they will run in debit I presume with the new supplier until well into summer (August or even September)

Almost no suppliers allow people to go into debt anymore, they will be expected to pay their Direct Debit at a level to maintain their account in credit when a bill is issued, they would likely face significantly higher than average usage divided by twelve payments for the next six months with them reducing somewhat in April next year.

EDF do.  They refunded my daughter's account to £0 at the end of November and set the DD to 1/12th EAC.  It took her to last month to get back into credit so she could move away without a fairly big bill to pay.

MultiFuelBurner

kaymse said:

Exodi said:

This type of thread comes up every summer.

If you want to pay roughly the same amount every month, by the fact you use more energy on heating in the winter, you will need to build up a credit balance during the summer that can be used during the winter. Alternatively, you can just pay more in the winter.

As @dunstonh says above, this breakeven point is generally around May.

MSE sometimes releases charts showing this, I've included the below from May 2023 (though I wouldn't pay attention the specific credit £ amounts as energy prices have changed since then).

It shows that you might expect to have a nil credit balance in May, with your highest credit balance being around November, at which point you start to diminish your credit position as the heating goes on.

Being in September with virtually no credit is an issue, hence why Eon has increased your DD.

This isn’t this.

the debt was fake.

im always in credit. Then from July my energy supplier refused to use meter readings and switched to estimates.these estimates caused a false debt.

I had to ask compensation before they fix it. Once updated it with my readings, I’m back to being in credit.

this is them trying to create false debts, not me being dim

I thought your enemy was Octopus? Not Eon.

[Deleted User]

kaymse said:

Exodi said:

This type of thread comes up every summer.

If you want to pay roughly the same amount every month, by the fact you use more energy on heating in the winter, you will need to build up a credit balance during the summer that can be used during the winter. Alternatively, you can just pay more in the winter.

As @dunstonh says above, this breakeven point is generally around May.

MSE sometimes releases charts showing this, I've included the below from May 2023 (though I wouldn't pay attention the specific credit £ amounts as energy prices have changed since then).

It shows that you might expect to have a nil credit balance in May, with your highest credit balance being around November, at which point you start to diminish your credit position as the heating goes on.

Being in September with virtually no credit is an issue, hence why Eon has increased your DD.

This isn’t this.

the debt was fake.

im always in credit. Then from July my energy supplier refused to use meter readings and switched to estimates.these estimates caused a false debt.

I had to ask compensation before they fix it. Once updated it with my readings, I’m back to being in credit.

this is them trying to create false debts, not me being dim

A debit balance is not a debt. A debit balance only becomes a debt if when the supplier asks for repayment and the amount due isn’t paid within 28 days. Estimated usage can vary. The greater the number of meter readings that a consumer provides to the supplier, the more accurate an annual estimate will be. All suppliers should update your account when an actual meter reading is provided as appears to have happened here. There is no issue here.

daveyjp

Only OP knows if their current dd level is high enough to cover winter monthly bills.

I have very little summer balance because it took Sainsbury's 2 months to change the dd amount after the Government assistance payments ended, so I paid £130 less than I should have.

Not a problem as I track useage and payments.  The dd covered my useage over summer and the account balance now is just about enough to cover the payment due in September.  A new tarriff started this week so the dd is changing anyway.

EssexHebridean

pseudodox said:

jimjames said:

If you're not happy paying an increased DD when you have a credit balance then you can switch to paying monthly DD based on usage instead. Downside is that you might have a bill in the summer of £20 and in the winter of £400 so you need to be quite organised to ensure you can pay that.

Yes - you need to be organised and motivated to put money aside in a savings account in YOUR name, not the name of the energy supplier, where YOU can earn interest at increasingly decent rates.  This is taking the MSE ethic on board - saving, not handing out free loans to corporate bodies and it hardly takes any effort at all.  Set up a S/O to transfer the ££ you are not paying by FDD to the energy company to YOUR savings pot before you are tempted to spend it on something uneccessary.  Sit back, let it accumulate and when that "OMG! I got a big winter bill, I wonder why that happened?" happens you simply pay.  Winter is guaranteed in this country to come round once (normally!) per year.  If savings exceed spending you don't have to jump through hoops to request a refund - you just mosey on down to the ATM, draw it out and spend! spend! spend!

It does require some financial privilege to be in a position to do this - in spite of how easy it is to simply tar anyone who can't manage it with the "feckless! Profligate!" brush.  Take as an example the person in a household with an abusive or controlling partner - they're not allowed to have money in their own name, and anything they stash aside in joint accounts is liable to simply be spent by the partner. Then the bill arrives and they find themselves unable to pay. safer by far to simply pay by FMDD and if a credit builds up, so be it - it might save them a bruise or two.  Another scenario - someone in a household where money is seriously tight and no EF is in place, or the one there was has had to be used and not yet replenished. If the fridge breaks down, and there is money stashed away in the energy pot, but nowhere else - do you struggle on without a fridge, or do you raid the energy savings to replace it? Someone who knows they could find themselves in that position might indeed find it "safer" to just pay the monthly amount. Even those who have simply never been taught about budgeting - their parents always paid for energy monthly, and so as far as they are concerned that is just how they do it. All of those folk are also likely to not be candidates to otherwise have the money stashed away in a high interest paying account either - so in fact they're not "losing" anything by having a credit balance built. It's often not people being "tempted to spend it on something unnecessary" that's the issue - it's them feeling they are left with no choice but to spend it on something entirely essential - and organisation and motivation can't always over-ride "life getting in the way".

In an ideal world, none of those scenarios I've mentioned would apply, of course. but we're not in an ideal world, and I rather suspect we never will be. 

pseudodox

Which is why I think FDD is good for many but it is not one size fits all.  We should all have a choice, with the option to look after our own finances if we choose, but equally have a system that allows the vulnerable to have a safety net.  Pre-payment works for many & I applaud the move to ensure the most needy are not penalised with higher rates.  

[Deleted User]

but equally have a system that allows the vulnerable to have a safety net.

Vulnerable is a frequently used word, but I confess that I have absolutely no idea what objective criteria one would apply to determine vulnerability. The Government defines vulnerability as:

‘Being vulnerable is defined as in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, risk of abuse or neglect.’

Just because someone is struggling to pay their energy bill doesn’t necessarily make them vulnerable. In my view, financial support is best left to the State rather than energy companies.

matt_drummer

From time to time I read a daily blog on a popular news website about the cost of living crisis.

One day this week one of the highlights of the day was how to get an iphone 15 for less.

It is hard to believe but I do think for a minority the latest smart phone takes precedence and that really damages those most in need.

MultiFuelBurner

matt_drummer said:

From time to time I read a daily blog on a popular news website about the cost of living crisis.

One day this week one of the highlights of the day was how to get an iphone 15 for less.

It is hard to believe but I do think for a minority the latest smart phone takes precedence and that really damages those most in need.

At one point our home energy bill was far less than two of the latest phones of the time with airtime contracts (we were once those people) now sim only for both phones one android about 4 years ol and one older iPhone.

I would suggest a younger generation thing.

matt_drummer

MultiFuelBurner said:

matt_drummer said:

From time to time I read a daily blog on a popular news website about the cost of living crisis.

One day this week one of the highlights of the day was how to get an iphone 15 for less.

It is hard to believe but I do think for a minority the latest smart phone takes precedence and that really damages those most in need.

At one point our home energy bill was far less than two of the latest phones of the time with airtime contracts (we were once those people) now sim only for both phones one android about 4 years ol and one older iPhone.

I would suggest a younger generation thing.

Maybe not all young though., I think a lot of middle aged suffer too.

These telephone/tech companies have really done a number on society.

I have a phone through my work that is updated every two years, they are all the same to all intents and purposes.

I think they are a scurge on society.

I find  it fascinating to watch people when I am out, sometimes people clearly on first/early dates and the phone is more important than the person they are with.

I am sure we have all witnessed where you are talking to someone and their phone makes a noise and they can't help but look at it mid conversation.

Mobile phones/social media are brainwashing personified.

And all to relieve people of their money.

These phones cost as much as the energy bills some people say are a rip off that they cannot afford to pay.

It is a messed up world and I still have some faith that one day we will wake up to it.