Decent saving if switching to direct debit - worth the refund headache?

UndergroundSaxClub

Hi all,

Have received an email from my energy supplier British Gas (who admittedly I have had trouble with in the past, but are fine now) saying I can save about £120 annually if I switch to direct debit instead of me sending them meter readings, awaiting a bill in my app then paying for exactly what I have used.

I've read online that any additional credit is stored on the account for unexpected high bills, or can be refunded to me at any time. The worry I face is that I have only ever heard horror stories of having to fight to get this money refunded, which I suppose makes sense as people tend not to post about positive experiences.

£120 is substantial for changing my preference on a website, I'm wondering if anybody on the forums has a direct debit and has requested a refund from British Gas? Is it automated and painless, or is it 5 hours of phone calls and the complaints team?

I have checked other suppl(iers) (Octopus) who do have a positive reputation, however I am quoting to save about £50 with them annually via the same method.

Swipe

Ask them if they'll allow Variable Direct Debit. Then they will email you the bill and take the amount from your bank 2 weeks later so no credit is built up on the account.

Robin9

UndergroundSaxClub said:

Hi all,

................................... I'm wondering if anybody on the forums has a direct debit and has requested a refund from British Gas? Is it automated and painless, or is it 5 hours of phone calls and the complaints team?

................

BG are obliged to ensure that you do not get into debt.    Typically they will want to keep the equivalent of 1/2 months of credit - ie you may well be £300 in credit and BG may only refund |£100 of it.

N
Better option may be as @Swipe has said to go to MVDD . There are drawbacks here as well as you will get expensive winter bills ; the advantage you get lower summer bills.

There's no magic wand.

UndergroundSaxClub

Swipe said:

Ask them if they'll allow Variable Direct Debit. Then they will email you the bill and take the amount from your bank 2 weeks later so no credit is built up on the account.

Thanks for the reply. Spoke to an agent on live chat and I'm not sure which one of us was more confused. They had never heard of a Variable Direct Debit and said the price I see is the price I pay. Might try again tomorrow and see if there's any change.

Robin9

Not all suppliers do MVDD - others may know if BG do.  I'm with Edf who do.

Hoenir

Swipe said:

Ask them if they'll allow Variable Direct Debit. Then they will email you the bill and take the amount from your bank 2 weeks later so no credit is built up on the account.

Can make for some sizable bills though in winter. Still need to budget well. Which is where a level monthly payment helps many people. 

Swipe

Hoenir said:

Swipe said:

Ask them if they'll allow Variable Direct Debit. Then they will email you the bill and take the amount from your bank 2 weeks later so no credit is built up on the account.

Can make for some sizable bills though in winter. Still need to budget well. Which is where a level monthly payment helps many people. 

Well now is probably the best time of year to move to it and pay your previous monthly DD amounts into a savings account each month.

Gerry1

BG offer MVDD (I remained on it after being transferred to their new billing system) but it's been reported that they are not offering it to new customers.

Octopus offer MVDD but only if you phone or email them, it's not available on their website.  You can share £100 if you sign up using a referral code from another Octopus customer.

lohr500

Look also at smart pre-payment if your supplier and/or tariff and meter allow it.
It can be the lowest cost option.

I switched to it with EDF a couple of years ago and had no problems whatsoever.

The EDF prepayment system allowed me to set up a minimum credit balance and a preset automated top up amount payable via a debit card. I set up the minimum balance value at around one weeks usage, and topped up by a similar amount. I could probably have reduced the credit balance, but I wanted a few days buffer in there just in case a payment failed for any reason. 

WibbleBaaaaaa

i would suggest if you can go varible direct debut, then that would be the best option, that way you do not stack credit with your supplier and only pay for what you use, and i have learned this lesson with Octopus, who i left almost 6 weeks ago, and still no final bill and £200 plus in credit that they have refused to refund so far.

Horrible company if they have to do anything but supply lekky, as the moment you have to contact them to fix a issue on anything, they are a utter nighmare, but are quick enough to bill and take your cash once a month, they are 100% on that score. lol

UndergroundSaxClub

WibbleBaaaaaa said:

i would suggest if you can go varible direct debut, then that would be the best option, that way you do not stack credit with your supplier and only pay for what you use, and i have learned this lesson with Octopus, who i left almost 6 weeks ago, and still no final bill and £200 plus in credit that they have refused to refund so far.

Horrible company if they have to do anything but supply lekky, as the moment you have to contact them to fix a issue on anything, they are a utter nighmare, but are quick enough to bill and take your cash once a month, they are 100% on that score. lol

This isn't great news. I'm in the exact same boat with BG and was planning to move to Octopus. I did phone Octopus earlier today, was told I may wait longer as I'm not a customer, was connected to an agent in under 3 minutes.