Budget plan reconciliation- utility warehouse

slinkydonkey

Please can someone help me understand this. I choose UW because apparently Which? magazine they come up near the top of the table for customer service.  

I decided to leave them mid march 2025 as advised by many people as prices are going up in April.
I have being paying via direct debit £77.15 a month, then all of a sudden I get a final bill in April which was for 28th Feb to 18th March 2025, Elec was £39.27 and Gas was £47.77, and they have also charged me something called a "Budget Plan Reconciliation of £183.89".

I am fuming I don't have an extra £138.89 to pay them in my budget. I have never even heard of this before. What is the point in having a direct debit and a smart meter? they now how much I am using so why this fee? there was no cancelation charges.

Why am I being penalised? was the £77.15 an estimate I tried to phone them and spoke to some women who had such a strong accent I had no idea what she was saying.

So this month I have to find £269.76!??

Any ideas? 

QrizB

slinkydonkey said:

Please can someone help me understand this. I choose UW because apparently Which? magazine they come up near the top of the table for customer service. 

On this forum UW customer service is generally agreed to be well down the rankings. I wonder why Which rate them so highly?

slinkydonkey said:

I have being paying via direct debit £77.15 a month,

You were on a fixed Direct Debit, paying the same amount every month? What was the balance on your account, as shown on the bill immediately before you left?

slinkydonkey said:

... all of a sudden I get a final bill in April which was for 28th Feb to 18th March 2025, Elec was £39.27 and Gas was £47.77, and they have also charged me something called a "Budget Plan Reconciliation of £183.89".

I would guess that, on the bill immediately before you left, you had a debit balance of £183.89. in addition to that you used £39.27 of electricity and £47.77 of gas after the date of that bill, up to the day you left.
If you can share more details of your bills, we might be able to cast more light on this.

slinkydonkey

QrizB said:

slinkydonkey said:

Please can someone help me understand this. I choose UW because apparently Which? magazine they come up near the top of the table for customer service. 

On this forum UW customer service is generally agreed to be well down the rankings. I wonder why Which rate them so highly?

slinkydonkey said:

I have being paying via direct debit £77.15 a month,

You were on a fixed Direct Debit, paying the same amount every month? What was the balance on your account, as shown on the bill immediately before you left?

slinkydonkey said:

... all of a sudden I get a final bill in April which was for 28th Feb to 18th March 2025, Elec was £39.27 and Gas was £47.77, and they have also charged me something called a "Budget Plan Reconciliation of £183.89".

I would guess that, on the bill immediately before you left, you had a debit balance of £183.89. in addition to that you used £39.27 of electricity and £47.77 of gas after the date of that bill, up to the day you left.
If you can share more details of your bills, we might be able to cast more light on this.

ok you are 100% right I looked at my March 2025 bill and I can see that the gas part of my bill was showing "in debt £175.13" it's my fault I should have kept a closer watch on I would rather be on a variable Direct Debit in future. It looks like my usage in December peaked so that is where it is from. I have since moved to Octopus energy hopefully they are better.

QrizB

Octopus definitely support variable monthly Direct Debit, but you might need to contact them if you want to switch - I don't think it's available directly via their website or app.

Gerry1

QrizB said:

Octopus definitely support variable monthly Direct Debit, but you might need to contact them if you want to switch - I don't think it's available directly via their website or app.

Correct.

slinkydonkey said:

QrizB said:

slinkydonkey said:

Please can someone help me understand this. I choose UW because apparently Which? magazine they come up near the top of the table for customer service. 

On this forum UW customer service is generally agreed to be well down the rankings. I wonder why Which rate them so highly?

slinkydonkey said:

I have being paying via direct debit £77.15 a month,

You were on a fixed Direct Debit, paying the same amount every month? What was the balance on your account, as shown on the bill immediately before you left?

slinkydonkey said:

... all of a sudden I get a final bill in April which was for 28th Feb to 18th March 2025, Elec was £39.27 and Gas was £47.77, and they have also charged me something called a "Budget Plan Reconciliation of £183.89".

I would guess that, on the bill immediately before you left, you had a debit balance of £183.89. in addition to that you used £39.27 of electricity and £47.77 of gas after the date of that bill, up to the day you left.
If you can share more details of your bills, we might be able to cast more light on this.

I have since moved to Octopus energy hopefully they are better.

I trust you bagged £50 by being referred?

slinkydonkey

Gerry1 said:

QrizB said:

Octopus definitely support variable monthly Direct Debit, but you might need to contact them if you want to switch - I don't think it's available directly via their website or app.

Correct.

slinkydonkey said:

QrizB said:

slinkydonkey said:

Please can someone help me understand this. I choose UW because apparently Which? magazine they come up near the top of the table for customer service. 

On this forum UW customer service is generally agreed to be well down the rankings. I wonder why Which rate them so highly?

slinkydonkey said:

I have being paying via direct debit £77.15 a month,

You were on a fixed Direct Debit, paying the same amount every month? What was the balance on your account, as shown on the bill immediately before you left?

slinkydonkey said:

... all of a sudden I get a final bill in April which was for 28th Feb to 18th March 2025, Elec was £39.27 and Gas was £47.77, and they have also charged me something called a "Budget Plan Reconciliation of £183.89".

I would guess that, on the bill immediately before you left, you had a debit balance of £183.89. in addition to that you used £39.27 of electricity and £47.77 of gas after the date of that bill, up to the day you left.
If you can share more details of your bills, we might be able to cast more light on this.

I have since moved to Octopus energy hopefully they are better.

I trust you bagged £50 by being referred?

I don't believe I did I always check Quidco but didn't see anything on there. 

Gerry1

You need a referral code from a friend or relative who is an Octopus customer.  That's easy nowadays because they are the largest supplier. You share £100. However, all is not lost because you can start sharing your new code.