How can continually overpaying be cheaper? A shocking £3000 in credit.

debitcardmayhem

mmmmikey said:

.....just waiting for someone to chip in with a comment to the effect that we're obviously all energy company stooges  

PAGE 2 mmmmikey 🤓

pseudodox

No matter which energy company I am with I am happy with MY staying in control by keeping a check on my consumption with regular meter readings; checking that bills have the correct tariff, MPAN, meter serial numbers etc; checking that the DD notification is correct whilst there is still time to challenge.  Five minutes per month of my time well spent.  I have had a few issues with current supplier EDF, but nothing that did not get sorted out to my satisfaction by my having up to date "facts and figures", being proactive, staying politely persistent but firm and knowing exactly what the issue was and what resolution I expected.  If I don't get things the way I expect them to be I will, and have, jump ship.

EVERY energy company mentioned on forums like this gets praised to the skies AND condemned to eternal damnation - your own experience can be the luck of the draw when you choose your supplier.  If any one company was perfect no-one would go anywhere else and all the rest would be out of business.

Swipe

Exactly, checking your monthly bill closely, regular meter readings and a simple spreadsheet is all you need.

EssexHebridean

I can’t help but wonder, OP, If a lot of this rage is actually stemming from guilt that you didn’t realise sooner that your Dad needed help with/this stuff. It does come as a shock when we suddenly realise that having grown up with the idea that your parents are the ones who help you to do things, suddenly there comes a point when the tables turn, for many people. It’s great that you have now realised that this point has come though, and presumably you are now actively involved with helping your Dad with the financial stuff he can’t cope with, now. On that note, if you haven’t already looked into Power of Attorney then that would probably be a very sensible next step - indeed, he would even be able to use some of the returned energy credit to pay the costs of it.

as for being happy with energy suppliers, both I and my 80+ year old mother are with a octopus and yep, sorry to disappoint but I am afraid that we are both very pleased with them. Thankfully Mum is still both physically and mentally very active, and keeps a beady eye on her readings and bills, although she is of course on the priority services register. She also has working smart meters so doesn’t actually have to give the readings, just check them against the bill and ensure her DD is set at the right level. 

matelodave

I'm with Eon-Next and not had any problems. the bills line up with the smart meter readings - like others I check my bills against the meter every month and not had any problems - its been spot on.

My DD is in-line with my expectations and consumption profile. I expect to use 70% of my energy in the five winter months so tt the beginning of winter I want to be around 2 months worth of DD in credit and at the end of winter it's all been dissipated and I'm usually around a month or more in Debit. It gets made back up during spring an summer.

I can tweak the DD if I want and the one time I claimed back some credit, I got it back within a couple of days.

There's no magic secret except to check the bills and meter readings once a month and do your own sums to check that the DD is set correctly.

Its those who let it go for months, can't be bothered to check their bills or hope that they can get away with underestimates etc that get a nasty shock when their accounts eventually get reconciled.

MarzipanCrumble

I too am very happy with Octopus, my supplier.  They got my non-communicating SMETS2 meters working - numerous engineer visits over a 24 month period - and tell me when my fixed is ending giving me alternatives and including in the email my annual consumption.  They have very many flexible tarrifs each tailored to what a customer may need i.e. EV, solar, etc

Very happy with Octopus who actually do try to help.  And yes, 74 yr old and financially aware.