Octopus' recommended monthly direct debit amount - take care

EssexHebridean

Sadly for almost all suppliers this is now out of date. It's the way things used to work, but no longer since some rule changes - they are now required to ensure customers do not go into debt. 

QrizB

Woodbridge said:

Has Martin's team got this wrong, 

The MSE team have got it wrong. (And it's not been Martin's for many years, it's al part of Mony Group now.)

Swipe

Utility Warehouse are still working on the old rules for me. I switched to them last month. If they decide to change things I'll go back to Variable DD which is the option I selected during the switch but it didn't register and defaulted to monthly fixed DD.

victor2

EssexHebridean said:

Sadly for almost all suppliers this is now out of date. It's the way things used to work, but no longer since some rule changes - they are now required to ensure customers do not go into debt. 

I am aware of this and wanted to highlight to the MSE team that it is out of date. Is there any official OFGEM ruling or guidance that says suppliers should not let customer accounts go into a debit balance?

Lorian

Probably the same one he used on his programme on ITV last night, which was incorrect for the same reason.

Grey_Critic

I am with Octopus and pay via DD £120 per month. I then make a separate payment when I get my monthly bill for the outstanding amounts. They are quite happy with that - I refuse to pay the fictitious sums they come up with. Even paying the way I do I finish up in credit.

Scot_39

You can find the same on 2-3 years old posts on some suppliers blogs - found one from 2022 the other day.

But rules change.

You need a far higher margin to offset cash flow costs due to late payment - than the energy supplier companies have in reality - its why the cap includes as of APR consolidation - an additional £50 to help them deal with the £4.5bn energy debts and 91day+ arrears Ofgem figure.

Thats partly why pay on quarterly bill costs over £10 more per month.

So you either pay them more for the units than the current DD costings - or you stop owing them £100s at key times of year - like those on standard credit do every quarter ( or for many every month - but still pay the premium AFAIK).

And lie Ovo did years ago - I suspect the days of MVDD at the same discount - might well be limited at other suppliers too.