Stop telling us what your energy DD is!

[anon2022anon]

Let's see how many don't read the post but just the title and react to that.

Stop telling us what your energy DD is or is going to be. It's just a made up number that your energy provider is using to get your money in the bank as a buffer for themselves.

If you're worried about energy (as we all are), why aren't you learning about it?
How much do you pay per unit for electric/ gas?
How much is your standing charge?
Are you on a fixed tariff or variable?
Do you give actual meter readings?
Have you got an idea of your usage? Check your bills, get a smart meter,

It's driving me a little mad, the amount of threads saying they're paying £500 a month, I can't afford it, with no actual relevant information that people can use to say- your usage is unusually high, they're putting your DD up too much you should ask for a reduction, your meter could be faulty. If you struggle with understanding it, just copy out your latest bill and someone will guide you.

People who don't know the difference between amount and number drive me a little mad too 😉

Totally agree.
People don't appear to be checking the detail and instead seem to be accepting the figure (shocked & worried of course) instead of checking unit costs & usage.

Got me there! But it's not costing me an extra couple of hundred pound a month potentially to use the wrong word, so I'll let it slip 😁

This was very confusing because I thought people we're talking about the energy of their daughter and giving it a number. 🤦

^me too!

Good luck getting a potentially faulty meter checked. It was IMPOSSIBLE for us 😭

I agree OP, I also think it is quite concerning how little a lot of people seem to understand about the whole process.

All I know is my energy bill has jumped from £80/90 and now it's over £200. Unbelievable.

This, plus up to now how little people cared about how much they used and heated houses without putting jumpers on, used tumble dryers in the summer or washed clothes after one use.

I suppose all we can do is keep talking about it, more people will get more aware, and hopefully reduce the number of people who find themselves in huge debt early next year, because they haven't done what they can to reduce usage over winter.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor is that your direct debit amount or your actual usage?

@BarbaraofSeville we've massively reduced our usage already. We're trying to build up some credit now in preparation for the winter months and also change our habits of electricity usage.

Actual useage.

Our account is in my DH's name and statements are online so all I really know (without taking a calculator to the figures on our smart metre and trying to work it out) is that our DD has gone from £79 to £350 since January. The only change in usage is an electric car that costs around £12 to charge per week based on the difference of day to day use on smart metre.

@Bottlesandjars but how would people know whether it's a faulty meter, if they don't know what their actual usage is? Even if it's a faulty amount, its helpful to know, I'm using 20 kWh a day electric, 3 bedroomed house, so others can compare properly.

I imagine that energy companies are getting numerous calls to say we have a faulty meter because a DD is astronomical, but actually the DD amount is nothing to do with usage, and the company are banking the rest.

Hear hear, OP.
I think some people are terrified, and are scared to look at their actual usage, in case things are worse than they thought. Most people will - or should - get a pleasant surprise.
I'm currently using way less than I'm paying for, and will be checking and challenging them when they try to increase my DD.

Oh and I do assume the DD is above actual usage but it was before. Every summer we've built up credit and bills have stayed steady across the year. The fact that it needs to jump so much for that to happen this winter is understandably frightening.

Yes I thought that too, how wrong was I?

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor that's the point of my thread- that's the information that's useful to know. If that was just your direct debit amount, your usage could be anything. Now you have a figure that you can compare to others in the same size house to see if that sounds right, or where you might be able to cut down.

The kWh would be even more useful, but knowing actual usage is still better than direct debit amounts

I took to twitter when my energy company were ignoring my emails and calls regarding our faulty meter.

Amazing how quickly they were suddenly able to come and replace it...

I think you're being unfair, people are worried and the situation is souch worse in the UK because the government is doing fuck all.

Dread to think what Zahawi's bill must be for heating the stables these days.

It's just a made up number that your energy provider is using to get your money in the bank as a buffer for themselves.

Actually mine at least isn't - it's based on the units I used in the previous 12 months, divided by 12 at current prices (I've checked this). So, no, not a made up number.

@chilliesandspices just from conversation and anecotes, not data, I believe that direct debits are going up even more in proportion to usage than they normally are. I think the energy companies are trying to get as much in as possible now, as they know they will have more people struggling to pay in the winter, so less reserves in the bank.

DD on Mumsnet means dear daughter. If you struggle with understanding OP just look up the common abbreviations used on the site and that will guide you. It is driving me a little mad when people post threads where they think they are much cleverer than everyone else.

@SwelegantParty glad to hear it! However any thread where the poster is stating 'theyve put my DD up to £xx amonth', I'm assuming is not working out actual usage divided by 12, otherwise they would say 'I've raised my DD to £xx', not 'they've'. I dont know of a single energy company that doesnt over estimate, unfortunately. Happy to hear of some though!

I'm familiar with appreviations thanks, and DD has another meaning that is commonly used.

I'm not much cleverer than everyone else, I'm chatting about something which has had multiple threads about it daily for months, but which people can only commiserate, not offer advice unless more information is given. In the OP I've put the information which may result in better advice (tariff and usage), which is accessible to everyone with a bill, and hopefully may actually help someone.