To cancel my energy direct debit?

[IAintPayingSillyPrices]

I’m a low income household with DC; I’m unable to work due to disability.

I currently pay by direct debit which is almost double what my usage is. I appreciate usage will be higher in Winter but I’m not in credit over the Summer (I’m slowly paying off an extortionate debit) .

I aim to have the debit paid off by the end of September so I have a zero balance. I don’t understand how the energy prices work.

My supplier has contacted me to say they will put up my direct debit to £402 next month. My usage for this month is £103. Why do they want me to pay 3x more than I use?

I want to cancel my direct debit and pay quarterly. I will put the money aside each month and pay the bill when it comes in so I’m only paying for what I use.

Can I do this? Is it sensible? Please can someone explain as the whole thing is very confusing to me.

This is what I do. People say you shouldn’t as it’s cheaper to pay by direct debit, but the difference is minimal.

I considered setting up a direct debit this week actually but I decided against, as they calculate it based on previous usage and I’m intending to cut back this winter. I feel like if I’m paying a set amount regardless there’ll be no incentive for me to cut back.

You can also ask for your bills to be monthly, it doesn’t have to be quarterly. I’ve just gone online and paid some onto my account even though my bill isn’t due and it’s showing a £0 balance because I sturugfle to save the money every month. This way my account will be in credit when the bill is generated.

Can you not just say no to the direct debit rise?
Talk to them and say what you can afford
Are you on the variable rate?

I’ve already done this. The amount they wanted to set as my direct debit is based on my past usage - they assume I’ll use the same amount this year as I did last year - and that absolutely won’t happen because I can’t afford it.

You don’t have to agree to the DD rise

Log on to ‘manage my Direct Debit’ and change what you want to pay

that’s what I do

I cancelled my dd with EDF as they took more than I agreed to. I now pay a weekly amount online, keep the account in credit and give a meter reading every month.

We are using less than we were last year. They still keep over estimating our usage by more than 25%. I think they want to frighten people into overpaying regardless of payment method.

Decline to accept the rise is what I would do.

I've never paid by DD and never will.

I like to be in control of my money and if they do take more in DD than required I don't need, or want, the hassle of sorting it out.

Decline the change in direct debit but don’t cancel it. Are you providing meter readings? So your bills are based on actual usage?

I think your question is more complex than those of the people replying because you are paying off a debt as well as paying for your current usage.

You need to agree with them the plan for paying the debt and pay the agreed amount every month as well as the usage, which you can work out from your unit cost, units used (by taking readings, daily at first, at the same time each day), plus your daily standing charge for each fuel and 5% VAT.

But if you can work that out and pay it monthly that would be fine.

Also, it’s not about the amount you use it’s about rhw cost of what you use, and that’s gone up massively.

you need to look at what the cost per unit is on gas and electric before doing anything.

it may be you have your debt repaid before the increase comes in and you can change supplier (although they’re all expensive!).

if paying by quarterly amounts works for you, do that or reduce your monthly direct debit.

My supplier has contacted me to say they will put up my direct debit to £402 next month. My usage for this month is £103. Why do they want me to pay 3x more than I use?

Theyre not. You are using much less now as it is very hot summer.
The cost of the amount of energy you are using now will rise from £103 to £187 in October
Youll be going into autumn and winter with £0 in credit.
So they’ve probably calculated that from Sept-Jan you will probably use twice as much energy as you are now.
That plus the higher prices would indicate a DD of around £400/mo.

You risk going into debt again if you cancel and you will pay even higher unit prices for the energy you consume.

However, you could ask them to limit the DD to £200 for now as this warm weather could persist.

These are some made up numbers , but used to illustrate the point.

Between April - September, Mrs. Average uses £100 per month for gas & elec.
Between October - March, Mrs. Average uses £300 per month for gas & elec.

Mrs Average cannot pay £300 per month, cannot cope with the huge additional burden particularly over christmas. However, she can pay £200 every month.

In January Mrs Average switches suppliers and pays £200 per month. So she owes £100 to the gas & elec company - but they are fine with this. Same for Feb and March, so Mrs Average owes £300 now - they are still fine with this.
Over April, May & June, Mrs Average keeps paying £200 -- which is £100 more than she is using wiping out that £300 debt from earlier in the month.

Over July, August & September she builds up £300 credit and the Gas & Elec provider... which is then wiped out over October, November and December -- which makes everyone all square on the 31st Dec.

They want to raise your bill now to increase your credit so that you won't be overwhelmed by christmas.

You dear reader may well have no issues with budgeting and planning for the expected higher bills -- but many, many in this country do have such issues. Taking more money now helps those who will struggle and those that refuse to believe the upcoming wave of massive costs have to be paid.