To not have realised this?! (Bulb customers, but may help others)

[Newbie198]

So Bulb want to increase my payments from £170 a month to £260, with an absolute minimum of £234.

I phoned and explained that my £170 plus the £66 from the government totals £236 (above their minimum) so I’m all good thanks, no need to increase payments. Happy for them to reassess in March when the government help stops.

Tried to reduce the new direct debit amount online, will not accept any less than £234 a month (replacing the current £170). Clearly the £234 they want me to pay, plus the government £66 makes £300 a month Bulb intend on taking.

Phoned back, trying my best to explain that the government’s £66 means my payments are enough. Bulb did not seem to see my point.

Some companies I believe, are indeed using the government’s £66 to reduce customer payments, which of course was the original intention was it not? To help keep payments manageable through the winter.

Bulb, and maybe others, are keeping the £66 (ok, crediting it to your account) whilst still demanding massive increases from the customer. I want the government help to make things easier for me now, not to be banked in my account as a credit.

So, I cancelled my direct debit. They try to scare you by saying you may be charged £20 for doing this. However, you have the right to pay by bank transfer (as well as other methods) which is what I have requested. They still want a minimum £234 by bank transfer, but of course I have control over this and will pay £170. If they want to take me to court for being £500 in credit and rising thanks to the government’s help, I wish them luck.

So, I hadn’t realised that some companies are not deducting the £66 off your monthly payments to help you, but are banking this money (as a credit to your account) and still trying to up people’s payments by ridiculous amounts.

Just wanted to let people know there are other options if you are worried about how you are going to pay these latest unreasonable increases.

I suspect Bulb, and maybe others, are using the government help to keep plenty of people in loads of credit whilst still upping their payments, perhaps to cover those who won’t or can’t pay in the future. I’d rather my £500 or whatever be used by me how I choose, especially in these difficult times, not sat in Bulb’s account.

No, I meant the OP's experience was dreadful.

Agree @Drywhitefruitycidergin I’ve always been happy with Bulb in general.

My usage to answer another pp seems to support a payment of around £250. I will use the top up facility if my credit starts to dwindle.

I am with bulb, they emailed me last month to say they were reducing my DD because of the £67 credit.
I have been with them for years and I am was in credit with them before the government funding kicked in, are you in credit with Bulb.

Just adding to those happy with EDF. Hopefully I won't regret saying this, but we've found them really straightforward to deal with re the govt rebate. No issues at all and everything was put in place as expected. Cost of bill seemed fair too (well, as fair as could be under the circumstances - don't want to sound like I'm coming out batting for the energy companies)!

Only thing though, I think EDF charge slightly higher per KW.

@kittenkerfuffle
Yes, I’m nearly £500 in credit

I am with Bulb. I told them (with figures to support) why they should NOT be increasing my direct debits. They agreed, but not until they had taken one month of the increase. I threw my toys out of the pram and said forget it- I’ll just pay for what I use i.e. variable direct debit. And I asked them to put the £500 credit from my account (accrued over summer) back into my bank account. Which they did. I think they have to if you actually ask; but you do need to be firm with Bulb. Some of their customer service people are really annoying.

I am £1900 in credit with SE
They have put DD up by £200, I tried not to do this and to keep it at current level and they require an immediate payment of £1200 to do this

Bonkers!

Octopus deducted the £66 from our DD, I increased ours back to what we were paying before because we can afford it and I'd rather accrue credit and re-evaluate after Christmas. I've found them really good through all of this tbh, our standing charge is slightly below the cap and their communication has been clear throughout

Likewise. Though apparently the OP thinks this means I’m lacking in security or can’t budget or something.

Likewise. Though apparently the OP thinks this means I’m lacking in security or can’t budget or something.

My previous post if you read it said that you had a good point about direct debits and taking advantage of cheaper prices @BiasedBinding?

Others, I said, like the security of knowing what they are going to pay each month, rather than the uncertainty of variable payments. This is especially true for those on limited budgets.

It is fortunate that there are those of us who can afford to overpay, taking advantage of the government help as well as being able to keep payments the same as before, thus buffering our credit. Sadly, the original intention and the reality for many is that the government help would reduce payments, or at least prevent massive increases for those who haven’t the luxury of being able to overpay.

I was confused by Shell's approach. They want you to set you direct debit as if the £66 did not exist, then they actually collect an amount that is £66 less than your direct debit.

I'm confused by Bulb. When they first put prices up six months ago or whenever it was, they made it clear the DD increase they were proposing was more than it needed to be, and we brought it down to something more manageable.

This week's email whacking my Dd up by £70 pm appears to be non-negotiable, telling not asking. We're nearly £1000 in credit and they say they've taken that and the £66pm from govt into account and it still might not be enough! I need to check it all out again as it sounds bonkers.

We are the opposite. They have lowered our DD but because they raised it by so much in April, we’re now massively in credit.

I’m with Bulb on a smart meter and they emailed me to say my monthly DD would be going down by £66 a month. I was in credit by a few hundred so contacted them through the online chat, as I wanted to reduce my DD further (to use up the credit) but like OP the online bill system wouldn’t let me. They were very helpful and have put a hold on my DD for the next few months until the credit is used up. They have also changed my account to say future bills are taken from any credit first before the DD is taken.

I am with bulb and only pay 66 per month now after the increase (previously £55). I am also in quite a bit of credit + the £66 payment that will be added over the winter, I have reduced my DD to £1 per month and I will increase it again when I am close to even with them.

Everyone is all over the place with these companies!

I withdrew most of our credit bar a couple of hundred pound buffer. Seemed pointless having it all there ready for winter yet the energy companies still want to up the direct debit and not use the credit but keep it in the account it would seem. That’s why people were building up the credit in the first place to use in winter! We’ve since built it up more again!

Ovo are telling us to up the DD but I’m ignoring it as we’ve again still got credit to use and also the £66 government monthly support off the bill. We are currently -£25 on our bill this month thanks to that money. So the £100 DD will again not be fully used while we haven’t got the heating on yet. So we are paying more into the account than using ( for now) so why would I up it?!

We're with Outfox the Market and we're £600 in credit. They haven't changed our direct debit but we're receiving a credit to our bank account each month.

I am with bulb, they will not give the 66 pound any other way than credit. They won't refund any of the government money, so does this mean if we save energy bulb just keeps gaining interest from our sacrifices? I stated I wanted my energy support in line with government guidelines and basically was fobbed off. I feel there taking advantage of this and I'm going to move as it's unacceptable

Octopus is crediting it to the energy bill. They are reducing my direct debit by the same amount so the original amount is being paid towards my bill

Having not known any of this before a You and Yours programme last week I called Bulb and asked them to refund £400 odd they had on credit for me. They wanted me to leave in at least £200 but I said no.

The call handler kept me on hold for a while then came back and told me it would be OK.

I got the refund on Friday and happy for them to take what I owe each month from dd, not a standing amount.

Glad I did now as I have heard about companies keeping the government payments and Bulb have been in admin for the last 6 months. What if they suddenly stop paying customers back and allocate funds to pay off company debts?

I’m also with bulb.
They reduced my monthly payments.

they are now £5.