Energy Company Reluctant to Refund - please

[JemimaPyjamas]

My brain today is mush due to a million other things, but I want to get this 100% clear before I fire off yet another email. Apologies in advance for this being a) boring and b) possibly garbled...

I am in credit over £450 for my gas and electric. I clearly overpay, and hence want some back. The Energy company say that it 'best to be reviewed in a few months time' and are reluctant to refund more than £50. I am now also getting the £66 a month via the government and when my DD goes out, will be in credit by another £125. My bill for last month was £128 with the extra government input but, as it's winter, that's normal.

What my fuddled brain needs someone to explain, in simple terms is, am I paying in advance for what I allegedly using? If so, their energy forecasts are wrong, and also the money in the account is my money and not theirs?
Am I being paranoid in assuming that it benefits them to have people build up a lot of credit as they can accumulate interest on it, but they have no actual right to keep hold of it, or at least that much?

I am admittedly knackered and hence possibly not thinking it through logically, but their insistence on keeping hold of the cash already there doesn't seem to make sense. It's like I owe them rather the the other way round (this is 100% NOT the case.)

I have never been in debt with them and I am also happy to have a slight buffer of, say, £100 for the time being but AIBU to insist for a lot of the current balance back - particularly as it seems to be constantly increasing, AND we have the £66 a month going in as well until April...?

@Halloweenyesterday - if you are paying actual usage rather than monthly direct debits, you'll be charged at a higher rate.

@BlueWalnut thats really handy, thank you.

@Athenen0ctua My credit is increasing far more than what I am using. I have said in previous post (which I don't blame you for not ploughing through, it's hardly gripping) that our usage doesn't change hugely throughout the year as most of it is electric (we currently have three tonnes of wood in the shed!)

@FormerlySpeckledyHen I am wondering about this, while also keeping a bit of a buffer in case we do use more than expected.

Thanks everyone for their help.

Shell also think I’ll use more kWh in the next 12 months than in the previous 12 months.
🤷🏻‍♀️ Heating only went on today for a few hours. First time since March.
We’re in a 3 bed semi and the direct debit they want is £280 !

I’m making it a bit of a mission to use as little as possible now too (hence the logs) and generally using eco settings rather than before I used quicker cycles for the washing machine etc. I will top up the £125 if needs be, but as it’ll be over £600 credit soon I don’t think a refund seems that strange a request!

If it's Octopus, you can change your DD amount online without even talking to them. Just change it to £50pcm until its at a figure you're happy with. If you go into the red one month, you can make an extra payment online to cover the deficit.

I can predict my usage very well, and I find Shell's predictions very accurate and reasonable. I don't know if having a smart meter is contributing to the accuracy of their predictions. I have £365 credit at the moment, my direct debit is set to £220, but they take £66 less than that due to the govenment scheme. I was paying about £100 last winter.

I have had similar with my energy provider 2 weeks ago, where they tried to tell me about my bills going up and to keep £740 I have built up since April, but I have demanded this money returned to me, as I prefer it to be in my bank account, not theirs. They finally agreed, but tried their luck again and raised my DD quite significantly the very next day. Again, I had to call them and only after I have threatened to cancel my DD altogether, they have reinstated my old DD amount.
You have to be very firm and not let them get away in keeping your money or raising your DD just because they have access to your bank information.

If it is Octopus then just put your DD right down in the online account. Click the ‘change my payments’ link on the main account page. The scroll down to ‘edit amount’. It is super easy to do.

Their balance forecast is based on typical usage so high for heating in winter. I also have a house where our energy usage is abnormally constant through the year. So the DD looks really high. I just adjusted the DD down for it to make sense.

It is just a function of them being unable to predict usage well in slightly unusual circumstances (like a wood burner).

Why are people having arguments with their companies? I change companies fairly often, and for as long as I can remember, they all allow me to login to their web site and set my direct debit to whatever I think it should be.

Absolutely don’t do this if you’re on a fixed tariff.

This is why I can't understand the posters saying they're happy being hundreds of pounds in credit to the companies because the money is surely better in a separate account of yours to use as a bugger than theirs??

There was another poster who's having trouble getting the direct debit lowered as she's paying over £300 a month on current usage of around £150 and she still has a credit in the high hundreds.

People are starting to be refused lowering of direct debits even though they're based on a forecast not actual usage and are now being refused refunds.

It's not going to go well.

Soon there will be people on their asses and struggling to buy fuel and food but still be paying out loads of extra and no refunds.