Are your energy bills currently in credit?

[caniquitwork]

I am £98 in credit, but the energy provider says I can’t reduce my direct debit - surely being in credit at the end of winter is good? I am
paying £260 on the 8th so then I will be even more in credit?
yabu - keep payment as suggested by energy provider
yanbu - reduce your payment, they are overcharging you

£482 with another £240 about to go through. Time to get refund and reduce DD.

Instead of direct debit, set up a standing order. You then have complete control. I'm sick of utility companies thinking they know my finances better than me.

Oh this thread is really interesting.

back in October I had a £900 credit balance which they wanted to return to me and increase my dd by £60. I declined as id deliberately planned the balance so not to worry in winter. Normally we are around £700 in dr by March. This year I’m £500 in credit. My direct debit should probably be around £50 less to cover my usage exactly.

traditionally I’ve always been in debt in spring then usually building up credit by July. Which I think is how most people work but is sounds like attitudes are shifting (unpredictability of fuel prices? ) and the companies are trying to hold on to more credit balances.

I'm on prepay for both gas and electric. I'm in credit to the tune of £320 combined. I refuse to go back to paying by DD as it's a total rip-off. I pay £150pm combined compared to the £160 just for electric alone if paid by DD.

I'll caveat this by saying ONLY do this if you can responsibly save money.

Variable direct debit is the way to go. This way the direct debit only takes what you used in the billing period.

My energy company refused to drop the DD below £300 a month so I requested Variable. Over the last three years my annual bill have never summed to more than two thirds of the original direct debit.

Every month the £300 gets put to one side until I'm billed.

Eon Next will not allow a credit balamce above £100.

This thread is a good reminder that I need to check my meters (not smart) as haven’t for a while.

I am usually in credit by a few hundred. Not this year. My last bill tipped me over into the red and I’m about minus £25. First time this has happened.

I changed my settings a couple of years ago and now I just pay the exact amount that I used (which obviously varies month to month). This works for me..

That money could be earning interest for you by sitting in your bank account instead of the power company’s. I suggest withdrawing sone!

No, I pay for what I use every month. So I always owe them. The reading is taken on the 1st of the month and the payment is taken on the 6th

No, I owe ~ £200. I keep an eye on my account balance all year and pay a lump sum at the end of Mar if I owe anything.

£100 in debit

3k in debit and I’ve been asking for years for a meter accuracy check and being refused / the wrong appts made

We pay £100 a month DD and are £300 in credit. This month's bill will be the last big bill ( 200)
We are with Octopus who are excellent.
Summer bills are usually £80 so we will build up a bit of credit for winter. Happy for DDs to go up to £125 in winter

No, because we pay by variable direct debit - what we use, paid in full every month.

Well we are with Eon next and have always been in credit over 300 and before when it was just as eon...we prefer to stay well in credit so we don't need to worry

Nearly £1000! Am surprised, will go see about getting a refund.

I suppose it's not a lot of credit in comparison to your usage so I can understand them not wanting you to reduce your payments. But seeing as the price cap is about to come down and winter has ended, I think you'd be within your rights to reduce them anyway. Why should the energy company benefit from hoarding your money?

Octopus would not refuse at this time of year and always allow a refund if you ask. I used to be with Good Energy who pointlessly increased the monthly amount all the time. I used to ring them and they'd apologise then do it again a few months later. Anyway, how much do you want to reduce it by? Which company is it?

Same, we're about £100 in debt but we're already using about £20 less than the current bill with still having the heating on, so that will change to credit soon

Are people that have huge credit on the price cap so it is not changed, ours is worked out over the year when we go on a new fixed rate and seems to be about the right amount, it was set last August and the £200 debit will be paid off over the Spring and Summer because of much lower bills so by August it should be at zeroish

Yes by £50, which is where I’d expect to be at this point in the year. I pay £105 a month (smallish house, me and one DC) which builds up credit March-September as no heating on, then spend the credit on extra gas costs during the winter months. I’m with Octopus.

i was in about £300 credit as we entered winter and octopus still said that their predictions said I should up my dd a bit which I did/ but I hardly have the hearing on so am still massively in credit so will drop the dd back down again soon. I am very careful with my energy use.

I'm with Fuse. No credit or debit, you just pay per month for what you've used. We just bank some extra during the summer to cover the winter.