Gas direct debit increasing from £38 to £90

[Bustle]

I think this is a ridiculous increase, I know we're coming up to winter but I'll never use that much (and can't really afford to increase the DD by that much!)

I'm going to ring them tomorrow, but want to go in armed - what do I need to know? Obviously I'll read the meter (can't do it easily now as it's dark), but anyone know what I can demand? Do I have any right to make demands?

Thanks

cancel direct debit for a start.

www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/ppc/mumsnet/

Who are you with?
EDF do this to me every 6 months to a year but when I ring, I get a normal person who is as baffled as I am on how they come up with the figure!

Never an argument on the amount, just a discussion on what we both feel is suitable.

Do you know your average usage?? Could you take that, allow for the price increases and the upcoming cold and offer that amount?

EDF funnily enough! Yes, I'll dig out my spreadsheets and work out what I reckon is a reasonable amount, good idea.

is £38 enough to cover winter usage? It does seem quite low, better to put the dd up (but not by that much)than end up with a massive bill

Is that based on a review with an actual meter reading? If it is a wildly high estimate that could account for a large portion of the increase.

We "switched" last year and £38 was what they suggested, our annual bill on a standard tariff and paying quarterly by cheque had been £662 (so monthly equiv £55). Discounting price rises, we thought this was about right for a discounted tariff & a discount for paying by monthly DD. So even with the massive price rise (I don't know what it's actually been!) I would've expected the DD to increase to around a maximum of say, £50? I didn't expect to change to a cheaper tariff and it cost me almost twice as much!

There are some explanations possible. Prices went up sharply this month. If your usage was really £50-55/month and they've been charging you £38/month based on an incorrect estimate you could be slightly in arrears. You could have used more gas than you think. Also, if you're on a particular tariff and it has expired, companies will try to put you on their basic tariff. Preparation therefore.

• Check your actual KwH usage
• Check your current meter reading vs the one on the bill
• Check your bill and make sure you're not in arrears (or zero balance running up to winter)
• Check what tariff is applicable and that it hasn't changed.
• Do a search on comparison sites for your typical KwH usage and get some prices to compare
• When calling your current provider, get them to match the cheapest price you get from the comparison site.

EDF used to change my direct debits regularly - used to drive me mad. British Gas much better, usually I just adjust the DDs after the winter if necessary to catch up and I feel more in control of that.

But tbh £38 does sound very low indeed coming into winter

Thank you for all the replies. Turns out the estimated was double the actual reading, so the bill was considerably less. We'd also slightly underpaid so there was a small amount of arrears. I've given them the correct reading, and they've increased the DD to £77 for 2 months to clear the arrears.

Thanks for the advice - we're on this tariff till the end of December, so I'll shop around then.

WEll Im with British Gas and they want to put my monthly repayment up from £110 t0 £124. I aint got it plus I have just put a new central heating boiler in last month and expect my bill to go down, so I will pay my 3110 and they can swivel for the rest

3110 should be £110 soz

i'm currently paying £34 a month (cheap i know compared to some people). Just got latest bill, i am £100 in credit and they have an estimate on my bill that they estimate i will use £505 in next 12 months. So based on this they are increasing my DD to £62????????? How did they work that out?