How much electricity credit should I be in at this time of year

[Sherlocklovelyhomes]

I pay £370 a month and I am currently £2000 in credit. No central heating, just electric. Last few years we didn't put our heaters on at all. This year we are already switching on one electric heater and one plug in oil filled radiator. We use our water heater most days now. We have an electric shower. We run a dehumidifier 24/7. The house is not damp, we just have the dehumidifier to compensate for us not having heating on.

In previous years I have been 3 or 4 k in credit at times. This year with higher interest rates I feel I could have that money in an account rather than the electricity supplier making money off it.

I don't have a smart meter and I don't want one at this time (will get one next year). I am forced to keep a large sum in my current account because they vaty the monthly payments a lot, by hundreds often. And they say I have to keep this amount in credit in case I can't pay.

I would like to submit readings every month and pay for what I have used but this isn't a thing. I have asked for the credit to be returned but they have not yet agreed to this as I am meant to be in credit at this time of year. I have the money to pay for electricity but I want to keep it in my account not theirs. How much credit should I be in right now?

I would change supplier! I am with Octopus and they have different tariffs for people with storage heaters. Their customer service is great and you can choose to pay monthly for what you have used. If you do decide to change then if you use my referral code I get £50 and you get £50 credit. Honestly though I’m not saying change because of that I was with British Gas and I hated the 6 monthly bills and never quite knowing where I was with it and now I have a monthly bill and know exactly where I am and how much we are using. How much you should be in credit depends on your use. How much is your bill a year then divide by 12 and approx that should be your monthly amount.

Your Octopus Energy Referral code
Use this link to sign up to Octopus - https://share.octopus.energy/fresh-hill-950

We are with Ovo and read our meter and pay monthly, I would not do direct debit. 2k in credit is ridiculous when they'll still be taking your dd each month on top and you use very little.

I certainly wouldn’t need or want that much credit and still be paying £370 per month. If they won’t refund you, I would stop direct debit or just pay say £5 for a couple of months.it’s not down to them to decide whether you can afford it or not.

We are never more than a few hundred in credit.

Drop your DD amount and put the heating on. You clearly have the cash, why so tight and cold??

This might be useful re getting your money back

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/claim-back-credit/claim-back-credit-from-your-energy-supplier/#:~:text=Contact%20your%20supplier%20and%20tell,if%20you're%20not%20sure.

I had 1k credit with Octopus Got it back Good firm

Lol I really don't have the money to have the heating on. Plus it is never fully warm even with everything going full blast. I have to keep cash in my current account because of the wildly varying DD but at various points they have increased the DD to more than half my income. Single parent, low income, not entitled to anything other than CB.

Funnily enough it is ovo I am with. I truly think they must have a flag on my account because I once phoned up and said they were taking more than half my income at one point. Now when I ask for my surplus back they are saying I need to be in credit so I can pay for it. I will contact them again now that everyone has said theres no need to be 2k in credit. Thank you all. They were saying it was normal and expected to have that much in credit. Wish me luck.

Fuck 2k is insane!! I thought I was doing well at £300 in credit!

I recently realised I was nearly £800 in credit and have dropped the amount I pay in by half (was £450pm). I was told that if it goes over a certain amount they have to return it, but I have never had that happen unless moving suppliers. I think you just need to keep an eye on it. I'm happy with 1 month's worth in credit.

That’s ridiculous, a month or 2 credit at this point of the year would be more than enough.

I had £350 credit sitting with EDF and I emailed them asking for £200 refunded (my Direct Debit is £130 a month).

It was in my bank account within a couple of days.

Look up the Direct Debit guarantee. They are not allowed to vary the payments without telling you or take unexpected amounts, so you're not required to leave money in your current account for this.

If they take more than they have notified or any payment earlier than they should, you are entitled to an immediate refund from your bank. So you should use this facility, every time it happens.

£2000 credit also sounds like far too much. At this time of year, you should probably be 2/3 months in credit, at most. If you're always in credit, £370 pm is probably too high. You need to calculate your annual bill, and hence what your monthly DD should be, based on your usage. MSE has a calculator that helps you do this, and gives advice on whether you should be able to get your credit back and advice how to deal with them if they won't set your DD at a fair level or refund excess credit.

Cut unfair direct debits - MoneySavingExpert

But I agree with the recommendation for Octopus, you should switch to them.

They do write to say they are increasing it, but it changes so often.

We’re with Octopus too for gas and electricity. They send you monthly reminders to submit readings and there is a button at the bottom of the email to request your credit back - it’s a simple to do.

I don't understand why they would do this. You should formally complain or it might be easier to just switch supplier, you'll get all your £2k back within a few weeks, or less of leaving them.

I don't hold anything in credit in my energy accounts.

I have a fixed DD of £25 per month for gas and another for electricity. Each month my energy accounts go £25 into credit for a few days. Then that months bill generates and I go back into debit - and I pay those amounts off by debit cardas adhoc payments, bringing me back to £0. Then repeat every month.

We're also with Octopus and I'd highly recommend them. Their site and app are really straightforward and easy to use. Never much of a hold time if I call them. And their billing system is very straightforward and transparent.

I'm confused.

You are £2000 in credit but can't afford to put the heating on?

And your supplier varies your DDs by huge amounts each month. Have you opted in somewhere to variable DDs?

I'm with Octopus. They were charging me £200 a month but by May I'd racked up a huge credit and got £400 back. It's now £120 a month and I'm in credit by £600 which should comfortably see me through most of the cold months.

Op if you're in credit, of course you can put the heating on - that's what it's for!

I have phoned them and they have told me I can only have £599 back and in 2 months I can ask them to refund more. This is to protect me from fraud! The lady I spoke to said they need a reason why I need the money back. I said I wanted it back because it is my money and I want it earning interest in my own account. She then said she was going to put 'financial problems' on the form. I don't want her putting that because wanting my own money in my own account is not a financial problem, it is common sense. I swear they have got something like that on their records about me!

They must be earning a fortune off people like me.

I couldn't answer the security questions so I ended the call and will get back to them.

I will do it in writing. You can claim back up to £500 via the app but I want it ALL back. I am going to change suppliers. Admin is a problem for me but this is ridiculous.

Which company is this?

You know you can say no. There's no one sitting at a desk looking at your account and going, hmmm, @Sherlocklovelyhomes needs to be paying more. It's all auto generated based on average use.

Ovo are hopeless. I went through ridiculous hoops trying to get my credit refunded but they were so slow in responding that by the time they did and said I could have x amount, another bill cycle had kicked in and I had to start again.

I cancelled my DD and let my credit decrease that way. It took six months (including over Winter!) for it to reduce to a small amount. I then left for Octopus.

As expected, getting my remaining money back took forever, which is why I'd decided to run down the credit rather than leave earlier.

So if I were you I'd cancel the DD, then wait till your credit is about £50, then leave for Octopus.

I'm really confused as I'm with Ovo - I had a large credit, which they automatically returned to me.
They also request meter readings every month - so what do you mean that submitting reading's each month 'Isn't a thing'?

Just stop the DD and do it that way. It will take forever and ever to get any refund from Ovo.

I had forgotten, but this thread is reminding me how awful and incompetent they are.

Put the money aside for when you leave.

I'm submitting meter readings every month via the app but they won't let me just pay for what I am using. They just seem to come up with random figures. I have tried to vary the DD via the app before but it didn't work. They increase it in the summer when the house isn't even occupied and only the fridge is on.

The last time I changed suppliers there was a massive cock up that took months to sort out and that has put me off changing again but I have to switch away from this.

I'm in debt by £150
If I had 2k credit I would be putting the heating on!

I'm £300 in credit and pay £150pm. I was paying a lot more with British Gas and my bill nearly halved with Utility Warehouse.