Energy companies that treat us like ATM's

[grizzlyoldbear]

I’m £153.65 in credit with OVO and moving out on October 1st, but they’re still taking £200/month by direct debit to “build up credit” for winter — which I won’t even be around for. I’ve asked them to reduce it and got absolutely nowhere. Spent 2 hours on their online chat on Friday with an assistant and still no resolution. I'm not so good with manual payments, otherwise i'd just cancel the DD. How is this bloody legal? Is it reasonable to switch energy suppliers with 2 months left?

Sorry I can’t advise on your situation but sharing my experience -
I live in a small mid terrace, finances mean I have to be very frugal re heating etc. I’m with floras and do a meter reading once a month and pay it off straight away. my average bills are £20 in summer and £45 in winter. I’ve been here for a full year so they know my usages.
I thought I’d set up a direct debit to save me going online and paying every month and they wanted £140 per month!!! WTF! How much interest are they earning on customers money 💰 🤔

It depends if you are in a fixed term contract and whether you have to pay to exit early.

@grizzlyoldbear cancel your direct debit and pay monthly until October

eta; your credit amount should cover August/September, so you'd only have one manual, final payment to sort

Oh tell me about it! I forgot to send them a meter reading in July, they know we have solar and use next to nothing in the height of summer because that's what happens EVERY YEAR - so slapped me with a 'winter' style bill AND say my min direct debit has gone up by £2. Why? Because they want me to have a month in credit by March. Why can I not pay the exact amount due each month 'as the bill comes in', just as we used to QUARTERLY before privatisation?

Far prefer our heating oil system: check oil price regularly as tank empties, buy in a heatwave when the dollar exchange rate is good and the price is low, paid 47p/litre, which is cheaper than it was in 2014 so filled the tank right up should do me this winter and next winter too!

Exactly the same with me - we pay £200 per month with Octopus for gas and electricity and they want to increase it to £236 per month. I have never been in debt with them, and I don't want to have a big cash surplus with them sitting there until December.

I've emailed to tell them but if they won't allow, I'll be switching.

Does anyone know a company that allows you to pay monthly (not direct debit?)

@clotheslinefiasco

"Does anyone know a company that allows you to pay monthly (not direct debit?)"

Funnily enough, Octopus do, most will allow but they will cost you an extra £5 - £20 extra per month, somehow, their excuses are lame!

Why would you do that when you go on your banking app and just change the amount. Or on the app.

You control the direct debit amount...

I used to alter the payments dm made fairly often as I had POA. Was very easy and I did it on line.

They won't allow me to alter it down without contacting them first...

I have emailed and will see what they say.

@Tizer it used to be easy to alter - now not so much!

@TheFinePrintess could I please ask which company you use?

I’ve just had a an email from octopus saying I need to up my dd from £150 to £170 even though I’m in credit by £272. I wrote back and said I won’t be increasing it and if I fall short I’ll top up the payment each month in winter, though I don’t expect to. They’ve accepted this. I think they don’t take account of any credit because you can ask for a refund at any time

Octopus put mine up, I went online and reduced it back down again. I've always been able to do that. I have also requested credits in the past, of several hundred pounds. It's a pain their systems don't accurately reflect usage, but I've always been able to do everything online without issue.

@clotheslinefiasco I’m only talking of 18 months ago. It should be possible. How do you put it up then if it cannot be altered? Occasionally I put DMs up.

@BeTaupeShaker The only option my banking app gives me is to cancel the direct debit. Ovo decide the amount themselves, and their (useless) website won’t let me change it.

I kid you not, Scottish power sent us a bill a few years ago for £83000 odd, with an offer to pay it through monthly installments. Ok, at the time 6 of us were living here, but it’s a house, not a 24 hour nightclub with a bastard car factory attached, and we have solar panels.
when DH “questioned” ( laughed at) the amount, the person on the other end of the phone acted as if it was an unremarkable amount to ask for really. Luckily DH is a maths teacher with a finance background and the patience to stay on the phone with numerous people and go through the charges painstakingly unit by unit over again until, after the equivalent hours of around 2-3 working days later (we did a tally), it was finally resolved and he agreed on a still extortionate but not quite so extraordinary amount.

The whole experience was so outlandish I couldn’t take anything SP said seriously or engage with them in any way, it was like an encounter with the most unsophisticated scamming grabby gangster shitheads in the history of the world. Suffice to say, we are no longer with SP

Octopus let you set up a variable direct debit - so they just take the amount on your bill each month. Doesn't cost anything to do this.

@clotheslinefiasco my gas is with Flogas, they serve the whole estate via a huge underground tank. I’d never heard of that type of thing before I moved here. It means they have a complete monopoly, although the estate committee negotiate prices with them every few years

I am with Octopus! We had a Direct Debit with them.On one month, we had a lower balance in our bank account.I was a bit concerned about getting into overdraft so I cancelled the Direct Debit of £225.00.I did email Octopus of my intentions. I was intending to set up the Direct Debit again, but I found my monthly payments kept going up.I have since been sending monthly readings to my Octopus account.Then once I have my monthly amounts outstanding updated I pay by debit card the full amount.We are in a house with four people,our bills are around £165.00 in the Summer as we are at home 24-7 We dread the winter bills,which will go up to £250 -£300 with heating.That's keeping a watch on the thermostat,our home is old, so cold in the winter around 11c.

I am with British Gas and currently over £4.5k in credit. Have been trying for 6 weeks to get a refund - it is driving me insane.

Just need to wait 2 more weeks and can then go to the ombudsman.

Octopus customer here. I’ve almost £500 in credit. It’s going to stay there as it’ll all get eaten up in the winter. We are using about £82 worth of energy every month but pay £132. Last month I had a free energy session. I did my very best to use it to my advantage but only managed to use 41p!

I can change my direct debit amounts in the app when I want. I’m happy to leave them
be at the moment.

Exactly. Of course, anyone who does this without doing the necessary budgeting will be in for a big shock when their winter bills arrive.

That’s outrageous! What is their reason for not giving your a refund? I get refunds from BG at least twice a year as my monthly DD is more than I ever use but the buggers won’t let me change the amount online.

Quick update - to be fair to Octopus someone has emailed back quite quick, and said that it's fine if we keep payments at £200 per month.

@MemorableTrenchcoat it won't be a big shock when our winter fuel bills go right up as this is our reality every year

@stillavid - that is truly criminal that you have to go through an ombudsman procedure to get your own money! Best of luck to you and thanks for the reminder to never go with British Gas. Have you named and shamed them on Facebook/Twitter/Trust Pilot/ whatever social media thing? Email the CEO? Clutching at straws but feel your outrage..