OT: Energy Company Direct Debits

If you ring them, and if you've been with them for more than 9 months, you can request being put on 'on demand' DD, so you only pay what your actual monthly bill is.

You can't get that via any Website or App link

I think the point is that they won't be cheaper.

Its the same reason we used to discount invoices by 5% if paid within

And then the bank wont pay it. But you are still in credit with the electricity company

Paranoid BS

Ive been with EDF for 30 years+ and never had any repairs. But I don't have a smart meter...

I do it via the page on their website provided for that purpose.

I don't use an app, it's on my PC. But next time I log in I'll have a look.

When changing suppliers you really need to know this figure, and assume that its close to what you will be using in the year ahead.

A good deal for a low user isn't necessarily a good deal for a high user and visa-versa.

If you are staying with a supplier that you have used for a year or more then the reputable ones will tell you how much you have used in a calendar year. If you have accurate readings from a smart meter or reading that you have regularly given to the supplier then you can also determine this figure from 2 bills that are 12 months apart.

Also weather, a cold hash prolonged winter will likely significantly raise your energy bills even if you are on a fixed tariff.

Correct, it's a gamble but companies like Octopus allow you to change tariffs without penalty if the tracker type tariffs become too expensive. Once quitting their tracker tariff in this way you cannot go back on it for 9 months.

Not if you know your annual consumption and assume its going to be similar for the year ahead, or make adjustments to the annual figure if you know something is going to change in lifestyle or insulation etc.

They are not cheaper, they're just less expensive than paying the monthly bill manually.

ie it used to be: X cost to pay the monthly bill via cheque/bank transfer/etc Did you know you can save Y by paying by direct debit?

but for a long time it's been: X cost to pay by direct debit X+Y cost to pay the monthly bill via cheque/bank transfer/etc

The extra Y is about a tenner a month nowadays. If you refuse to pay by DD that's how much extra you pay (it's typically baked into a worse non-DD tariff rather than appearing as a separate fee on your bill, so it'll vary by usage).

But a monthly variable direct debit based on your actual usage in the last month is not counted as 'pay on receipt of bill' which incurs that extra cost. So if you want to only pay for what you use then this is the most economical way to do it.

Theo

It's an Ofgem requirement that the kWh figure is written on your bills - if you ever look at them...

Comparison sites also have a database they can pull your consumption from, in some cases.

Indeed. One of the things I do when running price comparisons is experimenting what happens if my usage went up or down by say 25%. Would my chosen provider still come in the same position? And if not, is the difference actually significant? Often it comes down to say £10 over a year which isn't very much.

It would be good if price comparison sites did that as part of your search. Although it's more complicated if you are dual-fuel. Maybe they could have little sliders to allow you to tweak your consumption up and down.

Theo

See

That depends on how much electricity you use in heating. In my case it doesn't increase that much. I spend a fortune on oil instead.

Yep. BBC is famous for paranoid BS.

Does any supplier actually offer this as an option?

Are you looking at the Octopus app? It’s on the Bills & Payments page.

Tim

And you’re probably paying a far higher rate than I am…

Tim

I have monthly meter reading for the last ten years[1]. Converting gas meter readings into Kwh isn't too hard.

Probably. Frankly I dont give a f*ck.

-- “it should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism (or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans, about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a 'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,' a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that you live neither in Joseph Stalin’s Communist era, nor in the Orwellian utopia of 1984.”

Vaclav Klaus

I believe EON.Next & Octopus but your rate may be higher.

Dave

You can only (try to) change the DD amount, or change the bank account there, or perhaps I can't see the On Demand option, because I'm already on it !

I think you're at cross purposes. The button is to return a credit balance to your bank (Roland's original complaint). But there's another setting which is to make your monthly direct debits match the previous month's bill (ie never build up a credit balance in the first place), and this is only something the Octopus staff can enable AFAIK.

Theo