Pay for what?

[Streetwalker]

Scottish power want me to increase my DD from £90 to £107, but I won't do so while I am £400 in credit.
Refusing to pay is different to refusing to fund their balance sheets.

I had an email last month saying how much they would take with the price rise on Oct 1 which was  £350 .  The government cap brought that down by about a hundred quid . 

Low and behold yesterday they took £350 from my account . After a long wait on hold and a short blast from me it was left up to me how much I wanted to pay  

Im confused .com  ,the look after my bill bloke has done one and left me in the hands of the French , to cap that the water board has just turned up to fit a meter .

I know its early but Im going down the pub . 

[Nalaar]

The purpose of the direct debit payment methods is to spread the costs evenly throughout the year, depending on when you start your cycle with an energy company this can mean that you build up a significant surplus (especially if your heating is gas/electric based) through the summer months. 

New companies will often offer lower direct debits than a persons current supplier by offering quotes based on lower kWH per year usage. 

It is *vitally* important that people who pay by monthly DD give meter reads regularly (preferably monthly) and that pay on demand users submit at least quarterly. 

Personally I use 1 year Pre-payment contracts, it's impossible to be in debt, and year-to-year deals are often comparable to discounts offered by DD. 

[patman post]

I may have mentioned this in another thread but long before the APRIL hike in prices I found myself hundreds of pounds in credit with Octopus TAKING huge hikes in my direct debit and refusing to allow me to reduce the amount they collected.

So I cancelled my direct debit and served notice that I was seeking to find a new supplier. Which I quickly found impossible as nobody was willing to take me on as a new customer.

Octopus in the meanwhile wrote to say they were sorry to hear i was thinking of leaving but until i did they were happy to send me a monthly bill for the energy i had used, and request payment through their online portal of the amount owed for the energy actually used

They have been sending me monthly statements since, and i have been paying them. I still can't find anyone keen to take me but who cares, i have the arrangement i actually wanted, right now.

Here's the interesting bit. Even with the hikes in April and now in October, the amount i am being asked to pay remains LESS than the amount they stole under their monthly direct debit plan

I had an email from them two weeks ago pleading with me to restore a direct debit and claiming it was costing me £80 a year to pay the way i am which they say is costing them money. The problem for them is i an a database admin at a challenger bank and i know how much our bank's direct debit processor and online portal payment processor charge us and I know from that either octopus is incredibly incompetent, or lying.

I see no benefit to me whatsoever in allowing them to steal money from me over and above what i owe them, and in fact the massive hikes in service charges implemented recently are all about us having to pay for the losses made by our suppliers being forced to honour new customer's credit balances when they transfer over from bankrupt operators who took that money and went bust having done so

We get a discount for going DD paperless (from both bulb and Virgin).

I haven't worked out if that allows us more money to save or earn from but, currently, it saves a bit of hassle.

And the bank gives us money back on all our regular direct debits...

[Barry]

It may well cost them a bit extra to send a monthly bill, but that is a part of their business. It is all they have to do, measure what we use and send a bill. They are not responsible for the infrastructure or repairs to it.
My bank are currently offering cashback on direct debits for energy of 4%, (usually 2%), which means they are taking more than that from the suppliers to administer the DD system. So, JoG, they have to weigh it off with what they pay their banks.
Of course, it could be that they have to pay the banks to receive your money when sent through their website portal. Everyone wants a piece!

[johnofgwent]

Scottish power want me to increase my DD from £90 to £107, but I won't do so while I am £400 in credit.
Refusing to pay is different to refusing to fund their balance sheets.

I may have mentioned this in another thread but long before the APRIL hike in prices I found myself hundreds of pounds in credit with Octopus TAKING huge hikes in my direct debit and refusing to allow me to reduce the amount they collected.

So I cancelled my direct debit and served notice that I was seeking to find a new supplier. Which I quickly found impossible as nobody was willing to take me on as a new customer. 

Octopus in the meanwhile wrote to say they were sorry to hear i was thinking of leaving but until i did they were happy to send me a monthly bill for the energy i had used, and request payment through their online portal of the amount owed for the energy actually used

They have been sending me monthly statements since, and i have been paying them. I still can't find anyone keen to take me but who cares, i have the arrangement i actually wanted, right now.

Here's the interesting bit. Even with the hikes in April and now in October, the amount i am being asked to pay remains LESS than the amount they stole under their monthly direct debit plan

I had an email from them two weeks ago pleading with me to restore a direct debit and claiming it was costing me £80 a year to pay the way i am which they say is costing them money. The problem for them is i an a database admin at a challenger bank and i know how much our bank's direct debit processor and online portal payment processor charge us and I know from that either octopus is incredibly incompetent, or lying.

I see no benefit to me whatsoever in allowing them to steal money from me over and above what i owe them, and in fact the massive hikes in service charges implemented recently are all about us having to pay for the losses made by our suppliers being forced to honour new customer's credit balances when they transfer over from bankrupt operators who took that money and went bust having done so 

[patman post]

^^^
I leave stocks and shares to my pension fund and a couple of unit trusts. The tax deals are good, though they'd be better with an ISA.

Otherwise, like you, we put our investment into property — or we have done, but it may be different in the future...

[Borchester]

I'll reduce my credit with Bulb and put it in a high-interest fixed-term savings account, once the Bank of England raise interest rates to a useful level that'll help savings.

Younger pensioners without mortgages, or on fixed rate right to the end (of the mortgage, that is), could do the same. But older people should limit themselves to instant access savings accounts if they want to benefit personally.

However, putting excess energy company credit into Premium Bonds might be a good idea, anyway...

As a general rule, interest rates and dividends always lag behind inflation. If I want a flutter I invest in any well run company that pays a modest dividend, but with a decent share price. For the long term, I creak around trying to stop our properties from collapsing because ultimately housing keeps pace with inflation, which is more than can be said for passive investing.

[patman post]

I'll reduce my credit with Bulb and put it in a high-interest fixed-term savings account, once the Bank of England raise interest rates to a useful level that'll help savings.

Younger pensioners without mortgages, or on fixed rate right to the end (of the mortgage, that is), could do the same. But older people should limit themselves to instant access savings accounts if they want to benefit personally.

However, putting excess energy company credit into Premium Bonds might be a good idea, anyway...

[Barry]

Good luck with that Sheepy , the energy companies have us by the nuts and are not letting go .

Scottish power want me to increase my DD from £90 to £107, but I won't do so while I am £400 in credit.
Refusing to pay is different to refusing to fund their balance sheets.

[Streetwalker]

I don't have to pay for what I don't use.

Good luck with that Sheepy , the energy companies have us by the nuts and are not letting go . 

[Sheepy]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/energy-bill-warning-suppliers-may-send-debt-collectors-to-households-which-refuse-to-pay/ar-AA12eeUq?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=5c267a6e04c8432f95032be0fc806658
I don't have to pay for what I don't use.