How are you managing energy direct debits?

It is interesting to see how energy companies have interpreted how to work this Energy Saver Scheme. Companies such as Octopus are deducting it at source from our bills yet it looks like some other companies are continuing to charge the full amount for bills and paying the discount direct to peoples bank accounts.

Out of interest I looked at the Government website and it does say:- “ If you’re a direct debit customer you’ll get the discount automatically in one of the following ways, as a reduction to your monthly direct debit amount or a refund to your bank account following the monthly direct debit collection”.

We're with Ovo and they are keeping the Direct Debits the same and refunding the discount to our Bank Account. We have been emailed to say to expect the first payment within 10 days.

My payment to Octopus went up by £100 in May, which resulted in a credit of over £500 in a couple of months - I got a little back, reduced my payment to what it was and am still £350 in credit, but I’ll leave it because I don’t know what lies ahead.

My SiL said “save the money and you’ll have £400 towards your bills when they go up again”. I told him I thought I’d spend it on a holiday. Don’t think he realised I was joking!! ?

BG not GB!

We pay GB quarterly by variable Direct Debit. No credit or debit balances accruing to think about or juggling of DD payments.

No surprises either as I keep an eye on the usage and already know how much the bills will be before they are processed.

I couldn’t be bothered with all the faffing and uncertainty that seems to be a common theme.

I got an email today to say our payments would be slashed by around two thirds. This is taking into account the government payments and our existing credit. I'm quite happy to leave it at that - the money is better off in our account than theirs and we can change our payments online whenever we want anyway.

We are with Eon next. We were paying £170.00 monthly, we are £200.00 in credit. Just received an email from them to say with the government subsidy payments are now going down to £103.00 until next March.
I'm not sure what to do as I thought payments were going up in October. We are having a new boiler fitted mid October as our boiler is 38 years old so that should help.

We have had exactly the same experience with EDF as you SusieB50. We were paying £120 pm and they wanted to increase our bill to £370! We were also in credit by £250. After many phone calls, emails etc we are now paying as we go. I am not impressed with EDF

Ours should have gone up by about £50 but then we got an email saying it has actually gone down because of the £66 per month (for six months). Chuffed to bits!

I just pay my bill when it comes in every quarter. I like to feel in control. I seem to be in the minority.

I’m with EDF , with a smart meter . I have had an ongoing text conversation with them as they wanted to put up my DD from £106 to £325 despite being £250 in credit . They told me that my electric meter was not sending readings via the Smart meter . So I managed to crawl under the stairs and gave them readings . My Home Screen hasn’t been working either . I have now changed my bill to be the amount used each month as I want more control over it . EDF can’t give me an answer as to why my DD needs to be raised by £200 if I have a large credit on my account .

I'm with EDF too. Checked my account, currently £325 in credit. What with that and the rebate i should be ok so feeling a bit less worried about the winter now.

EDF say they will pay £66 into my bank account each month. I'm already in credit of £700 so I'm not too worried about this winter. I've been being careful all year long before news of the big rises came out.

I have not had the e mail from octopus, it is easy to see the new dd on your account and to adjust your dd to what you want it to be

I've just logged onto Octopus, I'm dual fuel and on a fix until March 2023. £241 credit I've managed to build up over the past few months, I'm not going to ask for a refund.

My DD is set at £140 per month, from 1/10/2022 they will be reducing it to £72 with the government energy subsidy.

I have a link to Octopus for £50 credit if anyone wants to change to them.

Octopus has just emailed me and my monthly payment will be £31. I am not complaining.

I am waiting for Octopus to get in touch with me and I am certain they will reduce the £98 a month I pay as I have a reasonable amount in credit. I am on a fixed rate until next July. so I am fortunate.

PS. Well, blow me down. I've just had another message from them saying there will be an increase in my DD after all.
But not as large an increase as they first said.

We are with E.on next. They have reduced payment to £13 pm we are in credit £70. Might increase to £25 pm but dont want to build credit up much more.

Thank goodness we just pay our energy bills quarterly, when the bill arrives. We have a budget account where we both put a fixed sum in every month to pay all the regular household bills. At the moment it is running at a comfortable surplus

I am also with Octopus, my DD is quite a lot, quite a bit in credit, but as long as I can afford the payment I will continue as don't know how bad winter will be & need the heat more. I am using an airfryer saves me using my electric oven much quicker too. Today had a dehumidifier so hopefully will save a bit instead of using my tumbler dryer, although won't use it constantly, got to try these saving devices if we can

My direct debit has gone down by the subsidy amount so I’ll be paying less than last year. I would rather have money in my bank than theirs.

I'm with Eon Next. Before all the energy price increase, we paid £120 a month. It then went to £145. It's currently at £191 and we're £160 in credit. I'm leaving it as it is, for now.

I’m not crazy Riverwalk, I simply don’t want the hassle of an unexpectedly large bill.