Was Martin Lewis right re heating?

I think he said you only need two months worth of payments in credit not 5/6 months as prices are coming down. My DD is about 5/6 months in credit and her company are trying to increase her payments, which is obviously wrong. If you think you will use more this winter you could always allow yourself to be a bit extra in credit.

What gamble? That you might be tempted to spend the money on something else?

I'd rather ML had left it to those with common sense to do it anyway rather than pitching it a 'win' over the energy companies to those without understanding of the implications.
Some people will not be as good as budgeting as they are at reclaiming.

Freya5

rosie1959

No I can see where you are wrong but if you have a large overpayment the money is better off in your bank account where you may get interest rather than in your energy supplies bank. No point worrying about others as it’s up to them to ensure they have the funds if they draw the overpayment out and may be concerned that they will have a shortfall it’s up to them to put the money aside and not spend it.

The interest banks pay on small amounts, not worth the gamble. I personally would rather see my small excess, £150 stay where it is and have peace of mind towards paying any shortfall in my energy bills, rather than have to pay out a lump sum to cover it.

Martin Lewis is not suggesting small excesses are reclaimed

rosie1959

No I can see where you are wrong but if you have a large overpayment the money is better off in your bank account where you may get interest rather than in your energy supplies bank. No point worrying about others as it’s up to them to ensure they have the funds if they draw the overpayment out and may be concerned that they will have a shortfall it’s up to them to put the money aside and not spend it.

The interest banks pay on small amounts, not worth the gamble. I personally would rather see my small excess, £150 stay where it is and have peace of mind towards paying any shortfall in my energy bills, rather than have to pay out a lump sum to cover it.

keepcalmandcavachon

No point worrying about others as it’s up to them to ensure they have the funds if they draw the overpayment out and may be concerned that they will have a shortfall it’s up to them to put the money aside and not spend it.

But I do worry about others rosie1959 if they thought they were doing the best thing as advised by Martin Lewis.

I think you will find Martin Lewis explains it depends on the amount of credit and your monthly spend over a year as bills that are in credit in early autumn have to balance out with the move expensive months I don’t think he advised anyone to pull out a small credit but to do your sums and work out how much you need in average over a complete year.
I remember at one point my daughter was a £1000 in credit they had been charging her too much she withdrew £500 of this and left the rest to cover the more expensive months.

www.thesun.co.uk/money/24889751/martin-lewis-check-energy-direct-debit-get-refund/

Surely common sense would have told them to keep the money on one side for future heating costs, hopefully accruing a little interest in the meantime? We all knew the £66 per month would come to an end.

No point worrying about others as it’s up to them to ensure they have the funds if they draw the overpayment out and may be concerned that they will have a shortfall it’s up to them to put the money aside and not spend it.

But I do worry about others rosie1959 if they thought they were doing the best thing as advised by Martin Lewis.

Ilovecheese, yes and he's not wrong! However, a good many people switched off freezers, didn't use heating etc. I know one lady who believed it cost £5 to heat the oven and another who used her kettle once a day. Those same people are living 'normally' now and we no longer receive the Gov help of £66 per month. There must be lots of folk who have spent their reclaim who will in fact need it.

If you reclaim it and save it you get the interest instead of the power company but still have the money to pay. Not really worth it if it's a small amount. It is good advice IMO but not if you reclaim it and spend it.

No I can see where you are wrong but if you have a large overpayment the money is better off in your bank account where you may get interest rather than in your energy supplies bank. No point worrying about others as it’s up to them to ensure they have the funds if they draw the overpayment out and may be concerned that they will have a shortfall it’s up to them to put the money aside and not spend it.

I pay by DD but only for what I've used. I didn't like the energy company holding on to my money either. Now I can see clearly what I've used and what I owe.

I know what you mean but I think Martin Lewis does not approve of the energy companies routinely hoarding the money.