Gas/electricity bill advice

[dessiato]

We've just got a statement from the suppliers showing we have about £800 credit. They are still taking monthly payments.

My feeling is that we switch to quarterly billing.

But would it be as well to leave things as they are with the massive rises predicted in autumn?

 

[cupid_stunt]

Depends how much energy you will be using, a £800 credit sounds a lot, but that does depend on what you are paying monthly, and what the bills are likely to be in the winter.

Monthly DD tariffs tend to be cheaper than paying 'on demand', in my case with OVO about £100 in it.

 

[quiet guy]

Also depends on your suppliers creditworthiness, ie don't want them to crash and you have a mare in trying to get your credit back

 

[alex_]

Depends how much energy you will be using, a £800 credit sounds a lot, but that does depend on what you are paying monthly, and what the bills are likely to be in the winter.

Monthly DD tariffs tend to be cheaper than paying 'on demand', in my case with OVO about £100 in it.

Ovo also put up to 3% interest on credit balances.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Ovo also put up to 3% interest on credit balances.

Interesting, I better add that to my ombudsman complaint, they think I am £300 in debit, I am about £700 in credit.

 

[dessiato]

Ovo also put up to 3% interest on credit balances.

We’re with SSE, part of Ovo. Does that make a difference to how to approach the credit?

 

[platinumsage]

If you're an average user of £3000 a year (post-October cap) it's not unreasonable to be £800 in credit during the summer. But really it all depends on your annual usage, which if you've only recently moved there you might not have an idea of. SSE will have attempted to estimate it though, so you should check their figures to see if you think they might be outlandish.

 

[cupid_stunt]

We’re with SSE, part of Ovo. Does that make a difference to how to approach the credit?

Well if they are paying you 3% interest I would leave the credit with them.

 

[dessiato]

If you're an average user of £3000 a year (post-October cap) it's not unreasonable to be £800 in credit during the summer. But really it all depends on your annual usage, which if you've only recently moved there you might not have an idea of. SSE will have attempted to estimate it though, so you should check their figures to see if you think they might be outlandish.

We have no idea of annual usage. Until 1st July we were only here part time. The house has been empty most of the time since November. I assume that the charges have been far higher than usage. We have had the central heating on at 15º all the time, it gets very cold in Scotland and we wanted to avoid expensive frost damage. 15º is a good temperature we thought because the house has extremely thick walls and is usually above this temperature, of course the long period of being empty would drop this.

We put in a meter reading in February, but this doesn’t seem to have changed anything.

It‘s quite a big house, much bigger than we’re used to living in. But it’s very old, and listed, so we are very limited in what we can do to lower bills/costs.

 

[two sheds]

Grade II listed? Loft and internal wall insulation/secondary glazing would be worthwhile.

 

[spudulike]

Octopus has a new option to see your 12 month forecast balance as a graph - it saw-tooths up each month when your direct debit comes and trends up in the summer when using less gas.

My graph show no indication of the £400 that will get credited to my account by the government in the Autumn, but apart from that it looks accurate based on historic usage. My £100 credit balance and £160/m covers this. I'll leave it be but ISTR you can claim back a credit balance if you need to.

 

[two sheds]

I've said elsewhere that Eco grants are available for insulation and other things. I've also said elsewhere that they depend on whether you can find an installer to do them. There's fuck all in Cornwall but Scotland may be better - I'd try your local council, too. They're exactly aimed at your sort of house.

 

[dessiato]

Grade II listed? Loft and internal wall insulation/secondary glazing would be worthwhile.

We have secondary glazing, not sure about loft insulation. The internal walls are very thick. I've just measured some and they're between 45 and 65 cm.

We have a friend who is an architect specialising in green buildings, he's going to assess the possibilities for us.

 

[two sheds]

Ah yes I think you said. My walls are about that thickness, too. I've put up insulating wallpaper which has made a real difference. If they're large rooms insulation with battens are best although I'm presuming you'll need breathable insulation/plasterboard (so no foil layer). I had wool insulation for the loft although I could probably do with some more. I'm very tempted by some wool insulation that is apparently protected against clothes moths.

I did also read that it's corners of rooms that are particularly sensitive to cold/damp, and not to put books on outside walls

 

[dessiato]

There's a massive amount of work to be done here.

We've had someone check the stable over. It needs a lot of work on the roof. Maybe more than we can justify spending. But, of course, it's listed so we can't just stick a roof on.

 

[bellaozzydog]

I’ve just got my gas bill and I’m 850 quid in credit

Paying 150 quid a month DD

Meters regularly read.

Not sure what to do about it as that was my “winter bill” if I keep paying the DD when I’m moving into warmer months I’ll be able to buy a fucking speedboat with my credit

 

[cupid_stunt]

I’ve just got my gas bill and I’m 850 quid in credit

Paying 150 quid a month DD

Meters regularly read.

Not sure what to do about it as that was my “winter bill” if I keep paying the DD when I’m moving into warmer months I’ll be able to buy a fucking speedboat with my credit

Claim it back or lower your DD, I would be inclined to get a refund myself.

 

[spudulike]

I’ve just got my gas bill and I’m 850 quid in credit

Paying 150 quid a month DD

Meters regularly read.

Not sure what to do about it as that was my “winter bill” if I keep paying the DD when I’m moving into warmer months I’ll be able to buy a fucking speedboat with my credit

You can ask some suppliers (such as Octopus) to switch you to a variable direct debit. I had £400 credit when I switched from fixed DD. I submit meter readings on the 1st of the month and get a statement a day or so later. They take payments from any credit balance first, otherwise 15 days later they take the outstanding amount by DD.

That suits me - we're both now getting a winter fuel payment and there are no council tax DDs in February and March so winter peak gas bills are not an issue.

 

[rubbershoes]

Just received our first bill since July last year. The previous bill was for one month to July 22, but this one is for the 8 months since. Maybe they just forgot to bill us.

But the account is almost a grand in credit so I asked them to return £900 to me. They said it wasn't a good idea as <insert bullshit script here >. But in the end they agreed to send it.

 

[Epona]

Just received our first bill since July last year. The previous bill was for one month to July 22, but this one is for the 8 months since. Maybe they just forgot to bill us.

But the account is almost a grand in credit so I asked them to return £900 to me. They said it wasn't a good idea as <insert bullshit script here >. But in the end they agreed to send it.

If they don't refund it within X amount of time (check the specifics) then put in a complaint, they have to pay you an extra £30 compensation if you request return of funds that are in credit if they fail to meet the deadline (at least in England)

 

[Epona]

They always make out it's better to leave your account in credit and try to convince you to leave it like that, but it's your money and they are legally obliged to return it promptly if you ask them to do so.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Just checked mine and I'm £760 in credit - being careful with energy use has paid off over winter as I've clearly used a lot less than they expected.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Just checked mine and I'm £760 in credit - being careful with energy use has paid off over winter as I've clearly used a lot less than they expected.

I took back a £400 credit from OVO, whist just paying £1pm for 3 to 4 months before the government support kicked in, then I increased it to £67 as that was the amount OVO was refunding to my account each month, only last month they increased my DD to £99pm.

I've spent less on gas use during the Oct-Mar period than the £400 in government support, without leaving me feeling cold, so I am chuffed with that.