Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

Curlyriff said:
It is 100% a thing. I am on it. I pay by direct debit (the direct debit scheme that banks run) and it is variable. It is 100% a thing.
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Again I think its terminology, I am using business terminology.

Again I think for a consumer your asking for an in arrears bill with collection via DD.
That is NOT variable DD in its true sense.

Variable DD infers that either party can amend the value, and or cancel it.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Again I think its terminology, I am using business terminology.

Again I think for a consumer your asking for an in arrears bill with collection via DD.
That is NOT variable DD in its true sense.

Variable DD infers that either party can amend the value, and or cancel it.
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DD is collected in arreas also though, they just take more a fixed amout. Doesn't matter what your bill is. You are billed in arrears to what is used.

Variable means the amount isn't fixed is all. By the bank it is called Variable Direct Debit at least if you call Barclays to talk about it.
 
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Has anyone used the ecoegg dryer Balls? After the first use my clothes smell of plastic, which I guess as they are plastic this shouldn't surprise me. Does this go after the initial washes? None of the reviews I saw seemed to reference this.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Again I think its terminology, I am using business terminology.

Again I think for a consumer your asking for an in arrears bill with collection via DD.
That is NOT variable DD in its true sense.

Variable DD infers that either party can amend the value, and or cancel it.
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It's 100% variable direct debit, that's what my bank calls it, that's what I request when I switch supplier, and it's what the supplier call it.
I've been doing it that way for years.
 
Ahleckz said:
Surprised my bill is An affordable £174 (after government help). £152 on gas (1417 kwh) in December. However I now need to pay a heap of money to fix the issues the cold weather caused. I’ve got wallpaper and paint bubbling because of the water behind it not going anywhere and my en-suite has no heating and insulation so mould is a growing problem.

Sigh!
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That sounds a nightmare. Ive lived in one damp house and it was grim.


Got a scare a few weeks ago when found a wet patch on side of house. Gutter was blocked and thankfully it's started to recede.


Environment is horrible when damp. Only going to get worse in the UK with our mild damp winters.
 
Curlyriff said:
DD is collected in arreas also though, they just take more a fixed amout. Doesn't matter what your bill is. You are billed in arrears to what is used.

Variable means the amount isn't fixed is all. By the bank it is called Variable Direct Debit at least if you call Barclays to talk about it.
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Sigh.

My DD is in advance since I am in credit.
They owe me money so I am paying them in advance not arrears.
The DD is a collection method only, its nothing to do with whether the payment itself is an advance or arrears payment.

A DD mandate is by default variable, but a consumer cannot directly amend a DD amount. A DD is a mandate given to another party in order to be able to collect directly from your account.

A variable DD will typically mean that either party can trigger this action taking place. In order to push (client side) or pull (seller side) funds.
They can also stop a DD or amend a DD payment pending. They are almost certainly only used in B2B.
I have never heard of a consumer being able to vary a DD directly, only ever by interacting with the other parties system and they in effect vary the DD collection.

Again, the customer should be asking for a monthly/quarterly bill. And asking for their payment method to be set to DD rather than cash/cheque.
 
robj20 said:
It's 100% variable direct debit, that's what my bank calls it, that's what I request when I switch supplier, and it's what the supplier call it.
I've been doing it that way for years.
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Its becoming a horrible habit now agreed.

By default a DD is variable its just a payment mechanism.
Its just the equivalent of saying heres a blank cheque, fill in the amount when you know my bill.

I believe the energy companies are forced to allow in arrears actual billing. I don't believe they are mandated to be forced to allow that to be collected by DD, but its very much the norm for many years.
I mean it used to be if you didnt pay that way they would hastle you to do so. Like for example councils do.

I guess since I have been involved in true variable DDs I am kind of annoyed the terms now being used incorrectly.

Its a variable bill collected via DD.
Rather than a fixed amount collected via DD. (Its not really fixed, its just the supplier asking for the same amount every month)
You can't actually fix a DD amount as such.
 
TonyTurbo78 said:
sorry buddy, ammended the original post, was late.
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Thats ok! Just trying to contextualise my own use as much as anything, so I did use 3x as much gas wowzers.

I mean, sat in our office (converted loft) I could feel a breeze yesterday but there's not much I can do about it, I'm not staying beyond this mortgage fix so it doesn't make sense to put a new roof on etc.
 
Personally it works for me having these fixed amounts.. like right now I'm in around £600 credit which means the fact December was so high won't really hit me in as harsh a way.

I'm fortunate that I could easily absorb the move from £220 to £360 or whatever it was... I could pay a £500 monthly bill too but for budgeting it's far easier for me and the other half to figure out our monthly fixed bills and put half each into the joint account. A power bill swinging around by hundreds would cause so many problems for basically no gain.
 
EDF called it whole amount billing, Octopus call it Variable DD, but yes it's the same thing, just different suppliers using different names.

Maybe Ofgem can enforce consistency in the terminology to stop it being confusing! especially when there are f.ex Variable tariffs as well, so two different things with a potentially similar name.
 
HungryHippos said:
EDF called it whole amount billing, Octopus call it Variable DD, but yes it's the same thing, just different suppliers using different names.

Maybe Ofgem can enforce consistency in the terminology to stop it being confusing! especially when there are f.ex Variable tariffs as well, so two different things with a potentially similar name.
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British Gas call it whole-amount DD too
 
413x said:
To be fair to Scottish Power I think my monthly DD estimate is spot on.

Its set at 110 and currently bill is 150.
(66 bonus is sent direct to bank so doesn't interfere)
I'm currently 30 in the red. And will probably be 100 in red before 110 is an over pay.

But looks spot on
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Mine is spot on, but I chose the DD amount. :D

If I let them set it to £400+ back in spring like they wanted (currently its £95), then I would be approx £2450 in credit right now. (Octopus)
 
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Our December bill was £115 combined gas and electric. Then the £67 back from the government, so not too bad.

Still on a low fixed tariff till February though.
 
Its quite ridiculous that people are getting the same help on their bills when they are on a fixed tariff. Most peoples bills have shot up to over double and some people are getting theirs halved due to the fuel allowance.
 
matt100 said:
Personally it works for me having these fixed amounts.. like right now I'm in around £600 credit which means the fact December was so high won't really hit me in as harsh a way.

I'm fortunate that I could easily absorb the move from £220 to £360 or whatever it was... I could pay a £500 monthly bill too but for budgeting it's far easier for me and the other half to figure out our monthly fixed bills and put half each into the joint account. A power bill swinging around by hundreds would cause so many problems for basically no gain.
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You say no gain but that credit earns me interest so if you call basically free money no gain then fair enough.

Do like I do, have a joint account that's purely for bills.
Work out yourself what you need to pay each month to cover all the bills plus a bit.
There you go a fixed amount you can pay each month except the credit is yours and earns you some free money for basically a bit of time setting the account up.

I pay £400 into that account each and every month. There is more than enough in it to cover any energy bill fluctuations.
 
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fez said:
Its quite ridiculous that people are getting the same help on their bills when they are on a fixed tariff. Most peoples bills have shot up to over double and some people are getting theirs halved due to the fuel allowance.
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It's the most efficient way for the Government to manage it though. Means-testing the benefit would outweigh the cost of just providing it to everyone.
 
fez said:
Its quite ridiculous that people are getting the same help on their bills when they are on a fixed tariff. Most peoples bills have shot up to over double and some people are getting theirs halved due to the fuel allowance.
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Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be stopping help to anyone not on means tested benefits soon enough.
 
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