So now the last child's left and we're in a smaller house but both still working our cosumption has dwindled. We're using so little gas/electric I decided to lower the monthly DD from £64 to £50, as we're over £108 in credit already. So it turns out on the new online DD manager I can reduce the monthly DD by that £14..... as long as I pay £475 up front. In other words, I have to be £583 in credit, in order to save £14 next month.
That's Scottish Power for you.
That is surprising, but the way the calculation works is to estimate the next 12 months of cost and divide by 12 after adding or subtracting current balances. So I guess if you keep £50 a month and you need the £583 credit to see you through 12 months, it suggests your annual costs are £1183. However asking for it up front like that is a new policy which nobody has reported yet. Better stick to your original DD of £64 but you would still need to find extra to see you through the year at some time in the future unless your consumption drops a bit more.
This happened to me, i was in credit and did not think i wanted to pay any extra to keep my DD. I keep it low in summer and up it in winter as i know how much to pay to keep us both happy. I whent on the chat line and said that i was in credit and wanted my DD to stay the same (they had upped another £20 ) no problem they said and my DD was put back down for the next month. It is a joke to put people more in credit.
Did any one think of cancelling the DD untill the over payment is used up?
Beware of cancelling a DD without consent, it can damage your credit rating, even if you are not in debt.
Plus - In most cases, paying by Direct Debit is contractual to the tariff you're on so if you cancel, SP would have every right to shift you off that tariff to their standard rate (or whatever they choose) which is invariably going to be more expensive.