Negative energy bills

[Ric2013]

Just looked at the last two energy bills for my house and they both are for negative £9.xx. The government £400 scheme to come off bills is kicking in, but the discount applied to the bills leaves us in credit. I.e. the energy company owes us money rather than the reverse!

I'm not complaining, as it will be used up sooner or later, but it's a very funny situation to be in. Will probably change when the heating starts coming on for more than an hour every couple of days.

Anyone else had this?

 

[snowhead]

Yes.
I'm £294 in credit after this months combined bill which includes UK Gov £66.
I'm likely to be about the same in credit next month as although the gas usage will be up and the unit cost as well, my monthly payment will have doubled from this month, estimated by my supplier to be the amount needed.

The monthly payment is regularly reviewed so I'd expect it to fall the month after.

 

[Murdoch]

We’re over £500 in credit which suits me. It’s the start of the winter and the gas consumption rises very sharply this time of year, so I’m happy to stick with our £190 less £66 for the time being

 

[gmartine]

Much depends on the condtions of your tariff and your previous usage history doesn't it. Some energy Co's like you to have built up some credit before the winter season plus it's still Sod warm atm (SE) with projected temps around here expected to be in the high teens over the next few days.

I'm smart metered so payu every month but the sixty odd quid a month I'll get for six months via the Govnernment support scheme means I'm in a bit of credit.

 

[Last Plumber]

I was in credit by well over £400 and asked for it back. I don't trust them with it.

 

[Ric2013]

Much depends on the condtions of your tariff and your previous usage history doesn't it. Some energy Co's like you to have built up some credit before the winter season plus it's still Sod warm atm (SE) with projected temps around here expected to be in the high teens over the next few days.

True. Sounds like some of you lot have had the £400 applied immediately, whereas I seem to be having it applied at £66 a month. In my case, the firm debits at the end of the month what we have actually used, so building up a credit is by no means usual.

I was in credit by well over £400 and asked for it back. I don't trust them with it.

That was my thought. I'm with Green Energy UK and not sure if I'll stay with them or not after the fixed price expires, but I'm happy to be with them at present as it's very unlikely that GE UK will go bust - it's exempt from the price cap and is one of the most expensive. Were I with a more price-competitive firm and if I had £400 credit, I'd be concerned as well.

 

[Last Plumber]

True. Sounds like some of you lot have had the £400 applied immediately, whereas I seem to be having it applied at £66 a month. In my case, the firm debits at the end of the month what we have actually used, so building up a credit is by no means usual.

That was my thought. I'm with Green Energy UK and not sure if I'll stay with them or not after the fixed price expires, but I'm happy to be with them at present as it's very unlikely that GE UK will go bust - it's exempt from the price cap and is one of the most expensive. Were I with a more price-competitive firm and if I had £400 credit, I'd be concerned as well.

Mine is added as the £66. The rest was monthly payments accumulating. Not on a fixed tariff either.

 

[Ben-gee]

It’s normal to be in credit now at the start of the heating season ( well in a week or so…), that credit will get eaten up as Dec/Jan/Feb you use more gas than you pay for each month. In theory some people should go into debt over winter and come back into credit over summer - but that never seems to be me!!

 

[Last Plumber]

It’s normal to be in credit now at the start of the heating season ( well in a week or so…), that credit will get eaten up as Dec/Jan/Feb you use more gas than you pay for each month. In theory some people should go into debt over winter and come back into credit over summer - but that never seems to be me!!

I know and normally that would happen and I would leave it to its own devices. This year my energy company wanted me to pay more than double what I was paying. I explained on numerous occasions that there was no need and that they had way over estimated my predicted use. Regardless of the number of times I explained it to them, they just didn't seem to get my point.
Computer says no!

 

[Ben-gee]

I’m similar, one son moved out to a rented flat with his girlfriend, the other at University- so our usage will be less, but they don’t seem to be able to get their head around that (or prefer to get hold if my money early in any case!)

 

[gmartine]

Yeah, it was colder this time last year so they're estimating this years consumption on last years energy usage. Assuming you're not smart metered just low ball the next meter(s) submission.

 

[Ric2013]

I know and normally that would happen and I would leave it to its own devices. This year my energy company wanted me to pay more than double what I was paying. I explained on numerous occasions that there was no need and that they had way over estimated my predicted use. Regardless of the number of times I explained it to them, they just didn't seem to get my point.
Computer says no!

Convenient, isn't it

I put my savings in building societies, not energy companies. I only accepted a tariff with Direct Debit on assurance that they would only be charging for the actual billed amount and not attempting to build up credit. To be fair, they have been true to their word (even if, having been customers for 3 years, they STILL overestimate if we don't give them a reading at the end of the month lol).

 

[Ric2013]

Yeah, it was colder this time last year so they're estimating this years consumption on last years energy usage.

Never heard of degree days, have they....

 

[Chuck]

Never heard of degree days, have they....

If the Regulator doesn't say they have to estimate using degree days, they won't.

Around this time last year my energy supplier went bust and I ended up as an EON.next customer, with a credit balance of ca £50,000.00 (yep, £50k in my favour.) The problem was obvious: Previous supplier had passed on a closing read value that was exactly 10 times the value shown on the meter.

It took EON six months of pestering to correct what was to me an obvious mistake. The email correspondence, serves only to demonstrate to me that until you submit a formal complaint you are going to be dealing with an innumerate working from a script that says "You are wrong, EON is right. (Repeat until customer loses will to live.)"

 

[Last Plumber]

If the Regulator doesn't say they have to estimate using degree days, they won't.

Around this time last year my energy supplier went bust and I ended up as an EON.next customer, with a credit balance of ca £50,000.00 (yep, £50k in my favour.) The problem was obvious: Previous supplier had passed on a closing read value that was exactly 10 times the value shown on the meter.

It took EON six months of pestering to correct what was to me an obvious mistake. The email correspondence, serves only to demonstrate to me that until you submit a formal complaint you are going to be dealing with an innumerate working from a script that says "You are wrong, EON is right. (Repeat until customer loses will to live.)

 

[Last Plumber]

If the Regulator doesn't say they have to estimate using degree days, they won't.

Around this time last year my energy supplier went bust and I ended up as an EON.next customer, with a credit balance of ca £50,000.00 (yep, £50k in my favour.) The problem was obvious: Previous supplier had passed on a closing read value that was exactly 10 times the value shown on the meter.

It took EON six months of pestering to correct what was to me an obvious mistake. The email correspondence, serves only to demonstrate to me that until you submit a formal complaint you are going to be dealing with an innumerate working from a script that says "You are wrong, EON is right. (Repeat until customer loses will to live.)"

We live in the computer says no age. We also live in an age where people do zero for you but are trained to repeatedly say "I can only apologiiiiiiize" and then continue to do nothing. The frustration is unbelievable and as you pointed out, I think the general idea is that you give up and leave it.

 

[Ben-gee]

Around this time last year my energy supplier went bust and I ended up as an EON.next customer, with a credit balance of ca £50,000.00 (yep, £50k in my favour.)

Must have been tempting to ask for it to be transferred ‘back’ to your account - and then switch companies!!!!!!

 

[Ric2013]

We live in the computer says no age. We also live in an age where people do zero for you but are trained to repeatedly say "I can only apologiiiiiiize" and then continue to do nothing. The frustration is unbelievable and as you pointed out, I think the general idea is that you give up and leave it.

Which is why I'm probably going to end up having to take The Trainline to the small claims court. Same thing. They apologise and then bring up irrelevant (and erroneous) details rather than answer the question as to where the policy they claim exists is stated in their Ts and Cs.

 

[Last Plumber]

Which is why I'm probably going to end up having to take The Trainline to the small claims court. Same thing. They apologise and then bring up irrelevant (and erroneous) details rather than answer the question as to where the policy they claim exists is stated in their Ts and Cs.

Frustrating isn't it?
It is in every aspect of life.

 

[Murdoch]

Which is why I'm probably going to end up having to take The Trainline to the small claims court. Same thing. They apologise and then bring up irrelevant (and erroneous) details rather than answer the question as to where the policy they claim exists is stated in their Ts and Cs.

what did Trainline do or not do ?

 

[Ric2013]

what did Trainline do or not do ?

I paid for a journey that spanned several trains and generated several tickets. The first ticket was amendable/ partially refundable, the second wasn't and the third was. I wanted to change the date of travel.

Initially, the system was allowing a partial refund had I wanted to cancel the whole trip that came to about what I'd expect as a total for the first and third legs of the journey which suggests the tickets sold to me as amendable/refundable were indeed supposed to be amendable/refundable.

But since what I wanted to do was simply change the date of travel, when I tried to do this, the system let me change the third leg but not the first. Trenitalia and the Trainline claim that this was because the second journey was somehow associated with the first journey in spite of the fact that they were entirely separate trains, so the non-amendable nature of the second ticket somehow magically transferred into the first (but not into the third which I succeeded in amending). I think this was nowhere clear in the purchase process.

I just booked the new journey (not via the Trainline!) and paid a second time.

The latest excuse is that they couldn't ("unfortunately") refund anything anyway because they wouldn't know how much the separate parts of the journey cost (in spite of the individual tickets being clearly individually priced with the price written on the ticket). When I ignored this and asked where, in the process leading up to them taking my money (i.e. a contract being made), or in the Ts and Cs, does it make it clear that the first ticket was not refundable because it was somehow associated with the second ticket, I received no answer.

To be fair, if it's written in the Ts and Cs and I've simply missed it, then I'm quite happy to accept I'm wrong! So I will be reading them again very carefully...