Avoid direct debit overcharging

If you have an electricity or gas tariff where you get billed quarterly, you may find that because of the recent hikes in energy costs your direct debit has suddenly gone up. However, if you think that your usage is overestimated and you suspect your energy company is using you as a 'cash deposit account', there may be an answer.

If you have an Internet account with your energy supplier where you enter your meter readings every quarter, check to see if you can enter your meter readings voluntarily every month, instead. This will enable you - and the energy company - to get a much better feel for the amount of energy you are using, and hopefully give both parties a better chance of establishing an equitable amount that should be paid each month.

If you only take four reading a year or less, there is little chance of establishing a sufficient number of 'points on the graph' to be able to establish your true pattern of usage. We think that energy companies could be more pro-active in helping their customers and suggesting this as an initiative. Anyway, would you be happy with getting a bank statement just once every three months? Almost definitely not because you wouldn't know with any certainty what was going out, or if you had a problem. We rest our case.

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