Your energy provider might owe you money | Tenant news

It’s always cheaper to pay your energy bills by direct debit, but did you know that your electricity and gas provider could have hundreds of pounds of your money that you might have overpaid?

Spreading energy payments equally across the year helps us to avoid huge energy bills in the winter months when we use more energy to keep our homes warm.

This means that at some time in the year, usually during the warmer months, our energy accounts are in credit.

The energy cycle

Knowing where you are in the monthly direct debit energy cycle is the key. It runs from January to January, and during the winter months when you use more energy, you will owe your energy supplier money.

Because you use less energy during the summer months, your energy account will start to move into credit from May to October, so by early November, you should expect to see maximum credit.

If, at the beginning of May, your account is showing that it has a lot of credit, when it should have very little credit, it means you’ve been paying too much and you could ask for  a refund.

Paying too much?

If you’re not owed money from your energy supplier, you should still regularly check that your direct debit is set at the right amount.

The MoneySavingExpert site has a guide called: Is my direct debit fair? and a Direct Debit Calculator, which you can use to check that your direct debit is right.

If you’re finding it hard to pay your energy bills, you may also want to use this free benefits calculator to see if you’re entitled to any benefits that can help cover your energy costs.