[PantsDown]

Just got notification that these Smooth Criminals propose to increase my direct debit by 110.67%....not 50% as per the increase in the cap..no justification. I've given them the hairdryer treatment and will see what happens.

[meldrewreborn]

@PantsDown

Prices have gone up a lot over the last year and have further still to go. My own bills are nearly 3 times what they were on competitive fixed prices.

The latest price cap increase is an average of 54%, but the price cap before that was an increase too. Fixed prices were usually much lower than the price cap. Arrears can also affect how much a DD is assessed at.

At the end of the day when you finish you contracts with your energy supplier you will have paid for the energy consumed at the rates stipulated in your tariffs. The DD is supposed to help people budget by smoothing out peaks and troughs in their bills. Your DD is based on estimates of your consumption, prices and the balances on your account. A DD estimate will nearly always be wrong as forecast consumption is never likely to be exactly right. So sometimes you have arrears (good as you're getting an interest free loan from your energy supplier) sometimes you are in credit (not so good as you're giving an interest free loan to your energy supplier). You should always try to ensure credit balances don't get too large.