[Davidtheraven]

I'm on a credit account with Eon and usually have paid for my bill before the bill comes in. I've never considered fixed DD as their yearly calculations are always way off to what I actually use. (1600 compared to their calculation of 3700).

However I'm considering a variable DD which will just take what my actual bill is.
My question is will having a variable DD lower my kwh unit costs?

Thanks

[meldrewreborn]

@Davidtheraven

I posted on this topic earlier - but here it is again.

In its announcement of the revised price cap in August2022, OFGEM stated that average customers not paying by Direct Debit, faced additional charges of £215 per annum because of the extra costs to suppliers in dealing with such customers.

Previously, I had thought (without any detailed analysis) that the EPG reduction would have brought the excess figure down to perhaps £150 per annum. But now that I’ve looked in detail, I’ve realised that the EPG reductions affect both Direct Debit tariffs and “other payment methods” tariffs equally in price terms, so that the differential between the total costs of both methods will remain the same - £215.
The average Direct Debit bill is, after the EPG is factored in now £2500, and £125 is equal to an overall price increase of 8.6%. Electricity Standing charges are 12-16% higher (its regional) and Gas standing charges are 17.72% higher (nationally) if you’re not on Direct Debit. Unit prices are around 7.5% to 8.25% higher. This means that if you use smaller amounts of energy than the average customer, the cost of not paying by DD will be greater than 8.6%, possibly a lot higher.
People should think very carefully whether they are making a sensible choice in not paying via Direct debit.