Direct Debit Overpayments

[Rags]

Is it true that if you have overpayed on a direct debit, a company is not legally obliged to refund you any of your overpayments if you request it?

[chris.mapey]

Would have thought the Direct Debit guarantee may come into play at some stage.

Have you spoken to your bank?

[mouseymousey]

How can you overpay a direct debit? The company request the money from your bank, so if you've overpaid then you've been over charged. No reason why you wouldn't get it back.

[Rags]

mouseymousey said:

How can you overpay a direct debit? The company request the money from your bank, so if you've overpaid then you've been over charged. No reason why you wouldn't get it back.

Scenario.

You decide to pay by direct debit for your electricity.

You tell them you live in a house with x rooms, x people etc.

They give an estimated figure, they then take this figure from your account each month.

You overpay, simple.

[scotal]

Rags said:

mouseymousey said:

How can you overpay a direct debit? The company request the money from your bank, so if you've overpaid then you've been over charged. No reason why you wouldn't get it back.

Scenario.

You decide to pay by direct debit for your electricity.

You tell them you live in a house with x rooms, x people etc.

They give an estimated figure, they then take this figure from your account each month.

You overpay, simple.

About once a year, the elcetricity people give us a refund.

[chris1roll]

Rags said:

mouseymousey said:

How can you overpay a direct debit? The company request the money from your bank, so if you've overpaid then you've been over charged. No reason why you wouldn't get it back.

Scenario.

You decide to pay by direct debit for your electricity.

You tell them you live in a house with x rooms, x people etc.

They give an estimated figure, they then take this figure from your account each month.

You overpay, simple.

Which is exactly why I refuse point blank to pay utilities by direct debit. Make the buggers bill you properly then you can either write them a cheque if its correct, or argue with them if it isn't, with the money still in your pocket.
Sure, you might get it back _eventually_ but why should they earn interest on your money?

[LeoSayer]

chris1roll said:

Which is exactly why I refuse point blank to pay utilities by direct debit. Make the buggers bill you properly then you can either write them a cheque if its correct, or argue with them if it isn't, with the money still in your pocket.
Sure, you might get it back _eventually_ but why should they earn interest on your money?

I think this may be very good advice, I got £373 back from my last gas supplier.

[fastka]

direct debit is cheaper than paying by cheque once a quarter or similar.
usually you get a lower rate when using direct debit.

anyway, the direct debit guarantee doesn't work in your scenario.
you need to talk to the supplier and agree a smaller debit amount

[DaveL485]

Power Companies=Thieves.

Worst area of customer service save for the Mobile Phone companies.

[cottonfoo]

From the way I understand it, the bills are estimates spread across the year, and most people will, after the summer, be in credit (I know both my gas and electric are in credit by a fair amount).

However, as winter comes and you use more energy, that credit should start to decrease as your usage costs more than what you pay each month. They'll need a meter reading to confirm the exact usage though.

[BlackMagic *tree]

My business was paying too much for electricity (by DD).

Received a statment at year end and I/we had overpaid by £1600!
Quick email to the demanding the money back within 7 days.

I still pay by DD but make sure I send them a meter reading every month.

[M400 NBL]

Give them a call with your meter readings and ask them how much credit you have.

Then ask them to send you a checque for that amount and arrange a new DD.

It's a pain that they can't just pay the money directly into your account. Instead they take (IIRC) about 10 working days to send a cheque.

[andyquantum]

Mine keep telling me they need to install a new meter on bth gas and electric as it just spits out random numbers each time it's read. Book an appointment and they never turn up.

Still paying them £55/month mind