Thousands of households are overpaying their energy bills each month, with many that pay through a direct debit not realising that they could be sat on a large pile of cash that is rightfully theirs. One savvy Money Saving Expert reader even managed to get £1000 back from his energy supplier after realising he was being overcharged.
Measures to remove the disparity between the prices charged to direct debit payers and those on prepayment meters have filtered some of the inequality from the system in recent months, but despite this, Martin Lewis has said "the logic of the direct debit cycle remains the same," with many households unknowingly sitting on a large pile of their own cash.
Direct debit payers typically build up credit over the warmer months and debt during the winter months, which is balanced out over the course of the year via a fixed monthly payment. Yet, this can lead to some customers building up large amounts of credit if their usage is lower during the cooler months.
In order to check if you are sitting on a pile of cash leftover from your monthly direct debit payments, it is important to make sure that your meter readings are up to date, then check how much credit you are in. The ideal time to do this is April and May, when most energy consumers will start to be in credit after building up a deficit over the winter.