Monthly direct debit

darraghsmyth

We've recently moved back to Ireland from the UK, after a long time away. At the weekend I signed up for direct debit payment of our electricity. However I'm not clear what this means for ESB. In the UK, if you pay for your utilities by direct debit, it generally means you pay a fixed amount each month so the costs are spread evenly. There are no big bills in Winter or every few months. Is this possible with the ESB? My impression from your website is that the direct debit is simply used to pay each bill as is.

Electric Ireland: Orla

Hi darraghsmyth,

We do have a payment option called Equaliser Direct Debit, which is where you would pay monthly, a fixed amount through direct debit.

This fixed amount is calculated by monitoring your electricty consumption. It should be noted that this amount is assessed every 4 months - the amount deducted will be recalculated if your consumption increses or decreases by 15%.

You will have to wait until you recieve your first 2 bi-monthly bills in order to set up the Equaliser Direct Debit option. The reason for this is that we must monitor your usage over at least 4 months, in order for an equaliser amount to be calculated.

I hope this clarifies things for you.

Please do not hesitate to contact me back if you have any further queries.

Thanks
Orla

.BrianJM

You could also set up a standing order with the bank to pay a fixed amount every month, or two.
Direct debit would take care of any shortfall.

dub45

You should also be aware that the ESB will charge you 6 euro on top of any bank fees if you miss a direct debit.

Disgracefully they do not advice customers of this "fee" when they are setting up a direct debit.

facundo

Hi, I switched to Electric Ireland some months ago for the cheaper rates but have just been hit with the €6.00 "admin charge" as well as from the bank. Not impressed with this at all and especially in the current climate! Have to look around now to switch to one of the other suppliers which dosen't charge this but is still competitive - what a pain! I have different direct debits with companies and have never been charged by them on top of the bank so I don't believe this to be "standard" as someone said earlier. :mad::eek:

dub45

facundo wrote: »

Hi, I switched to Electric Ireland some months ago for the cheaper rates but have just been hit with the €6.00 "admin charge" as well as from the bank. Not impressed with this at all and especially in the current climate! Have to look around now to switch to one of the other suppliers which dosen't charge this but is still competitive - what a pain! I have different direct debits with companies and have never been charged by them on top of the bank so I don't believe this to be "standard" as someone said earlier. :mad::eek:

While its not "standard" it is not rare either as the ESB prove! and it is disgraceful and dishonorable that companies are not required to warn customers upfront about such charges.

Catalpa1

From what I remember Airtricity charge €20 not that I would ever have bounced a dd!!!!
Not sure about BGE. I would think that €6 is probably low from what other companies (not just utilities) charge. but your right €6 from the Supplier I bet the bank hit you with even more

Electric Ireland: David

Hi facundo,

I'm sorry to hear that you're thinking of switching. If we are given sufficient notice (5/6 working days) prior to the direct debit due date, we can defer the payment for you. A more suitable date may be scheduled, if you know the funds will not be in place at the bank.

This would avoid any charges related to processing returned payments. If you would like me to look at your account for you, please feel free to PM me your details.

Thanks,

David.

cardol

Like another poster here, I moved back to Ireland from the UK, where I was used to paying a fixed amount every month. I've been with ESB for three years, and because I'm not working here, I couldn't meet my Direct Debit payments every two months and was incurring charges from the bank which made matters even worse. ESB said they would cancel my Direct Debit as I was a very regular payer. Since then, I pay off my bills on a weekly basis.

I generally have arrears/balance brought forward every time I get a bill, and going back over the last three bills, the amounts have been €74.76, €14.10 and €27.27cr. But Electric Ireland rang me last week saying my outstanding balance is €81.47 and to pay it immediately. I told them I pay what I can every week and they should stop chasing after me for such a small amount given their profits (http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/ojauidojeymh/)

They have now sent me an email saying "Please be advised that your account is in arrears by €249.03 and payment for the balance is required immediately. Our credit terms are 14 days from the day bill issues." This is the total amount of my current bill dated 14 March 2012. They want me to set up a Direct Debit again, which I can't afford.

Can they cut me off? :mad:

EI: Una

Hi Cardol,

If you private message me the Electric Ireland account number, your full name and some details on the account for security/data protection: address/contact telephone number/date of birth, I can look into this for you.

Just to advise: we can only speak to the named account-holder in relation to account-specific queries.

Thanks and regards,
Una

tantipie

they must be on a roll with th phone calls!!they rang me yesterday asking for payment straightaway,,now if they had checked there records they would have seen that they get there money on 22nd of every month which obviously means its taken from my bank around the 20th which was yesterday!!!

cardol

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi Cardol,

If you private message me the Electric Ireland account number, your full name and some details on the account for security/data protection: address/contact telephone number/date of birth, I can look into this for you.

Just to advise: we can only speak to the named account-holder in relation to account-specific queries.

Thanks and regards,
Una

PM sent