Bord Gais Level Pay

OkeyDoke12

I recently moved into a house and signed up with Bord Gais I signed up in November so i'll be due a bill sometime soon. I got a letter a few weeks back saying "Your montly payment is €40 and this will be debited from the below account on the 5th of each month"

What is the level pay all about? over the 2 months I would have paid 80€ does that mean my bill for the 2 months will be 80€ less because of the level pay?

brightspark

The advantage of level pay is that you pay the same amount every month.

The months you use less electricity, you over pay, and that surplus is used to pay the balance when you use more.

€40 per month is very low though, if you are an average user you should be paying at least €80 a month (average annual bill is about €1000).

The level pay, with paperless discount is just 5%, (about €4 per month on average use)

Do you have meter readings from when you moved in and currently?

foggy_lad

OkeyDoke12 wrote: »

I recently moved into a house and signed up with Bord Gais I signed up in November so i'll be due a bill sometime soon. I got a letter a few weeks back saying "Your montly payment is €40 and this will be debited from the below account on the 5th of each month"

What is the level pay all about? over the 2 months I would have paid 80€ does that mean my bill for the 2 months will be 80€ less because of the level pay?

Level pay is based on your usage history or the history of those living in the property in the past and usually winds up with large discrepencies and huge top-up payments required at the end of the year, to be avoided if at all possible!

In this instance it would appear that they are only charging you €40 this month for gas based on the usage history, anything you paid in the last few days will be taken from that amount and anything paid before that will already be taken into account.


I would advise getting off level pay and getting your bills every two months or even monthly and budgeting to pay more for gas/electricity during the colder winter months.

brightspark

Oops I forgot they sell gas as well as electricity

I only have them for electricity.

Level pay suits those who like consistent bills every month. Think of the surplus going into a non interest paying bank account that is difficult to make withdrawals from. I think only when your surplus exceeds €200 do they give you a refund.
(Of course the discount for level pay could be more than the interest you would have got on your overpayments, after all €200 put in a bank for a year would get very little interest paid)

The_Morrigan

I have level pay and they initially charged me 64 euro a month after 12 months that was reduced to 48 euro as I was constantly over paying. I love this facility as I know exactly how much money I have to have in my account to meet the direct debits every month.

OkeyDoke12

Ok so basically I will receive no monthly bills? I will just get €40 taken out of my account each month and that will cover the cost?

If that amount was to increase I would receive a letter from bord Gais informing me a hit the changes?

naughtysmurf

I'm on this level pay for about a year now & am happy with it, approx €90 per month for a 4 bed semi, family of 4, you will get a bill every two months but a direct debit every month, last time I checked the bill, we were ahead, as in credit so happy with that, big advantage is the whopping big bill for over the xmas & winter periods is gone & the payments are spread throughout the year so it's much easier to put manage a monthly budget

Your €40 per month seems low to me if its a family in the house, as mentioned they calculate it based on previous known usage, if the house was empty for a while before you moved in or previous occupants were particulary frugal with their electricity consumption so maybe enquire about this & up your monthly payment, budget for 1k a year if it's a family I'd say

You will get an email to say your bill is available to view, log in & view it

brightspark

The_Morrigan wrote: »

I have level pay and they initially charged me 64 euro a year after 12 months that was reduced to 48 euro as I was constantly over paying. I love this facility as I know exactly how much money I have to have in my account to meet the direct debits every month.

It is a huge advantage provided you can afford the overpayments.

€64 a year? I'm guessing you meant per month.

The_Morrigan

brightspark wrote: »

It is a huge advantage provided you can afford the overpayments.

€64 a year? I'm guessing you meant per month.

yeah this is what I get for posting while watching the tellybox!

brightspark

OkeyDoke12 wrote: »

Ok so basically I will receive no monthly bills? I will just get €40 taken out of my account each month and that will cover the cost?

If that amount was to increase I would receive a letter from bord Gais informing me a hit the changes?

The amount taken is the amount expected to cover the cost averaged throughout the year...if it's not enough your bills will increase to cover the difference.

Don't wait for them to realise it or you will be then facing much larger bills until the shortfall is repaid. Find out what a realistic bill for your actual usage is and base your monthly payments on that. Maybe a neighbour with a similar household can tell you how much the spend every year, then divide that by 12 to get the figure you should pay.
Assuming you will have similar usages of course.

brightspark

The_Morrigan wrote: »

yeah this is what I get for posting while watching the tellybox!

Me too, that's why I forgot they sell gas

brightspark

http://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/help-and-questions/home/gas/levelpay/


http://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/docs/home-gas/Level+Pay+Terms+and+Conditions-gas.pdf

naughtysmurf

My earlier post as regards allowing 1k per year relates to electricity not gas supplied by bord gais, sorry was confused, are we talking about gas or electricity consumption here?

foggy_lad

You should also check your bills and submit meter readings whenever they fail to read the meter which will be about 3-4 times a year.

dubrov

As I recall, Bord Gais add a 20% premium to level pay (in the first year anyway).
I know you get it back at the end of the year but that extra 20% is still sitting in their bank account rather than yours.

The_Morrigan

dubrov wrote: »

As I recall, Bord Gais add a 20% premium to level pay (in the first year anyway).
I know you get it back at the end of the year but that extra 20% is still sitting in their bank account rather than yours.

I don't think they do. The tariff Is detailed as standard and it is based on average usage. When I joined up I provided previous bills from another provider to let them gauge the level of usage and the monthly amount was pretty much the same as I was paying the previous year. Since then I've gotten a bit more savvy with my usage and cut my bills for both gas and electric.

dubrov

The_Morrigan wrote: »

I don't think they do. The tariff Is detailed as standard and it is based on average usage. When I joined up I provided previous bills from another provider to let them gauge the level of usage and the monthly amount was pretty much the same as I was paying the previous year. Since then I've gotten a bit more savvy with my usage and cut my bills for both gas and electric.

The below is taken from the uSwitch website. It looks like the 20% premium only applies in year one. Given you have to move each year to continue to receive discounts it will pretty much apply any year you are with them.


"Is my bill the same every year?

Bord Gáis Energy’s Level Pay is worked out on your previous year's usage and the current energy prices. The aim of Level Pay is to ensure the customer does not go into debt due to their energy bills. Therefore, in the first year, a 20% tolerance will be added to your bill. If at the end of the year you are owed over €200, you will be sent a cheque for this value. If you are owed under €200, this will be taken off of the next year's Level Pay payments. If you owe any amounts, this will also be worked into the next year's Level Pay over the course of twelve months, to avoid any sudden large bills."


http://www.uswitch.ie/gas-electricity/guides/bord-gais-energy-level-pay/