Budget Direct Debit (regular monthly payments): how your reviews work

We review your Direct Debit at least twice a year to make sure your payments are on track to cover your energy use for the year.

Review 1 – half-way through your Direct Debit year

• We ask you for a meter reading – or get it from your smart meter – to see your latest energy use
• We check your current balance and charges on your account
• We look at any changes to your tariff prices

From this information, we can see if you're on track to cover your expected energy costs for the year. We'll let you know if we need to put your payments up or down to get you back on track.

Review 2 – the end of your Direct Debit year

• We ask you for meter reading – or get it from your smart meter – to see your latest energy use
• Check your current balance and charges on your account
• We look at any changes to your tariff prices

From this information, we can see if your payments over the past year covered your actual energy costs for the year.

If you've paid too little or too much, we simply roll the credit or debit into your next payments; or we give you an automatic refund if you have £150 credit or more (as long as we got a meter reading ahead of your review).

At this end-of-year review, we also work out how much energy you're likely to use over the next 12 months.

Based on the whole review, we send you a bill. This will tell you if your monthly payments need to go up, down or stay the same to cover your energy costs for the year ahead.

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You'll find answers for your type of account in our help centre for account numbers that start with 'A'. 

You just need to log in or sign up to MyAccount first – this is where you'll find your help centre.

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We review your Direct Debit at least twice a year to make sure your payments are on track to cover your energy use for the year.

Review 1 – half-way through your Direct Debit year

• We ask you for a meter reading – or get it from your smart meter – to see your latest energy use
• We check your current balance and charges on your account
• We look at any changes to your tariff prices

From this information, we can see if you're on track to cover your expected energy costs for the year. We'll let you know if we need to put your payments up or down to get you back on track.

Review 2 – the end of your Direct Debit year

• We ask you for meter reading – or get it from your smart meter – to see your latest energy use
• Check your current balance and charges on your account
• We look at any changes to your tariff prices

From this information, we can see if your payments over the past year covered your actual energy costs for the year.

If you've paid too little or too much, we simply roll the credit or debit into your next payments; or we give you an automatic refund if you have £150 credit or more (as long as we got a meter reading ahead of your review).

At this end-of-year review, we also work out how much energy you're likely to use over the next 12 months.

Based on the whole review, we send you a bill. This will tell you if your monthly payments need to go up, down or stay the same to cover your energy costs for the year ahead.