Re: Water Bills
 

If you add up all the 'extra' charges for paying all your utilities bills by not using DD then you are probably well over 100 quid /year[1]. If you can afford to throw that amount of cash away for no benefit then you must have more money than you think. Direct debit isn't inconvienient. you know what day its going out so you can budget for it to be in there waiting. Bills themselves have drop dead dates that they have to be paid, consider your DD date in teh same manner and its no difference at all


[1] Gas/eleclly offer ~10% discount, BT are afetr 15 quid a quarter, water 5 pound, etc. It soon adds up.

Re: Water Bills
 

its called life n living, get over it

Re: Water Bills
 

What u save in one hand u can lose in the other like money not being paid in on time & direct debit fluffs up - been there & had the lovely £30 bank charges a time at the worst time u need them, trouble is how can anyone guarentee an income better still same or regular income these days??? job market isnt that secure!! So im afraid its only to convienience of companies because it saves on their effort & ensures u pay your bill when that date comes without flexibility, as which i manage to pay all my bills at time that suits my finances within a reasonable time limit - ok it costs but my control:D

Re: Water Bills
 

expensive control if you ask me.

as fo employment market, lets be onest, jobs rarely disappear overnight. there is usually a couple of weeks notice

I've never been out of work for more than a couple of days. just depends on what you are prepared to accept, something of teh standards you are accustomed to or a job to keep a roof over your head. big difference in how easy it is to get work

Re: Water Bills
 

Can u get an overdraft??

If u can i cant sorry entwisi people on lower rung get ripped off, if i had all my bills by DD on weekly basis i would never know whats in or whats out - plus i know whats paid & what isnt, banks do fluff & who pays then! Atm i have a few small DD because i know i could cover them regardless, but having a few hundred on DD will cause me more debt than not in order to benefit the years reduction - sounds daft to you but safer for me because if i have no money i cant pay it another arrangement will be made but a DD will need a few days notice to cancel or re-arrange if worst came to worst to avoid bank charges & its those bank charges that puts me well off DD or even trust them for all my bills - last time it caused me years of un neccessary debt because a huge chunk of income was lost especially if circumstances change or company goes under not always will u get sufficient notice!! Now i have no debt because i can mange my finances easier than the banks do!!

Re: Water Bills
 

The other way is to have an account that is just for paying bills by DD. Each week put the right amount of money into the account so the monthly DD's are covered.
Or like Ian says you know when the DD will be taken so you could just pay that amount into the bill paying account like you are paying the bill. You will then get DD prices but you can pay like its a regular bill. The only difference is you pay the money into your other account and the leccy company or whoever take it from their.

Years ago when I was weekly paid, I was worried about the monthly bills hitting me all at once and not having enough money to cover them. I opened another account and set up a weekly transfer for the day after pay for a quarter of my monthly bills. That meant that I could empty my main account on beer and the bills still got paid.

Re: Water Bills
 

my understanding and experience of DD is that companies can also take more than the stated amount if they wished , whereas with a standing order they can only take the amount agreed...

Re: Water Bills
 

They can only change the amount if they provide advanced notice of a change. This must be > 1 week IIRC You can challange any changes and they are then not allowed to make the change. If a company takes anything other than a previous agreed amount the Bank must immediately credit your account and cannot make any charges against you on the basis of that transaction. e.g. if you go overdrawn because of that one transaction then no charges, if you had three other payments go out that would have made you overdrawn regardless then they can.

All this is covered by teh Direct Debit guarantee which all banks signed up with.

Cherokee, a standing order is not them taking money, its you paying them. they have no say in the transaction whatsoever.

I'd also agree with Neil on the idea of a bills account. you know what bills you have to pay, paying teh cash in a day before a direct debit is due is no different than walking to teh post office etc with your bill in your hand and paying it. Having a household budget is probabaly one of teh biggest tips anyone could take. know exactly what it costs to live gives you control of your life. I regularly sit down and go through our budget so we know what we can afford to spend each month/plan for hols/ save up for new cars. etc

Re: Water Bills
 

Back to thread ........ rang UU about my bill least this time English call person, unfortunately as they say all bills have risen by 8 & 1/2 % & had floods of calls cos people like me have noticed a significant rise. My rateable value is set at 151 by the gov & said that there will be no chance of changing it, so im stuck with a high rate bill or go water meter:(

Re: Water Bills
 

Being a bit green, politically I mean and not green scum that needs washing off, I enquired if I could have a water meter. Living alone, and mainly having showers, I thought it would be cheaper.

They did an estimate for me, and told me to stick to paying a standard charge.

Bit daft if you ask me.

Re: Water Bills
 

I hate paying water bill, But have also heard that a Meter would be a lot more costly so best to stick to Annual rate.

D/D I think is a good idea to pay bills and a seperate account is the way to go, Internet banking allows you to cancel a D/D immediatly so If you aint got it you just stop the D/D wait for the nasty letter, advise its a mistake and re set it up.:D

Re: Water Bills
 

You’re forgetting the shareholders chav1. They want their pound of flesh.

My water bill went up 10.02% for this fiscal year to just over £183. But I do live in a one bedroom flat and no bath, just a shower, toilet, washbasin and kitchen sink. OK! A washing machine as well.

Er! entwisi! I think that you will find that there are more than IIRC and Gas that have right of entry to your property without your permission. Police, Fire, Bailiff, Social Services, the landlord if it is rented property, health a safety, environmental health plus others that I cannot remember. This very point was discussed on the Jeremy Vine lunchtime programme one day last week and he read out quite a long list.

Re: Water Bills
 

IIRC?

The above cant just enter your property they have to have reasonable cause, and a lot would have to give written 24hrs notice.

Re: Water Bills
 

I was only quoting what was discussed on the programme. As for reasonable cause – that wouldn’t be too difficult to find. I’ll grant you that most are required to give 24 hours notice but after that they can walk in without so much as a by your leave and you can do nothing about it.

You will find a list here http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/chapters/the-right-to-privacy/power-of-officials-to-enter-your-home/index.shtml

Re: Water Bills
 

I dont doubt what the program discussed, but in the real world someone who knows there stuff would be able to Revoke anyone attempting to enter your property.

Is it not after 24 hours they can enter, but again if you refuse entry they have to get a court order.

It is something I persoanally will have none of If I dont want somebody in my house then they arnt getting in unless they have a person of Authority there (Police ect) and Im happy with the ID provided.