"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
On 26/03/2021 08:52, alan_m wrote:
On 26/03/2021 08:06, Jeff Layman wrote:

From what i understand, the energy companies' "DD guarantee" far from
saying that they won't overcharge you almost guarantees they will! If
not, why have Ofgem made a very-obvious public statement about the
overcharging?


Stick to your principles and pay by check/cash/BACs and have a very
restricted choice of tariffs and pay 10% to 30% more.

Another fiddle. Assuming there is a fixed cost to supply an individual
bill rather than extract a DD payment, the charge should be the same
whether the energy bill is £5 or £500. But it isn't - they apply a
percentage to the bill. BT applies a fixed amount, the water company makes
no charge. Why are the energy companies different?

That market is much more competitive now.

Often the initial DD charges are based on the figures the _customer_
gives to the energy supplier.

For a new supplier maybe, but the energy company must know a longer-term
customer's average usage. If the DD is consistently too high, resulting in
the account being in credit every year, something is wrong.

But there is a real incentive for it to be in credit
every year given their margins are so low now.