purepla.net purepla.net
Solved

Payments

A
Does anyone know why Pure Planet won't allow me to pay a similar monthly payment throughout the year?
icon

Best answer by Duppy 17 January 2020, 22:11

Hi @AK16
Welcome to the community.
Our direct debit payment is split 60/40, to take account of more usage in the colder months. This link should explain it
​​​​​​​https://community.purepla.net/content/175-Why-do-you-change-the-Direct-Debit-amount-in-summer-and-winter#ckb_start
View original

14 replies

D
Userlevel 7
Badge +8
Hi @AK16
Welcome to the community.
Our direct debit payment is split 60/40, to take account of more usage in the colder months. This link should explain it
​​​​​​​https://community.purepla.net/content/175-Why-do-you-change-the-Direct-Debit-amount-in-summer-and-winter#ckb_start
A
But I prefer to pay a similar payment throughout the year as I do for all my other household bills. Why won't they let me do that please?
Strutt G
Userlevel 7
Badge +9
Good afternoon AK16,

Duppy has provided you with a link that advises what you need to know.
Not wanting to sound to (I'm not) clever, but it was explained during the joining process and noted on your welcome pack.
It's PP's account strategy for us all.... and changing the process upon request thereafter would not be feasible.
PP is not alone in this method and I appreciate as a fellow customer that some like it and others not, but it was pre explained so to speak.

Hope this is now clear and have a great evening
Everything is impermanent
woz
Userlevel 7
Badge +10
hi AK
Without wishing to sound harsh, the answer is that's how PP decided to run it. This is because the vast majority of customers use between 60 and 70% of their annual energy in the colder months so PP decided it was fairer to take less in the warmer months and more in the colder ones.
PP is not the only company to do this.
It keeps more of your money in your account when you aren't using as much energy.
It currently isn't an option to change it (not sure if it ever will be) but can I point out the difference is less than you think
example:
Annual cost £1200 in equal payments would be 12 x £100
With PP 6 x £120 and 6 x £80 so the difference is £20 a month (not £40 as you might at first think)
(It's just a bit unfortunate if you start in October as your first 6 payments will be the higher amount)




AK16;46740:
But I prefer to pay a similar payment throughout the year as I do for all my other household bills. Why won't they let me do that please?
A
Maybe I will have to find another supplier then?
Gwyndy
AK16;47009:
Maybe I will have to find another supplier then?


Hi AK16

Whether Pure Planet's system works for you is something you that only you can decide, only having an electrity supply with them, I am still waiting myself to see whether the 60/40 split accurately reflects my usage pattern.

I guess it largely depends wheher you would rather have a 'fixed' monthly amount causing a possible credit/debit balance with your supplier, or a 'varying' amount that attempts to match your estimated usage pattern.

Regards
Gwyndy
I'm not a Pure Planet Staff Member, just a customer, like 99.99% of the other people in this community. Any advice provided is based upon answers previously supplied - either by myself, other customers, or Pure Planet Staff (aka @Marc and @Nataly).
Strutt G
Userlevel 7
Badge +9
Not a great fan of Clash but here that tune in my head
Everything is impermanent
S
Userlevel 7
Badge +9
AK16;46740:
But I prefer to pay a similar payment throughout the year as I do for all my other household bills. Why won't they let me do that please?


Hi there

"all my other household bills"

Just a petty point - I pay annually for home and car insurance, variable amounts for food, clothing, petrol, home maintenance issues, quarterly and six-monthly for magazine subscriptions - so I've managed to cope with a direct debit that changes completely predictably twice a year.

If you do decide to switch supplier, make sure they operate a payment system that is satisfactory to you before you take the plunge - and as a matter of interest, I'm curious how much more you would be willing to pay to have equal monthly payments?

Reading this post through, it may sound slightly antagonistic. If it does, I'm sorry, it's not meant to, I'm just genuinely puzzled.

​​​​​​​Stephen
D
Userlevel 7
Badge +8
Hi AK16.
​​​​​​​If it's a question of budgeting that requires you to have the same monthly outgoings, budget for the higher amount, that way in the six warmer months you will have a little bonus.
J

But I prefer to pay a similar payment throughout the year as I do for all my other household bills. Why won't they let me do that please?

Me too. I’ve just been hit with an extra £14 pm bill from them because the payments aren’t covering my bills. Normally I would have upped my payments much earlier, but because they’ve not been monitoring it properly, I have to pay £14pm extra for 6 months on top of putting up my normal payments, to cover the backlog. Not impressed one bit 

25 quid

PP has chosen this approach of different winter/summer payments for well documented and explained reasons.

@Jaki, you can ask PP to review your payments at any time if you feel they are inappropriate.

❆  ☞  ☃︎
S
Userlevel 2

The obvious answer is that they do it to help them with their cashflow..They’ll have to pay more for wholesale energy in the winter and they are a relatively small supplier who save costs on customer service so it will be harder for them to to find the money for a fixed cost than it would be for larger suppliers.

 

I’m quite happy with this approach, the annual price was one of the best I could find.

woz
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

But I prefer to pay a similar payment throughout the year as I do for all my other household bills. Why won't they let me do that please?

Me too. I’ve just been hit with an extra £14 pm bill from them because the payments aren’t covering my bills. Normally I would have upped my payments much earlier, but because they’ve not been monitoring it properly, I have to pay £14pm extra for 6 months on top of putting up my normal payments, to cover the backlog. Not impressed one bit 

hi @Jaki 

I don’t work for PP but I felt I needed to respond to what you’ve written.

When you say normally you’d have upped your payments earlier, I’m not sure what the normally means?

PP have been monitoring it properly, or as properly as all their parameters  and algorithms allow.

There is a normal variation in consumption due to weather so it’s no easier for PP to pick that up than it is for you, in fact it’s more likely that you’ll spot it before their algorithms will because

  1. the algorithms are written so they don’t annoy customers with too frequent warnings that it’s likely their payments won’t cover their costs.
  2. You are more aware of your tolerance levels and financial circumstances than PP are.

Do you look at your statements every month? If you did you’d have seen see the statement balance going down over a period of months if you weren’t paying enough to cover your use.

The big problem for any energy company is they tell you too early you’ll complain and if they tell you too late you have the double whammy of not only having to up your payments to cover the backlog, but to pay for the extra use ongoing. It’s a very fine balancing act and they can’t make it work for all perfectly.

You’re complaining because you’ve used more energy than your original quote covered, and blaming PP for not charging you more earlier on.

As far as the equal payments go it’s been discussed at length, but the top and bottom of it is that over a year their system is fairer for the majority because the majority use more energy when it’s colder and pay more when it’s colder. it also enables PP to run their business more efficiently.

However sadly it doesn’t suit  al especially older or more vulnerable customers and those on tight budgets, but you can arrange a different payment amount if you’re struggling, they are approachable.

Scubaseahorse
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

I do feel it's our responsibility to be paying the correct amount and monitoring the balance on our accounts.  If you are unsure about how much adjustment to make, contact PP who will help you every step of the way.

Reply