MILLIONS of customer of several energy suppliers will get the £400 energy bill discount in their bank account next month.
Energy suppliers have the freedom to determine how customers are paid.
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Over 29 million households are eligible for the discount worth £400.
The discount will be automatic and will be made up of six instalments, starting from October.
British Gas, EDF Energy, Ovo Energy and Scottish Power will credit the discount to customer bank accounts for those paying their bills by direct debit.
Bulb, E.ON and E.ON Next, Shell Energy, Octopus Energy, So Energy, Utilita and Utility Warehouse will not pay the discount into customer bank accounts.
Those on credit meters and smart prepayment meters will be paid the £400 discount automatically over a six month period.
However, it’s up to your energy firm to decide whether they give out the discount as a cash payment or as a bill credit.
British Gas, Bulb, E.ON, E.ON Next, EDF Energy, Scottish Power, Shell Energy, SSE and Ovo, Octopus Energy, Utilita and Utility Warehouse have all now confirmed how they’ll pay their combined customers.
Which energy firms are paying the rebate directly into bank accounts?
British Gas
The country’s biggest energy supplier with 10million customers, British Gas, has now revealed how the bill rebate will be applied.
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Those who pay by direct debit – which is the vast majority of British Gas’ customers – will be expected to pay their bills as normal each month.
They will then receive the £400 discount as direct payments into their bank account, spread over a six month period.
Those with bills of less than the monthly refund will get the money refunded and the remaining amount added to their account.
The firm said: “If your direct debit is less than £67 a month, say £50 for example, £50 will be refunded to your bank account and the remaining £17 will be applied to your energy account.”
EDF
Like British Gas, EDF has also confirmed that its 5.2million customers who pay by monthly direct debit will pay their bill as normal.
They will then receive the discount in cash directly into their bank account after a successful bill payment is made.
Non-direct debit payers will see the energy rebate automatically credited to their energy account in the first week of each month.
Those on smart prepayment meters will receive the discount automatically through a credit on their device.
Scottish Power
Scottish Power customers will be expected to pay their bills as normal and then receive the cash discount back as a payment into their bank account.
And customers will also be contacted by the firm between now and September 19 to find out how the new energy price cap affects them.
Ovo Energy
Ovo Energy (and SSE) customers will see the £400 discount instalments credited to their bank account after a successful direct debit payment has gone through.
Those on smart prepayment meters will see the discount instalments credited to their electricity meter.
Customers on smart prepayment meters will receive the discount remotely through a credit on their device.
We’ve contacted Octopus Energy, Ovo and Scottish Power to ask how they’ll ensure their customers will get the £400 energy bill discount.
Which energy firms are NOT paying the rebate directly into bank accounts?
Bulb
Bulb customers will receive the discount automatically and their direct debits will be adjusted accordingly.
Those on smart prepayment meters will have the amount credited to their electricity account.
E.ON and E.ON Next
E.ON has confirmed how its 3.8million customers will get their hands on the £400 energy bill discount.
Those who pay by direct debit that are on a fixed energy tariff will see the rebate amount deducted from their monthly payment amounts.
If a customer’s payments are less than £66/67, the firm will reduce payments to £0 and add the extra as an account credit.
Customers on the standard variable tariff that pay by direct debit will see the rebate added as a credit on to their account each month.
Any excess credit will be carried over to the following month.
Those on smart prepayment meters will also receive the payment as a split credit to their gas and electricity meters.
Shell Energy
Shell Energy‘s 1million customers will see the six discounts deducted from their bills before their direct debit is taken.
Non-direct debit payers will see the discount appear on their bill as an extra payment, so they’ll also owe less than they normally would.
Smart prepayment meter customers will receive the monthly payment direct to their meters as a credit.
Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy customers will get an automatic monthly credit of £66 in October and November and then £67 between December and March.
The credit should automatically reduce customer monthly payments.
If a customer’s direct debit payment is less than £67, the firm will look to apply a payment holiday (reducing certain direct debits to £0) and credit their account with the remaining amount.
For smart prepayment customers, the discount will be added directly onto their meter as a credit.
So Energy
Fixed direct debit customers will get the monthly discount as credit on their So Energy account, typically in the first week of the month.
The firm will also include the discount when they review your monthly direct debit payments. This discount will then be used to set your monthly Direct Debit £66/£67 lower than it otherwise would be.
Those paying by variable direct debit or on receipt of bills will have the discount applied as a credit on to their So Energy account.
Smart prepayment meter customers will see the discount applied to their So Energy account, typically in the first week of the month. This credit will then reduce the amount customers will need to top-up.
Utilita
The six payments worth £66-67 will be automatically added as a credit to your account. That means the cash will reduce your overall bill.
Those on smart prepayment meters will be credited automatically.
Those on traditional prepayment meters will get the discount in voucher form.
Utility Warehouse
Like Shell Energy, Utility Warehouse customers on fixed energy tariffs and the standard variable tariff will see the discount come off their bill.
Customer direct debits will be adjusted before each monthly bill to reflect that the customer has received the discount.
Customers on smart prepayment meters will receive the discount remotely through a credit on their device.
