ESB & Bord Gas Bills

salutations

Hi guys, just moved to a new house and the other 2 housemates gave their names to be put on Bord Gas and ESB bills. Then today receive letters saying we must either pay a 400 eur (gas) deposit and 300eur ESB deposit. Either that or sign up to Direct Debit. It seems to be a new ploy and obviously due to the sizeable nature of these bills neither of the house mates want to go direct debit route and tbh the deposits seem astronomical. Just wondering if we ignore either route surely they'l still just send us on a bill(which we will pay on time) and wouldnt go as far as to cut us off. Both people are Irish and have never skipped on bills and so wouldnt have bad credit ratings or anything like that. Has anyone had a similar experience. I think they're taking the piss to be honest, Direct Debits are a nightmare when the bills are as big as these will be and if you miss them then you get screwed at the bank.
Any experience would be appreciated. Cheers

Cabaal

These policys aren't new they've existed for years, even if your just bought a house and your not renting they still tell you you must follow this policy.

Basically if you don't like the policys then don't take the services, but then you won't have heat and power.

Both companys have these policys mainly due to people renting and then leaving the place they lived in and leaving large outstanding bills, doesn't matter if your Irish or not this policy applys.

Mary-Ellen

Both these bills arrive 2 weeks before the money is taken from your account.
If you all have internet banking it's not too much effort to get your shares of the bill sorted and in your housemates account within the two weeks.

If you don't pay the deposits they'll be added onto your bill so if you only pay the esb/gas used for the month the bill is considered not paid in full/late.

Ticktactoe

I know with ESB that if you never had an account before with them then you are a new customer and must pay the 300 up front or go by direct debit.

If you have paid an esb bill before and it was in your name just ring them up and say that you have changed address and want to continue your account under you new address. You then advoid the 300 up front or DD.

Fnergg

One way of avoiding the pain of a large ESB electricity direct debit is to pay towards your next bill. Once you have the account number you can make Laser payments at any time. See:

https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/your_account/pay/startPayInit.do

If you pay, say, €20 per week then when the bill arrives (a bill covers 8 weeks) it will be substantially paid or could even be in credit.

Don't make the mistake of waiting for the bill to start the payments. Once it issues it is payable within 14 days.

Regards,

Fnergg

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

Try going commercial - 2,500 deposit :eek:

Midnight Sundance

Also,if you pay the deposit to esb say goodbye to it. They didnt give us back ours even though we had paid every bill in full. There's always some sort of loophole! I think one of our bills arrived on the 14th day from issue,so by time we got to pay it it was late. Sure we didn't think anythin of it until we went to move out . I'd recommend the paying a little off every week option.. Sounds lik a good idea

irishbrain

This is easy to get around.

I set up a direct debit and once I got my first bill I cancelled the direct debit. (With my bank through Internet banking) After that I just paid by laser card on the website whenever suited.

They don't say anything because cutting you off etc. is a lot of hassle and would not be tollerated - especially when you are actually paying your bill, if only by laser.

dudara

This is a pretty standard policy for the utilities companies and has been in place for years.

Posters here have suggested lots of ideas, but even if you go down the direct debit route, they will give you plenty of warning before taking the amount from your account.

irishbrain

dudara wrote: »

This is a pretty standard policy for the utilities companies and has been in place for years.

This is what happens when there is no real competition in the market. Do you think that they would demand this kind of deposit if there was real competition for customers? I doubt it.

lo0kash

Hi all,

Bord gais took from my account 200e security deposit (I have DD set up) when we moved house two months ago, I'm not a new customer I'm with them for last 5 yrs, never paid a security deposit before, all my bills were paid by DD. And now they took 200e deposit - they say they do that with all tenants. I think it's very strange and I'm gonig to give tham another call to complain and try to get that 200e back but I wonder if that happen to anyone else?

Also, I'm going to do switch electricity to them, I wonder if I will have to pay another 200e deposit...

scargill

It seems to be the norm for them to insist on a €200 deposit for tenants.

lo0kash

scargill wrote: »

It seems to be the norm for them to insist on a €200 deposit for tenants.

Sure but even for existing customers? I just think it's strange. As I said I'm with them for last 5 years and always paid bills on time by DD. And now they took 200e deposit from me....

That's very unusual. I thought you had the choice of direct debit or deposit. It must be a fairly new thing as I have never had to pay a deposit with them before. Did they tell you they were going to do this beforehand? they have to give you 14 days notice in writing before they are allowed to take anything from your account.

dudara

It's nothing to do with competition - they want to have money on hand in case you default on your debt.

There is competition in the electricity and gas markets at the moment, but all companies require a security deposit.

Cabaal

irishbrain wrote: »

This is what happens when there is no real competition in the market. Do you think that they would demand this kind of deposit if there was real competition for customers? I doubt it.

But all three consumer electrcity supply companys look for the same thing its not just one company,.

Also the UK has loads of different power companys I'd be extremely surprised if this policy didn't exist in the UK as well.

Bottom line is this policy exists not because the companys wanted it but because consumers took the piss and left outstanding bills when they left rented houses/apartments.

I moved into a new house which I own two years ago and even I was given the options of pay deposit or direct debit

dudara

Threads merged

dudara

Max Power1

irishbrain wrote: »

This is what happens when there is no real competition in the market. Do you think that they would demand this kind of deposit if there was real competition for customers? I doubt it.

as previously mentioned there are 2 viable competitors in the residential electricity market and one, soon to be two, competitors in the domestic gas market. To the best of my knowledge they all ask for security deposits.

Davy

dudara wrote: »

There is competition in the electricity and gas markets at the moment, but all companies require a security deposit.

Even if you have been with them for 5 years like in this case?

I have moved esb accounts and didnt have to pay a deposit and the bill wasnt paid using direct debit. I didn't have to pay a gas despot either, but that was paid DD

Cherrycola

salutations wrote: »

Hi guys, just moved to a new house and the other 2 housemates gave their names to be put on Bord Gas and ESB bills. Then today receive letters saying we must either pay a 400 eur (gas) deposit and 300eur ESB deposit. Either that or sign up to Direct Debit. It seems to be a new ploy and obviously due to the sizeable nature of these bills neither of the house mates want to go direct debit route and tbh the deposits seem astronomical. Just wondering if we ignore either route surely they'l still just send us on a bill(which we will pay on time) and wouldnt go as far as to cut us off. Both people are Irish and have never skipped on bills and so wouldnt have bad credit ratings or anything like that. Has anyone had a similar experience. I think they're taking the piss to be honest, Direct Debits are a nightmare when the bills are as big as these will be and if you miss them then you get screwed at the bank.
Any experience would be appreciated. Cheers

I feel your pain, we got the exact same letters through the door in the last two days!
We are broke as it is, after just moving home from abroad, shipping all our stuff, buying a car, insurance, road tax, rent and deposit, etc etc, and now this!
Our LL's agent went ahead and put all the bills into our name without even telling us, or giving us an option of which provider we wanted to go with, so for gas we are with Flogas, and they have asked for 390euro if we dont pay by DD, but 250euro if we do!! So we get screwed regardless of whether we choose to pay by DD or not!
Rip off! :mad::mad:

Anyone ever tried reason with any of these companies to get a reduced rate due to circumstances??:(

raido9

Max Power1 wrote: »

as previously mentioned there are 3 viable competitors in the residential electricity market and two, soon to be three, competitors in the domestic gas market. To the best of my knowledge they all ask for security deposits.

FYP

raido9

raido9 wrote: »

FYP

I may be wrong, but I thought Max Power1 meant additional competitors (competing against ESB and Bord Gais)


As a matter of curiosity, is it just renters that are being asked for a deposit in addition to paying by DD or are home owners being asked this too?

I recently switched from ESB to Airtricity and they didn't ask for a deposit at all.

Cherrycola

Just renters i think.

Cherrycola

Does anyone know if we can switch our electricity to another provider without having to pay ESB this deposit?
Is there a waiting time, as the ESB bill has just been transferred into our name?

Max Power1

Deleted User wrote: »

I may be wrong, but I thought Max Power1 meant additional competitors (competing against ESB and Bord Gais)


As a matter of curiosity, is it just renters that are being asked for a deposit in addition to paying by DD or are home owners being asked this too?

I recently switched from ESB to Airtricity and they didn't ask for a deposit at all.

Indeed that was what i meant.

AFAIK Flogas dont ask for a deposit if you are a homeowner. Airtricity dont either. Think BG and ESB do, but i'm open to correction

lo0kash

Hi guys, I got my 200eur back... But first person I was speaking to said that I won't get it back as they take that from ALL tenants even after address change. But two days later I called bord gais again and this time other person said she didn't know why the deposit was taken from my bank acc She apologized and after 3 days the money were back on my account...

Head The Wall

Cherrycola wrote: »

Does anyone know if we can switch our electricity to another provider without having to pay ESB this deposit?
Is there a waiting time, as the ESB bill has just been transferred into our name?

Ring up ESB and tell them you didn't authorize the landlord to sign you up and to cancel the order. Landlord shouldn't have done that, when we moved in where we are now we spoke to ESB while the landlord was there to do the changeover. Wer have since changed to Airtricity

Why anyone is still using ESB is beyond me, paying 13% more for the exact same thing. Anyone that hasn't changed is wasting their money

Cherrycola

We decided to stay with ESB for the time being, as there seems to be some talk about Airtricity and Bord Gais prices being temporary, until they get a good client base?! And possibly by the end of this year prices with them could rise.

Davy

Cherrycola wrote: »

We decided to stay with ESB for the time being, as there seems to be some talk about Airtricity and Bord Gais prices being temporary, until they get a good client base?! And possibly by the end of this year prices with them could rise.

Thats basically it. When the rates change is a different matter. It probably will be ESBCS dropping their rates than the others going up. ESBCS cant do this till the CER allows them. I think 350,000 customers have switched so far

Cherrycola

Yeah, thought that was it, and to be fair, ive had no issues with ESB up to now, they seem quite flexible if people have problems paying, and they allow me to pay a little off my bill each week via Laser before i get it, not sure if the others allow this.
And their customer service has always been good, when ive had cause to call them.

rameire

Cherrycola wrote: »

We decided to stay with ESB for the time being, as there seems to be some talk about Airtricity and Bord Gais prices being temporary, until they get a good client base?! And possibly by the end of this year prices with them could rise.

could you not just move to a cheaper provider, and if the other providers change their rates to a higher rate, then move to the then cheapest provider.
it doesnt take much effort.