Claim back credit from your energy supplier

If you pay your energy bill by direct debit, you might end up being ‘in credit’ with your supplier - this means that they owe you money.

The amount you pay each month is an estimate based on how much energy your supplier thinks you’ll use over the whole year. You’ll sometimes be owed money because you’ve used less energy than you’ve paid for.

Your supplier might:

• refund any money owed to you at the end of the year
• pay the amount back by reducing your direct debit payments

If they don’t, you might want to claim back the credit.

When to claim

You can claim credit at any time. But you should probably leave money on your account during summer and autumn to cover higher energy costs in winter.

Before claiming back any money, think about:

• whether you’re likely to have higher energy bills in the months ahead
• if it will be difficult to pay your bills without keeping the credit on your account

If the amount you’re owed is more than the amount you pay as a monthly direct debit, you might want to claim back the difference.

Example

How to claim

To claim back money you’re owed, call your supplier. You’ll need to give them an up-to-date meter reading.

Your supplier might try to convince you to leave money on your account, but the decision is yours.

Further help

The Citizens Advice consumer helpline can give you advice on any issues you might have with claiming credit back from your supplier.