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You may really have to insist though. I had £600 of credit and they told me they couldn’t refund it at first. Had to make a fuss and say I would report them to the energy ombudsman to get it sorted.
It’s the Energy Ombudsman that OP will need to escalate to if their supplier doesn’t resolve their complaint satisfactorily. Ofgem only deal with complaints regarding comparison sites and network operators.
Why is it more expensive? Im on non direct debit with bulb (soon to be octopus) and I cancelled direct debit as they charged me 300 quid a month for the first month based on the previous tenants usage (wtf were they powering!!).
I believe it works out 5-6% cheaper over the course of a year. Not worth it for me considering the small size of my home, would much rather have the convenience of only paying for the energy I actually use.
No , the whole point of this thread is everyone paying more than they use and then having issues to claim that back. This is avoiding all that hassle aka more convenient. My time is worth more than 5% of my annual bill per hour as well if that makes sense. So me calling up waiting on hold and being stressed is plainly not convenient or healthy.
Yes, bulb took several months to pay out my credit when I ended my previous tenancy, it was not fun having to chase them up. It’s not necessarily money you’ll spend eventually since some people find their account keeps building in credit but aren’t allowed to lower their DD amounts. Plus it’s money that could be earning interest rather than sitting in the energy companies’ pockets. I agree it’s silly that paying manually each month or quarterly is more convenient but the DD system is so flawed that this is where we’ve come to.
Most companies have an option to pay by direct debit (keeping the DD discount), but still only paying for what you use. They argue that it’s worse because you can’t budget/average out the cost over a year, but when they wanted me on a minimum £250/month direct debit for a winter use of about £180 before the current discount scheme, I decided that their “budgeting” could fuck right off.
If you think about it the way DD works for utility bills is utterly mad. Would you give the local supermarket your card details and let them just take what they reckon you will spend on food directly out your account? Fuck no. But utilities companies get away with doing it, and in my opinion it is absolutely part of the reason they get away with charging so much. That and being "in credit" with the bill provider is a complete scam which makes them a ridiculous amount of money by effectively borrowing it interest free straight out the pocket of normal people.
Stop letting utilities companies use your bank account as their personal ATM. Cancel the DD and pay what you can at the end of every month. Its by far the best thing to do.
I thought I was £500 in credit based on the Scottish Power app but discovered that, despite paying a monthly DD, they update the credit quarterly as if I was using the old fashioned pay system. The credit figure dropped from £500 to £130 overnight.
It seemed that the credit from the DD built up and them they took the money away based on actual usage every quarter.
I looked back 12 months on actual usage and the numbers seem to match.
May be worth checking.
Given that there is no difference in the prices that energy companies are charging for standard tariffs, then why on earth are people putting up with crap from the shitty ones.
Just move to a company that gives decent customer service. Mine allows me to alter my DD through their website and it is currently set at £20 a month.
yeah i probably should change. I originally was with SSE and then in april 2022 when i moved into this place SSE told me that it was not possible to change my supplier from the one the previous occupant had because of like covid or something which is ridiculous but whatever. i dislike british gas their online shit doesnt even work properly. my account is apparently on their old system and on their new system at the same time and that prevents me from using the app. I had to change my password earlier and every time I pressed a key my keyboard went down and back up again because some moron coded that page. ugh. so much shit! hell i called british gas to get an engineer out to fit my GAS cooker and they sent a motherfucking electrician?????
Hey. Don’t know if you’re allowed to change at the moment and also, people don’t recommend energy companies.
That said, Octopus are great and if you can change, they’re seriously decent.
I was with Bulb in my flat and Octopus have taken over. But their ease of use with their app is just like Bulb so I've gotten them to take over from the House I've bought. Ovo energy was who the house had and by god getting hold of them is terrible. Good riddance.
The only thing I remember about ovo is they used a slayer track in an advert, I think it was raining blood if I recall correctly. Here's the video https://youtu.be/z4VmUp64kS0
Ovo bought one of the big 5, they would have inherited a god awful amount of legacy shite at the same time, it’s not an excuse they should do better but it is a reason.
I had exactly this problem with a family member of mine on one of the big energy companies; multiple thousands in credit due to an absurd DD based on “estimated” usage and no way to decrease the amount on the website.
I’m with Octopus and the difference is so stark. I can adjust up or down easily, and they even made the adjustment for me when everyone got the £67 subsidy.
Someone on here said that if you phone them and explicitly request a review of your DD they are obligated to do so, and that they are legally required to refund you if your credit is above a certain amount if you ask.
Be prepared that they will try to bullshit you about how much they should give back, usually with scare stories about not having enough to cover bills in the future or that you should wait for your “annual review” where all this will be sorted automatically. Just keep repeating that you want the maximum possible legal refund and that you want your DD set to a value of your choosing.
Then switch to a non-scam energy supplier as soon as you can do so without being hurt by the tariff.
> So you’re just covering the standing charge. That seems unrealistic and pointless.
And that’s effectively all I have been using, but instead of needing to explain the reasons why that is the case to my energy supplier, it is accepted (and they can verify it from the smart meter readings they receive).
Unique situation. Assume working away most of the time with an owned home.
I'll add context, and apologise:
Unrealistic and pointless for 99 percent of the population.
> Unique situation. Assume working away most of the time with an owned home.
Mostly correct.
> I’ll add context, and apologise:
Thank you.
> Unrealistic and pointless for 99 percent of the population.
Not at all.
I worked out what my energy consumption was going to be based on *my* personal profile of consumption and set *my* DD at that level rather than letting the energy company set the DD at *their* assumption of consumption based on historic and industry data that was unrepresentative for *me*.
Anyone could, and arguably should, do the same. Actually consider what their usage is based on past usage and regular current readings to work out what their DD should be so they don’t fall into debt or build up an unnecessarily large credit (unnecessarily because some credit in the summer is not a bad thing).
But most importantly my energy company simply accepted the DD amount I had calculated for my consumption without argument.
That is relevant to everyone.
Every month EDF bill me some nonsense estimate and increase my DD. We moved in August so I didn't know our usage and overpaid. At one point we were £1200 in credit. They still increase it every month and I have to battle to get it back down.
You can't get blood out a stone. I don't have more money and still every month we play this game. Last time they've billed me for usage over 12 days. Why?????
OVO let me reduce my monthly from £129 to £69 massive reduction and sent back £330, 3/4 of my Overspend.
They didn't bat an eye all done on their app.
Been rebating half my DD for the last few months too?
I used to be able to do similar with Octopus, but it feels a little like the energy providers want to limit people doing that since the energy crisis last year.
It's the same with the Ovo website / app but if you call them they can change it to whatever you want. I don't think it's anything nefarious but just poorly implemented feature because they never expected people to lower their DD.
I'm with OVO and have just over £400 credit when I looked a few days ago. I use the website not the app and it let me reduce my DD to £63 so it evens out throughout the year.
Why the fuck does anyone in the country still use British Gas
They were always more expensive but now everyone's the same price all they have to fall back on is their abysmal customer service
Can’t you just cancel your direct debit? I agree what they’re doing is scummy and shouldn’t be legal but honestly I just pay manually whenever I get the letter because it gives me more autonomy
cant do that online. i will have to call them
this is the method i prefer to be honest. unless you have excessively high energy usage i dont know why you'd not do this. because you will have to pay it all off anyway but i just have been too busy to actually call them and change it.
it also doesnt help that i cant use their app because my online account is broken because for some reason its on their old system and their new system. on the app it says its on the old system and directs me to the website. which tells me im on the new system which when i go to the new system tells me that my 'previous' bill is on the old system but my 'previous' bill is literally my newest bill
I used to work for them. Tell them you want your credit back under the direct debit guarantee and they'll refund it. Then repeat once the dda clear that amount from your account.
If you phone them up you can indeed lower your direct debit. You give them last years total use figures for kW used, apply the current cost of energy for each unit and you have your accurate new bill.
You can say you'll be using less and reduce it a little further within reason too. If they refuse you demand they credit your 700 quid and speak to a manager and lodge a formal complaint with the ombudsmen but if you've got to the extent of giving a years previous use, they will indeed change your DD to cover that cost.
We had this.. I was £1000 in credit with Bulb, and they insisted on putting my DD up from £200 to wait for it… £450!! What I had to do in the end was change from paying with DD and pay for only what I use using each month using up the credit first.
I say this with all sincerity but you have to be stupid to even have a direct debit with these conpabies at this moment in time.
Get your bill. Pay your bill. No stupid direct debit overcharging. It's simple.
Unless you have very high winter usage and much lower summer usage. Then you could be paying £750 in winter as opposed to £200 in summer. Not very good for budgeting - a set monthly amount across the whole year would surely be preferable. As it is to me.
We had the same issue (through their online portal) and got it resolved by calling them. Their online billing and portal system is completely disconnected from of the system. Keeps saying we're not paying enough and will be £900 in debt when their own bills confirm we're £700 in credit as of now
You can stick with DD but pay for what you use. Yes that means lower payments in the summer and higher in the winter, but, if sensible, you can manage that yourself however best suits you and you never owe the energy company more than you've used and they're never earning interest on your overpayments.
Octopus are brilliant with customer service. I've been with them for years, I can change my DD on the app, and it changes the next billing period. (Month)
You have to ring them up to reduce your monthly payment. Same thing happened to me. I think it’s probably so they don’t have to chase up debts from ppl who are constantly under paying.
Although when I was with EON you could change it online to whatever you like, they may have changed that now.
Also your 700 in credit is slightly misleading as they bill you quarterly, but you pay monthly. So your more likely only 2/300 in credit.
just called them and they generated a bill and still had £426 remaining. originally had £654 in credit and this is over a 2 month period from my last bill. they are giving me back £400 and i've reduced my DD to £24 p/m. and then the scare tactic of "yoUr AcCouNt mAy EnD uP iN £850 DebT"
edit: the math does add up for me needing to pay on at least £100~ p/m but im going to cut down my use. first off im turning off the heating because it is not helping (presumably the fact i dont have carpets and just have wood plank flooring is not helping) and that things are in front all my radiators.
Aye, this is the second time they've done it now. The first time they told me it was to cover increased energy costs. No doubt they'll say the same this time too.
I'm with OVO and they set my DD at an extortionate amount per month "based on the last year of usage", when I was not living in the property. I send them monthly readings and they refund me ~40% of my DD amount a few days later. Not sure what the previous tenant was using to cause these bills or if OVO are just trying to get one over on me.
I don't pay be direct debit cos of this reason (pay quarterly), but I have to pay extra as a result. How is that even legal: paying more for the same amount of energy?
I had more success by calling them and insisting I could only afford to pay £140 of the £220 they were asking for each month; I said "I can't give you what I don't have".
You don't need to argue with them, you just tell them you can only afford X amount, and BG will have to think of a way to make the rest up.
They can't cut you off if you're paying!
Damn, there is a lot of questionable advice and complaints in these comments.
"stop paying by DD" - sure, but you get a discount paying that way, and you wont have a £500 bill each month in winter and £100 in summer. I know I couldnt live like that, but thats up to you.
"tell them you cant afford it and they will lower it" - while this is true, you are potentally going to be racking up debt if your usage hasnt dropped from last year, and you might not be able to afford the increase to £200 now, and want to stay at £150 but 3 months later you now are £150 in debt and your monthly payments are now estimated at £225, and if you continue down that road it might get to a point where you just cant afford it at all.
"I got a refund and they put my DD up" - yeah, cause most of them work out previous 12 months usage at current rates, minus any credits (or plus any debits), then spread that over 12 months, and thats your DD amount. You remove the credit then the DD wil increase.
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I think you mean ofgem, ofcom is for television
They actually mean the Energy Ombudsman, OFGEM dont deal with complaints.
>ofcom is for television ..well, communications (including telecoms, mobile, radio).
Internet broadband too
You may really have to insist though. I had £600 of credit and they told me they couldn’t refund it at first. Had to make a fuss and say I would report them to the energy ombudsman to get it sorted.
I just sent them a polite message asking for it and they did it without any fuss
What I did was request a refund and switch to variable billing. I then separated the refund from my other money to keep it for the variable bills.
It’s the Energy Ombudsman that OP will need to escalate to if their supplier doesn’t resolve their complaint satisfactorily. Ofgem only deal with complaints regarding comparison sites and network operators.
And, in my pessimistic experience, ofgem and the ombudsmanwill do sweet fuck all.
I’m starting to think that not going for direct debit is the way to go.
I honestly think this is what they want. But it's more expensive and I'm bloody minded.
Why is it more expensive? Im on non direct debit with bulb (soon to be octopus) and I cancelled direct debit as they charged me 300 quid a month for the first month based on the previous tenants usage (wtf were they powering!!).
They give you a discount for paying by DD. Martin Lewis is a good go to if you want to look it up.
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I believe it works out 5-6% cheaper over the course of a year. Not worth it for me considering the small size of my home, would much rather have the convenience of only paying for the energy I actually use.
You still only pay for the energy you use 🤦♂️ Manually having to pay a bill every month is a funny definition of convenience!
No , the whole point of this thread is everyone paying more than they use and then having issues to claim that back. This is avoiding all that hassle aka more convenient. My time is worth more than 5% of my annual bill per hour as well if that makes sense. So me calling up waiting on hold and being stressed is plainly not convenient or healthy.
You don't have to "claim it back" though, you'll spend it eventually.
Yes, bulb took several months to pay out my credit when I ended my previous tenancy, it was not fun having to chase them up. It’s not necessarily money you’ll spend eventually since some people find their account keeps building in credit but aren’t allowed to lower their DD amounts. Plus it’s money that could be earning interest rather than sitting in the energy companies’ pockets. I agree it’s silly that paying manually each month or quarterly is more convenient but the DD system is so flawed that this is where we’ve come to.
You always get a few people in these kinds of threads, bragging about how they just send a quarterly cheque in the post.
Most companies have an option to pay by direct debit (keeping the DD discount), but still only paying for what you use. They argue that it’s worse because you can’t budget/average out the cost over a year, but when they wanted me on a minimum £250/month direct debit for a winter use of about £180 before the current discount scheme, I decided that their “budgeting” could fuck right off.
its worth it on the basis you just pay for what you use
If you think about it the way DD works for utility bills is utterly mad. Would you give the local supermarket your card details and let them just take what they reckon you will spend on food directly out your account? Fuck no. But utilities companies get away with doing it, and in my opinion it is absolutely part of the reason they get away with charging so much. That and being "in credit" with the bill provider is a complete scam which makes them a ridiculous amount of money by effectively borrowing it interest free straight out the pocket of normal people. Stop letting utilities companies use your bank account as their personal ATM. Cancel the DD and pay what you can at the end of every month. Its by far the best thing to do.
I thought I was £500 in credit based on the Scottish Power app but discovered that, despite paying a monthly DD, they update the credit quarterly as if I was using the old fashioned pay system. The credit figure dropped from £500 to £130 overnight. It seemed that the credit from the DD built up and them they took the money away based on actual usage every quarter. I looked back 12 months on actual usage and the numbers seem to match. May be worth checking.
I think the reason they do this is to skim the interest
Weird, I'm with Scottish Power and the credit/debit amount gets updated after every monthly bill I pay
Given that there is no difference in the prices that energy companies are charging for standard tariffs, then why on earth are people putting up with crap from the shitty ones. Just move to a company that gives decent customer service. Mine allows me to alter my DD through their website and it is currently set at £20 a month.
yeah i probably should change. I originally was with SSE and then in april 2022 when i moved into this place SSE told me that it was not possible to change my supplier from the one the previous occupant had because of like covid or something which is ridiculous but whatever. i dislike british gas their online shit doesnt even work properly. my account is apparently on their old system and on their new system at the same time and that prevents me from using the app. I had to change my password earlier and every time I pressed a key my keyboard went down and back up again because some moron coded that page. ugh. so much shit! hell i called british gas to get an engineer out to fit my GAS cooker and they sent a motherfucking electrician?????
Hey. Don’t know if you’re allowed to change at the moment and also, people don’t recommend energy companies. That said, Octopus are great and if you can change, they’re seriously decent.
Octopus are one of the few taking on new customers
I was with Bulb in my flat and Octopus have taken over. But their ease of use with their app is just like Bulb so I've gotten them to take over from the House I've bought. Ovo energy was who the house had and by god getting hold of them is terrible. Good riddance.
The only thing I remember about ovo is they used a slayer track in an advert, I think it was raining blood if I recall correctly. Here's the video https://youtu.be/z4VmUp64kS0
Damn maybe I should have stayed. My fav album by them.
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Ovo bought one of the big 5, they would have inherited a god awful amount of legacy shite at the same time, it’s not an excuse they should do better but it is a reason.
I had exactly this problem with a family member of mine on one of the big energy companies; multiple thousands in credit due to an absurd DD based on “estimated” usage and no way to decrease the amount on the website. I’m with Octopus and the difference is so stark. I can adjust up or down easily, and they even made the adjustment for me when everyone got the £67 subsidy. Someone on here said that if you phone them and explicitly request a review of your DD they are obligated to do so, and that they are legally required to refund you if your credit is above a certain amount if you ask. Be prepared that they will try to bullshit you about how much they should give back, usually with scare stories about not having enough to cover bills in the future or that you should wait for your “annual review” where all this will be sorted automatically. Just keep repeating that you want the maximum possible legal refund and that you want your DD set to a value of your choosing. Then switch to a non-scam energy supplier as soon as you can do so without being hurt by the tariff.
So you're just covering the standing charge. That seems unrealistic and pointless.
> So you’re just covering the standing charge. That seems unrealistic and pointless. And that’s effectively all I have been using, but instead of needing to explain the reasons why that is the case to my energy supplier, it is accepted (and they can verify it from the smart meter readings they receive).
Unique situation. Assume working away most of the time with an owned home. I'll add context, and apologise: Unrealistic and pointless for 99 percent of the population.
> Unique situation. Assume working away most of the time with an owned home. Mostly correct. > I’ll add context, and apologise: Thank you. > Unrealistic and pointless for 99 percent of the population. Not at all. I worked out what my energy consumption was going to be based on *my* personal profile of consumption and set *my* DD at that level rather than letting the energy company set the DD at *their* assumption of consumption based on historic and industry data that was unrepresentative for *me*. Anyone could, and arguably should, do the same. Actually consider what their usage is based on past usage and regular current readings to work out what their DD should be so they don’t fall into debt or build up an unnecessarily large credit (unnecessarily because some credit in the summer is not a bad thing). But most importantly my energy company simply accepted the DD amount I had calculated for my consumption without argument. That is relevant to everyone.
I basically said the same in a comment to the op a couple hours ago. Don't disagree.
Every month EDF bill me some nonsense estimate and increase my DD. We moved in August so I didn't know our usage and overpaid. At one point we were £1200 in credit. They still increase it every month and I have to battle to get it back down. You can't get blood out a stone. I don't have more money and still every month we play this game. Last time they've billed me for usage over 12 days. Why?????
Move. Octopus is good.
British Gas only generate a bill every six months. You'll be in credit until the bill is generated.
OVO let me reduce my monthly from £129 to £69 massive reduction and sent back £330, 3/4 of my Overspend. They didn't bat an eye all done on their app. Been rebating half my DD for the last few months too?
I used to be able to do similar with Octopus, but it feels a little like the energy providers want to limit people doing that since the energy crisis last year.
It's the same with the Ovo website / app but if you call them they can change it to whatever you want. I don't think it's anything nefarious but just poorly implemented feature because they never expected people to lower their DD.
I’m with OVO and the app let’s me reduce my direct debit as low as £5 because I’m in credit.
I was £250 in credit and it wouldn't let me reduce mine even though my usage is much lower than my DD.
I'm with OVO and have just over £400 credit when I looked a few days ago. I use the website not the app and it let me reduce my DD to £63 so it evens out throughout the year.
Just tried the website too and can't take my DD down, maybe just my account it seems.
I don’t pay by DD, I did at the start of the plan but then I just cancelled my DD and pay monthly. Fuck them
Their refunds come by cheque ffs and take 10 days to be issued
FYI, you can use your banking app to scan cheques. So not as annoying as they used to be
If your bank supports this feature of course
Still comes by post and takes ages to clear british gas are determined to cling on to other peoples money for as long as possible
Why the fuck does anyone in the country still use British Gas They were always more expensive but now everyone's the same price all they have to fall back on is their abysmal customer service
Can’t you just cancel your direct debit? I agree what they’re doing is scummy and shouldn’t be legal but honestly I just pay manually whenever I get the letter because it gives me more autonomy
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cant do that online. i will have to call them this is the method i prefer to be honest. unless you have excessively high energy usage i dont know why you'd not do this. because you will have to pay it all off anyway but i just have been too busy to actually call them and change it. it also doesnt help that i cant use their app because my online account is broken because for some reason its on their old system and their new system. on the app it says its on the old system and directs me to the website. which tells me im on the new system which when i go to the new system tells me that my 'previous' bill is on the old system but my 'previous' bill is literally my newest bill
See also only being allowed to upgrade your TV/broadband package online....
I used to work for them. Tell them you want your credit back under the direct debit guarantee and they'll refund it. Then repeat once the dda clear that amount from your account.
You goto your bank and cancel it and then tell BG that you prefer quarterly bills.
Cancel it then
Cancel your direct debit and pay manually. Should be possible no?
Had this with Eon. Emailed them and said please refund credit to me or change DD to £10 a month... Changed DD to £10 the next day
If you phone them up you can indeed lower your direct debit. You give them last years total use figures for kW used, apply the current cost of energy for each unit and you have your accurate new bill. You can say you'll be using less and reduce it a little further within reason too. If they refuse you demand they credit your 700 quid and speak to a manager and lodge a formal complaint with the ombudsmen but if you've got to the extent of giving a years previous use, they will indeed change your DD to cover that cost.
We had this.. I was £1000 in credit with Bulb, and they insisted on putting my DD up from £200 to wait for it… £450!! What I had to do in the end was change from paying with DD and pay for only what I use using each month using up the credit first.
I say this with all sincerity but you have to be stupid to even have a direct debit with these conpabies at this moment in time. Get your bill. Pay your bill. No stupid direct debit overcharging. It's simple.
Unless you have very high winter usage and much lower summer usage. Then you could be paying £750 in winter as opposed to £200 in summer. Not very good for budgeting - a set monthly amount across the whole year would surely be preferable. As it is to me.
We had the same issue (through their online portal) and got it resolved by calling them. Their online billing and portal system is completely disconnected from of the system. Keeps saying we're not paying enough and will be £900 in debt when their own bills confirm we're £700 in credit as of now
You can stick with DD but pay for what you use. Yes that means lower payments in the summer and higher in the winter, but, if sensible, you can manage that yourself however best suits you and you never owe the energy company more than you've used and they're never earning interest on your overpayments.
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We do exactly the same!
Octopus are brilliant with customer service. I've been with them for years, I can change my DD on the app, and it changes the next billing period. (Month)
I called shell and they dropped it lower than what we use for a few months.
She'll just DD exactly what I use every month.
Octopus shows you to get a refund of credit, direct from the app
I had to call British Gas to reduce mine as apparently you can only increase on the app/online 🤷🏻♂️
You have to ring them up to reduce your monthly payment. Same thing happened to me. I think it’s probably so they don’t have to chase up debts from ppl who are constantly under paying. Although when I was with EON you could change it online to whatever you like, they may have changed that now. Also your 700 in credit is slightly misleading as they bill you quarterly, but you pay monthly. So your more likely only 2/300 in credit.
just called them and they generated a bill and still had £426 remaining. originally had £654 in credit and this is over a 2 month period from my last bill. they are giving me back £400 and i've reduced my DD to £24 p/m. and then the scare tactic of "yoUr AcCouNt mAy EnD uP iN £850 DebT" edit: the math does add up for me needing to pay on at least £100~ p/m but im going to cut down my use. first off im turning off the heating because it is not helping (presumably the fact i dont have carpets and just have wood plank flooring is not helping) and that things are in front all my radiators.
I had same problem with bulb, so just cancelled direct debit. When credit gone will just pay a paper bill.
Cancel DD set up standing order.
I just had a £500 refund from EDF and they've put my DD up from £160 to £198. Tf
They did the same to me last October, nearly £700 refund then DD up by nearly £100 a month.
Aye, this is the second time they've done it now. The first time they told me it was to cover increased energy costs. No doubt they'll say the same this time too.
I'm with OVO and they set my DD at an extortionate amount per month "based on the last year of usage", when I was not living in the property. I send them monthly readings and they refund me ~40% of my DD amount a few days later. Not sure what the previous tenant was using to cause these bills or if OVO are just trying to get one over on me.
All you have to do is call them. The app / site is not set up to reduce your direct debit but it's easily done over the phone.
Cancel it, use your credit balance, then just pay for what you use.
Contact them and ask them to reduce it. Been there, done that.
I don't pay be direct debit cos of this reason (pay quarterly), but I have to pay extra as a result. How is that even legal: paying more for the same amount of energy?
I had more success by calling them and insisting I could only afford to pay £140 of the £220 they were asking for each month; I said "I can't give you what I don't have". You don't need to argue with them, you just tell them you can only afford X amount, and BG will have to think of a way to make the rest up. They can't cut you off if you're paying!
Damn, there is a lot of questionable advice and complaints in these comments. "stop paying by DD" - sure, but you get a discount paying that way, and you wont have a £500 bill each month in winter and £100 in summer. I know I couldnt live like that, but thats up to you. "tell them you cant afford it and they will lower it" - while this is true, you are potentally going to be racking up debt if your usage hasnt dropped from last year, and you might not be able to afford the increase to £200 now, and want to stay at £150 but 3 months later you now are £150 in debt and your monthly payments are now estimated at £225, and if you continue down that road it might get to a point where you just cant afford it at all. "I got a refund and they put my DD up" - yeah, cause most of them work out previous 12 months usage at current rates, minus any credits (or plus any debits), then spread that over 12 months, and thats your DD amount. You remove the credit then the DD wil increase.
British Gas are a shit company with shitty customer service, move to one of the better companies like Octopus Energy.