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Is your energy supplier sitting on your money?

Here’s an awkward one: there’s a fair chance your supplier is sitting on a pile of your money right now — a credit balance — and it won’t be rushing to hand it back unless you ask.

• Why it piles up. Your monthly direct debit is an estimate, smeared evenly across the year. You overpay in summer when you barely use anything, to cover winter when you use loads — so a bit of credit by autumn is perfectly normal.
• When it’s a red flag. If you’re carrying a fat credit balance going into winter, or it just keeps climbing month after month, your direct debit is set too high — you’re lending the supplier money, interest-free.
• How to check in five minutes. Log in to your supplier’s app or website, find your balance, and compare your direct debit × 12 against what your energy actually costs over a year.
• How to get it back. Ask them to refund the credit above a sensible winter buffer, and to right-size the direct debit. It’s your money, not a favour — they should do both on request.

Joulely ties what you pay to what you actually use and tells you straight whether your direct debit is right — so you can claim back what’s yours and stop the over-paying. See the full overpaying check →