Should you let your energy bill credit build up or ask for a refund?

Households that diligently conserved their energy usage while bills were volatile last year are now on average £200 in credit with their supplier.

Energy firms are sitting on £3billion worth of energy credit from 15million homes, according to price comparison website Uswitch.

Some homes have up to £500 in credit with their provider.

Households in Edinburgh have on average clocked up the most credit, at £224 with their supplier, while Belfast has the least at £127.

Overall, credit is £315million lower than last year, due to falling energy rates and direct debits – as suppliers are holding less money as a safety net.

Two fifth of homes with more credit than this time last year say their balance built up due to their efforts to reduce energy usage.

Homes end up in credit with their energy provider when they have paid more than they currently owe.

It is most common for those who pay their energy bills by direct debit to be in credit.

This often happens seasonally, with energy firms working on the principle that direct debits should be at a level where bigger balances are built up over the summer to support higher bills in winter.

But often households can end up swinging further than that and ending up with perennial large credit balances.

Spring is traditionally a time of lower credit balances after they have been run down over winter.

Households on fixed deals are most likely to be in credit at this time of year, with nearly two thirds being in black, compared with only half of those on standard variable tariffs

One in three households will ask their energy providers for some of their money back, according to Uswitch. Of this, 10 per cent will ask for a full refund while 19 per cent will ask for a partial refund.

But more than half of households with credit plan to leave the money with their supplier to try to reduce their monthly payments.

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Energy credit builds up during the warmer months when energy use drops, while monthly direct debits remain the same to spread costs evenly across the year.

At this time of year, consumers should usually exit winter with little to no credit, having used it during the colder months.

Home should start to rebuild their credit levels during the spring and summer when energy usage is generally lower.

The idea is that when your energy usage ramps up again during the colder winter months, you supplier uses your credit to offset the increased bills.

Energy costs could decline over summer, with if Ofgem's energy price cap predicted to fall to £1,683 from July, according to the latest forcast from analysts at Cornwall Insight.

This would represent a drop of almost 9 per cent on April’s £1,849 cap, with an average customer paying £166 less annual equivalent a year.

Cornwall Insight said: 'Looking ahead, we are currently forecasting a very slight fall in the price cap in October, with the cap falling again in January 2026.'

Credit for each household should be around two months of their energy bill direct debit.

For this reason, experts say consumers should check their energy account and consider claiming excess energy credit if it is more than that.

Elise Melville, energy expert at Uswitch says: 'It’s sensible to build up credit during spring and summer to cover higher energy use in the winter months.

'But if you have excess credit – more than two months’ worth of bills – you may be able to get some of it back, while keeping enough in your account to cover future costs.

'Energy prices rose again in April, and while the price cap is expected to fall in July, having a buffer now means you’re protected if your usage goes up or prices rise again later in the year.'

Gordon Wallis, renewable energy expert at heating oil supplier Your NRG says: 'Many customers don’t realise they’re effectively lending money to their energy supplier.

'If you’ve built up a significant credit balance and your usage has dropped, now is a good time to take back control of your payments.'