Provider wants 3 months bank statements is this lawful?

[caynick]

My utilities provider has requested 3 months bank statements as they are refusing to lower my DD payments (was £60 now £209)

I am on Universal Credit so cannot make their required amount, is what they are asking lawful? I don't wish to share my private information with them,

Thank you

[echat11]

Your usage is going to be much lower during the Summer months, there is a possibility that before winter you will have a huge credit on your account if they increase your DD.

On their website they will have a complaints procedure follow it, take it to the Services Ombudsman if they don't back down. It does seem 'unreasonable'.

They can ask for statements etc. My DD was changed by the utility provider, I just changed it back.

[R0b]

It is not illegal for them to ask for your bank statement but at the same time you are not legally required to give them that information. Personally, I would not give a bank statement simply because it's personal and intrusive and will be sitting on the provider's system likely for anyone to access. That kind of information should be limited and restricted on a need to know basis, but that's just my opinion.

As an alternative you could consider an income/expenditure list and complete that to show your levels of affordability.

Out of curiosity, has the increase come about because of the energy price rise? Almost a fourfold increase without any justification seems unreasonable and I would be challenging the provider to explain why the increase is so much, especially going into the summer where energy such as gas and heating is less likely to be used.

You may or may not be aware that the regulator Ofgem has recently announced an investigation into some providers who have potentially increased customer bills to 'shore up' their accounts ahead of the further increase later this year. If you are not happy with the explanation why the increase is four time more than what it used to be then you could tell them that you are going to report them to Ofgem because you believe the increase is in breach of the rules. Providers are entitled to increase prices based on estimates and price increases to energy but they must be reasonable and proportionate.

Suggest you also make a formal complaint and get that ball rolling too so they will need to provide a written explanation as to how they have arrived at this decision. If you are paying energy based on estimates then you should be looking to submit actual readings as much as possible to try and reduce the amount - as an example, my energy with Shell Energy after the energy increase was going to be around £170, but after submitting regular readings they have agreed to drop it to £90.