Interesting idea

For a number of years I have had a wine club account into which I pay by direct debit a few pounds each month. As a thrifty Aberdonian, I never ever order bottles of wine until there is enough in the account to pay for what I am ordering.

The wine company, meanwhile, is good enough to pay me interest on whatever is in the account at any given time, for which I am of course very grateful.

So with that thought in mind, maybe it is time for the energy companies to do the very same, and give serious consideration to paying interest on all the money they salt away in their bank accounts, from customers who pay by direct debit sums which are calculated by the energy company themselves to supposedly cover the costs of future usage.

In my case the sums calculated by the energy companies more often than not – despite the fact I am always well in credit – have been wholly inaccurate and even excessive, and most certainly to their benefit, not that of the customer.

Given that the energy company can then re-invest legally all such monies to their benefit, is it not high time that they too, as my wine club does, paid all direct debit customers interest?

NEIL MCKINNON Perth, Perth & Kinross