Household Bills

Direct Debits, Standing Orders and Card Payments: What Is Going Out of Your Account

A direct debit is pulled by the company and the amount can change; a standing order is pushed by you, for a fixed amount you set. A recurring card payment is taken from your card number. Which one it is tells you who can change the amount and how to stop it.

Direct Debit Guarantee: refunds for errors
Notice before a change, usually ten working days
Card payments are not on the direct debit list

Add my bills Side by side

Wisemium30 September 20264 min read

How your bills are paid

Energy: Direct debit
Rent: Standing order
A subscription: Card payment

Example. Your own details appear once you add them.

Direct debit and standing order

Direct debit

Who starts each payment: The company
Amount: Can change, with notice
To stop it: Cancel in your banking app, and tell the company

Standing order

Who starts each payment: You, through your bank
Amount: Fixed until you change it
To stop it: Cancel in your banking app

Recurring card payments are a third kind: they are not on your direct debit list, and your bank or card provider must stop one if you ask.

The full guide

Regular payments leave a UK bank account in three ways. A direct debit is pulled by the company and the amount can change. A standing order is pushed by you, for a fixed amount you set. A recurring card payment is taken from your card number. Knowing which is which tells you who can change the amount and how to stop it.

Fact	Direct debit	Standing order
Who starts each payment	The company	You, through your bank
Amount	Can change, with notice	Fixed until you change it
Typical use	Energy, council tax, phone, broadband, insurance	Rent, savings, paying someone back
Protection	The Direct Debit Guarantee	You control it entirely
To stop it	Cancel in your banking app, and tell the company	Cancel in your banking app

Recurring card payments, the third kind, are covered below.

The Direct Debit Guarantee

If a company changes the amount or the date of a direct debit, it must tell you in advance, usually ten working days before. If an error is made in a payment, by the company or your bank, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund from your bank. That is why direct debit is the usual way to pay household bills.

Recurring card payments

A subscription taken from your card is a continuous payment authority. It does not appear in your list of direct debits, which is why these are the payments people most often forget. You can cancel with the company, or tell your bank or card provider to stop it, and they must.

How to check what is going out

Open the list of direct debits and standing orders in your banking app. Look for anything you do not recognise, and anything for a service you no longer have.
Search three months of statements for repeat card payments.
Check the amounts against the latest bill for each. A direct debit set too high builds up credit with the company; set too low, it builds a debt.
Note which payments are for contracts with an end date, and when that is.

Stopping a payment

Cancelling a direct debit or a card payment stops the money. It does not end the contract. Tell the company too, or it may treat the next unpaid amount as a debt and add charges. For council tax, energy and similar bills, arrange another way to pay before you cancel.

How Wisemium helps

Add each bill to Wisemium with what it costs and how often, and the household's regular outgoings are in one place, with each contract's end date shown as needing attention as it comes up. You do not need to connect a bank account to start.

Common questions

Can a company take more than it told me by direct debit?

It must give you advance notice of a change. If it takes an amount in error, the Direct Debit Guarantee entitles you to a refund from your bank.

Is a standing order safer than a direct debit?

It is simpler: nobody but you can change it. But it has no guarantee, and it will not follow a bill that changes.

Why does a subscription not show in my direct debits?

Because it is taken from your card, not your account details. Your card statement and the company's account settings are where it appears.

How to find and cancel subscriptions

Where they hide and how to stop them.

Read the guide

Household bills checklist

Every contract, date and renewal to keep track of.