Increasing monthly payment without your consent?

NPower (electric) has decided to increase our electricity bill without even contacting us. They sent us a letter telling us they talked to our bank and they agreed to it. I never agreed to anything. In fact, I just read the letter (got it on Friday, been busy on Saturday) and they're going to start taking out the new amount on the 27th. We paid £30 and now they want £132.50. Are they allowed to do this? I never gave my bank permission to decide to let random companies to increase anything without talking to me.

DH says you can just ring up the company and tell them you don't want your direct debit increased.  What we do is pay the regular amount per month and settle any differences at the end of each quarter. 

If you pay by direct debit, they can increase it whenever they want, as long as they notify you in writing first.   If you want to pay electronically, but dont want them to have the power to increase or decrease, you need to pay by standing order, instead of direct debit.

If you signed a direct debit mandate, then i believe you did give your consent.
Gotta read the fine print!

If you pay by direct debit, they can increase it whenever they want, as long as they notify you in writing first.   If you want to pay electronically, but dont want them to have the power to increase or decrease, you need to pay by standing order, instead of direct debit.

If you signed a direct debit mandate, then i believe you did give your consent.
Gotta read the fine print!

I didn't sign anything, I set the direct debit up over the phone and nobody bothered to tell me.

this has never happened to me, but it did happen to a coworker.  if it's a direct debit, the company can take what they like.  it's in the direct debit small print.  but you can ring up Npower & your bank and have this changed.

however, what i think may be good for you is to set up a Standing Order with Npower.  You have control over this.  All you need to do is ring up Npower, ask them for their bank details (account number, sort code, name on account).... they you can go to your bank online or in person and set up a standing order, once a month, for whatever amount you desire (£36, etc).  Npower can't increase this amount as it's an agreement between you and your bank.  My coworker found her energy company (Powergen) hesitent to give her this info b/c they like to have control of the direct debit, but finally she got the details.

they probably didn't go over the fine print over the phone, however they probably sent you a form confirming the direct debit and going through fine print.  probably.

I didn't sign anything, I set the direct debit up over the phone and nobody bothered to tell me.

It's worth knowing the rules/terms & conditions of the arrangement before you agree to let someone take money from your bank account.   

They want to bump up your monthly payments to £132.50??  You must be heating/cooling an open air amphetheatre for that much leccy!!!

An increase from £30 to £132.50 sounds very strange.

Did they say the reason for the increase?

This is why I don't like the idea of direct debit for utilities.  Heck for anything that's not a fixed amount each and every month, like the council I guess.  I would rather see what the bill is and for what amount before I pay it.