What is the best way to pay household bills from my bank account?

There are a variety of ways that you can pay bills from your bank account – these include Direct Debits, Standing Orders, cheques, by telephone or online. In some cases you can pay bills with cash or card at the Post Office. Information on how you can pay a bill will always be on the reverse of the paper bill that you receive in the post – so it really depends on what you feel will be most suitable for you.

A Direct Debit is normally set up by the company who issues the bill – this can only be set up if you agree to pay by this method. A Direct Debit essentially means that you agree to the company taking payment directly from your account when your bill is due. If you want to cancel a Direct Debit, you will have to contact the company directly to do so.

A Standing Order is similar to a Direct Debit, in that you have agreed to pay a company a set amount from your account. You control the Standing Order, so if you want to cancel it, you can do so with your bank. You will have to contact the company you have the bill account with and let them know you have cancelled as it is your responsibility to do so and not your banks.

It is very important to make sure that you provide the correct details when paying bills by internet banking or over the phone and always include the payment reference number. This will help your bank or building society to make the payment quickly and easily.

With cheques, you need to make sure that you clearly write the name of the person you are paying and put extra information about them on the cheque. If the cheque is to an organisation, bank or building society, then always add details to the payee line such as a reference or account number. Make sure that you draw a line through any blank spaces on the cheque so people cannot add any extra numbers or names.

Some banks and building societies are now using the Faster Payments Service for internet, phone or Standing Order payments. This means that payment can be made on the same day for Standing Orders and within two hours for phone or internet payments.