Eon putting up Direct Debit

labyrinth_2

The same thing has happened to me too. My DD has gone up from £76 a month to £112, because I have a debit balance of £168.

I thought the whole point was that over the year it would balance out, but it seems because I have an annual review in April they want the balance paid off and then they'll review it again.

It's annoying for it to go up so much but there's not a lot I can do about it. Apparently I can clear the debt and then my payments would go to £85 instead of £112. Which doesn't make good financial sense to me.

Thing is I can't keep up with all the tariff changes so they could charge me anything and it'd be hard to work it all out. What I found irritating is that I had a bill in mid September and had to wait until mid Jan for the next bill. All the time I was sending in monthly meter readings to keep an eye on the balance, but a new balance was never sent (I follow my bills online) so I didn't know what the situation was. When I was with a different energy supplier I could send in readings and they'd give me a running total so I could pay off a lump sum if I needed too or be prepared for an increase in monthly bills.

Magentasue

labyrinth wrote: »

The same thing has happened to me too. My DD has gone up from £76 a month to £112, because I have a debit balance of £168.

I thought the whole point was that over the year it would balance out, but it seems because I have an annual review in April they want the balance paid off and then they'll review it again.

This obviously works in the supplier's favour - you are in credit through the summer and this is eroded by winter use until you're at zero at the beginning of the summer.

If your DD was to stay the same, your debt would increase until the summer and so on. Obviously not in the supplier's interests. However, it makes sense to me - it stops people getting into debt and you get a DD discount to compensate for the credit balance.

labyrinth_2

I understand that. It would have been useful though to keep a running total so that I could have foreseen the rise. I like to know where I am with my bills. I was sending in meter readings monthly but had no feedback.
I also notice that this new DD hike has been sent to me less than 10 working days before the new amount is taken. I'm not going to be pedantic about it, but it should be done properly.

I will switch simply because I preferred the way my previous supplier kept me up to date with what I was using so I could make an interim payment if I wanted to based on my monthly meter readings. And when I do switch I will ask to pay about £90 per month even if they say I could pay less. I'm wondering now if Eon started me on lower payments to get me to switch.

You live and learn!

SandC

labyrinth wrote: »

The same thing has happened to me too. My DD has gone up from £76 a month to £112, because I have a debit balance of £168.

I thought the whole point was that over the year it would balance out, but it seems because I have an annual review in April they want the balance paid off and then they'll review it again.

It's annoying for it to go up so much but there's not a lot I can do about it. Apparently I can clear the debt and then my payments would go to £85 instead of £112. Which doesn't make good financial sense to me.

Thing is I can't keep up with all the tariff changes so they could charge me anything and it'd be hard to work it all out. What I found irritating is that I had a bill in mid September and had to wait until mid Jan for the next bill. All the time I was sending in monthly meter readings to keep an eye on the balance, but a new balance was never sent (I follow my bills online) so I didn't know what the situation was. When I was with a different energy supplier I could send in readings and they'd give me a running total so I could pay off a lump sum if I needed too or be prepared for an increase in monthly bills.

The last bill I had was only 2 months after the previous one. :rolleyes:

Andy_R

I too have just discovered that eon has raised my direct debit (from £76 to £102 per month), but my account is currently £270 in credit, with a bill not due until after the next payment is made!

I checked my record and since summer 2007, my payments have been £76 per month, and in that time, my account has only had a debit balance for literally 1 day, and that was only a £59 debit balance.

What's more, they did not notify me of the increase, which I believe is contrary to the direct debit rules??

I'm furious - it looks to me like this is nothing more than an underhand way of them getting their customers' cash.

I've had no reply to my email to them yet. Will be on the phone on Monday....

kurjam

i thought they had to advise you of any increase in direct debit ??