I need help understanding my gas bill

Know_The_Ledge

I have just changed to EDF Energy who I pay direct debit £15 a month for gas charges, I know this doesn't cover all the gas I use but I have also received a direct debit bill for £60. So total charges of £75

This charge of £75 is for the month of January, and is more than my previous energy company charged me for the months October, November and December combined.

They have estimated my previous gas usage but taken the current gas usage as a direct reading from myself.

They have also given no information on my bill as when the money will be taken from my account just how much they want.

This method of charging seems ridiculous or is it just me.

jd87

Can you tell us exactly the wording used on the bill? Something doesn't make sense here.

If you have been paying a monthly payment that isn't enough to cover your usage, what they will normally do is increase your monthly direct debit payment to pay off what you owe. So say you were using £30 of gas a month, but only paying £20 a month, after 10 months you would owe £100, so they might increase your payment to £50 a month to pay off the debt in 5 months. They wouldn't demand it all back in one go.

They wouldn't just take a random £60 extra on only one month. When they change the direct debit, it is a permanent thing.

Know_The_Ledge

My bill reads as follows

Payments = -£15.00
Charges for this period = £74.29
Total for this period = £59.29

As I said, there is no indication as to when they are taking this payment. They need to tell me when they are taking this extra money as I need to find the money from somewhere to pay for it.

jd87

I don't think they are going to take £59.29 at any point. The only payment they take from you is the £15 each month. That is just a statement telling you that you now owe them £59.29, but they aren't going to take it.

They will only take extra money if it specifically says on your bill, "we are upping your monthly payment to £xx".

Know_The_Ledge

Oh ok, thank you very much for your reply