Eon question about payment

HH62

I pay my gas and electricity (both with eon) by DD monthly.
I've just had my first quarter bills and overall I'm about £125 in debit. The DD had been set at £58, I moved to this house in October and was a new customer to Eon.
So far so good, I expect my usage to be higher in the winter months.

My question is this. If I make a one off credit card payment to eon to cover the amount that I'm in debit currently, will they still hike my DD amount up ? I want to keep it reasonable over the summer months, so I want to avoid them setting up a much higher DD.

Hope this makes sense, not had my coffee yet..:eek::rotfl:

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi HH62,

If you’re currently £125 in debit, after only 3 months it does sound like the DD figure has been set quite low, in effect you’ve used £299 but only paid £174 but you're right about the winter making a difference.

The debit/credit card payment will definitely help but I would not rule out the DD being reviewed again; however any increase would be a lot lower if the payment was made.

If you would like me to review it for you now, but not necessarily alter it I’m happy to take a look today, just send me a Private Message with the house number and post code.

Brian

KimYeovil

So, E-on, if you allow these one-off extra payments and do not penalise them why do you penalise those who pay their quarterly bills on time? Betrays the dishonest lie about (all the) companies' direct debit discounts.

jimexbox

I think you miss the point, OP hasn't had time to build up sufficient credit over the spring/summer and autumn quarters to correctly fund his winter use. So his D/D may be fine if taken over a whole year, so putting up their DD payments based solely on their first winter quarter may be a presumptuous.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi,

Cutomers receive prompt payment discount if they pay quarterly.

Jimexbox, your completely right, still thought I'd mention it just so the poster is aware that it may still be reviewed.

No harm in being prepared.

HH62, the offers still there.

Brian

Vestra

jimexbox wrote: »

I think you miss the point, OP hasn't had time to build up sufficient credit over the spring/summer and autumn quarters to correctly fund his winter use. So his D/D may be fine if taken over a whole year, so putting up their DD payments based solely on their first winter quarter may be a presumptuous.

The thing is energy companies want a 0 balance in spring, regardless of when payments started.

Companies want you in credit over the summer, not for them to play investment and interest with but to pay for those receiving bills and not paying for their energy.

So companies will rarely let you build up a debit in the winter to pay of over summer and end up with a 0 balance in Autumn.

HH62

KimYeovil wrote: »

So, E-on, if you allow these one-off extra payments and do not penalise them why do you penalise those who pay their quarterly bills on time? Betrays the dishonest lie about (all the) companies' direct debit discounts.

I'm not clear on why I should be penalised...I pay by DD every month. But because it's winter and I'm a new eon customer, the DD amount was underestimated for what I've actually used. I want to make a payment now (because I've got some spare credit on my CC that will cover it) so that hopefully in the summer months my DD won't be sky high. I acknowledge that my DD will need to increase because it's too low for the winter.
Why do you think I should be penalised for wanting to put my account into credit?

Magentasue

HH62 wrote: »

But because it's winter and I'm a new eon customer, the DD amount was underestimated for what I've actually used. I want to make a payment now (because I've got some spare credit on my CC that will cover it)

A 0% credit card? If not, I'd go for the higher DD - no point paying interest on utility bills. I would work out your accurate winter use in kwh for this quarter and do the same for a summer quarter. If you add them together and double them, you'll have a reasonable estimate of annual use - your DD from Apr-Apr needs to be about a twelfth of the cost of the annual total.

HH62

Magentasue wrote: »

A 0% credit card? If not, I'd go for the higher DD - no point paying interest on utility bills. I would work out your accurate winter use in kwh for this quarter and do the same for a summer quarter. If you add them together and double them, you'll have a reasonable estimate of annual use - your DD from Apr-Apr needs to be about a twelfth of the cost of the annual total.

Thanks.
Your reply makes a lot of sense but I have £150 in credit on the card from an overcharge.. They've refunded back to the card. I suppose I could ask the CC company to just send me a cheque for the amount, but I'm living on a very tight budget and fixed spend at the moment and a big increase in my DD's is going to make each month even tougher.

Magentasue

HH62 wrote: »

but I'm living on a very tight budget and fixed spend at the moment and a big increase in my DD's is going to make each month even tougher.

Yes, this is so often the problem when money's tight. You must do what is best for you, but normally, it's best to avoid paying interest when you can.