E-on extortionate monthly payment

King_Sentinel

From £70 per month they now want £191, almost triple what Ive been paying. I'm £700 in debit so I was expecting it to change to maybe £100 per month, but £191 is far too much. I seriously cannot afford this new amount, its just not possible. I have phoned them and got the response of, well there is nothing we can do about it. Seriously considering just cancelling direct debit and see what happens.

Any ideas???

KimYeovil

Sounds reasonable.

You've paid 12 x 70 or £840. This has left you £700 in debt. So you've used £1500 over a year. So your new monthly debit should be £125 plus money to pay back the underpayment. It is usual for underpayments on direct debit to be repaid over six months. So that's a total of £241 per month you should be paying.

Contrary to your subject, E-on are in fact being generous and allowing you longer than six months to repay - a whole twelve months.

King_Sentinel

Sorry, what part of I CANNOT afford this did you not understand???

Vestra

King_Sentinel wrote: »

Sorry, what part of I CANNOT afford this did you not understand???

You might need to cut back your usage and if you can't afford the new direct debit payments you can arrange to go on prepayment meters where you will get longer to pay of the debt and there will be no chance of the debt increasing.

jimexbox

King_Sentinel wrote: »

Sorry, what part of I CANNOT afford this did you not understand???

Firstly I wouldn't just cancel your DD without discussing your options with Eon. I appreciate you are upset, but if your meter readings are accurate and are not based on estimates you have used their energy, therefore have to pay for it. As Vestra suggested you have two options, accept the plan proposed by Eon or switch to a prepayment meter. Im afraid doing nothing is not an option, as ignorance of how much energy you are using does not excuse liability.

Don't take that wrong way as I learnt a similar, if less painful lesson what you are. I now monitor my own energy usage, submit readings and make sure my DD payments cover what I use rather than what my supplier thinks it will cover.

neas

I love the idioicy of people.

Cancel the direct debti and see what happens... What will happen is they will demand the entire 700 quid off you, you numpty!.

You have a 700 pound DEBT with the energy company that you have agreed to pay back with a DD over a certain period. If you using 125 quid gas/elec a monthy thats ALOT of energy. In a 2 bed flat my wife and I use about 45 quid a month.

If you cant afford it, dont use it i say, and start to get a bit more clever on what your financial obligations are instead of 'forget till later'.

I had to laugh out loud when i saw the 'ill just cancel dd and see what happens' its so insane its funny :P.

Vestra

neas wrote: »

I love the idioicy of people.

Cancel the direct debti and see what happens... What will happen is they will demand the entire 700 quid off you, you numpty!.

You have a 700 pound DEBT with the energy company that you have agreed to pay back with a DD over a certain period. If you using 125 quid gas/elec a monthy thats ALOT of energy. In a 2 bed flat my wife and I use about 45 quid a month.

If you cant afford it, dont use it i say, and start to get a bit more clever on what your financial obligations are instead of 'forget till later'.

I had to laugh out loud when i saw the 'ill just cancel dd and see what happens' its so insane its funny :P.

I work in an energy company and a lot of people will do this, just simply cancel the DD. What this means then is when they try and set it back up we will need to take a payment for about 50% first before the DD can be set back up, a lot of people just don't know a lot about energy bills.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi King Sentinel

Sorry we have had to increase your monthly Direct Debit payments.

Are all your bills based on accurate meter readings?

If they are and the energy has been used we will require payment. However, we are always happy to set up payment arrangements to help ease the burden a little.

Most points have already been covered by earlier posters but what I will stress is the need to talk to us. Cancelling your Direct Debit without discussion will lead to a request for the immediate payment of the outstanding balance in full.

As Kim says, it looks as though the debt has already been spread over 12 months which is longer than the usual arrangement.

Were there any particular circumstances leading to the debt building up? If there were, it may be possible to extend the re-payment time over a similar period it has taken for the debt to build.

If not and you are still struggling a Prepayment Meter is an option. As Vestra says, this will allow you longer to re-pay the debt without it increasing further.

Going forward, you might want to look at reducing your usage. Give our Energy Efficiency team a call. They will be happy to advise of ways to do this.

Also, check out the interactive house on our website. There are some useful tips on how to save energy on there. :cool:

As I said earlier, give us a call so we can discuss your account in depth.

Hope this helps.

Malc

jimexbox

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Sorry we have had to increase your monthly Direct Debit payments.

You have nothing to apologise for.

Malc, why dont Eon and other energy suppliers invest a little in a new public information campaign titled 'We are not here to hold your hand'? The most important lesson I learned was that it was myself who was/is responsible for monitoring energy usage, not your supplier. Yes, they help, but at the end of the day the user has to take final responsibility.

You really need to educate people of their own responsibility.

moonrakerz

King_Sentinel wrote: »

Sorry, what part of I CANNOT afford this did you not understand???

What part of "I am living beyond my means" don't YOU understand ?

You used the energy, why should other Eon customers pay your bill ?
You wouldn't take a trolley to the checkout at Tesco with £200 worth of food in it when you only have £100 in your pocket - just what makes you think you can do it here ?

neas hit the nail squarely on the head ................

King_Sentinel

Fact of the matter is if they take £2300 out of my bank account over the next 12 months where do you think it will end up, I do have other obligations which I then wont be able to pay. I dont want anyone to pay it for me, or "hold my hand". I just CANNOT afford that much per month.

Yes they are accurate readings and I have already spoken to one of your advisers to no avail.

And I have also turned down the hot water tank, as thats the only gas getting used it seems to be costing me a fortune.