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EDF = Ridiculous Direct Debit
Has anyone else receive stupid demands from EDF to increase their electricty DD ?
I currently pay £40 by DD and have topped it up with £15.00 by standing order each month.
This will actually leave me about £5.00 in credit each quarter but EDF in their wisdom have decided that £100 per month by Direct Debit is the amount they want.
I replied and told them where to (politely) stick their request but were do they come up with these stupid amounts from.
Even taking in to account the high usage due to the worst winter in years the amount should be no more than £65 per month .
Why do they seem to think that I'm happy to let them take my money to spend for a few months, interest free, before letting me have it back at a later date once they've had use of it ..... ?
I currently pay £40 by DD and have topped it up with £15.00 by standing order each month.
This will actually leave me about £5.00 in credit each quarter but EDF in their wisdom have decided that £100 per month by Direct Debit is the amount they want.
I replied and told them where to (politely) stick their request but were do they come up with these stupid amounts from.
Even taking in to account the high usage due to the worst winter in years the amount should be no more than £65 per month .
Why do they seem to think that I'm happy to let them take my money to spend for a few months, interest free, before letting me have it back at a later date once they've had use of it ..... ?
I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
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Why do they seem to think that I'm happy to let them take my money to spend for a few months, interest free, before letting me have it back at a later date once they've had use of it ..... ?
If you are not happy paying in advance of whjat you have consumed, (and getting the presumably cheaper cost for agreeing to pay monthly by DD), why not consider asking them to bill you quarterly in arrears?
That way, providing they have actual meter readings to produce accurate bills, you will only pay for what you've already consumed
"Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
I pay in arrears at present , what I pay this quarter is for my usage last quarter.
By over-billing they get a free loan for a few months as the money I pay now covers the charge fine and they're effectively trying to double what I pay.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
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Usually on DD you pay each month to cover ongoing usage and receive a discount for doing so.
The DD was set at £40.00 p/m which covers the normal use but I used more over the winter than usual so I paid an extra £15.00 each month to cover the extra until it was cleared.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
My electricity bils are always billed like this
e.g quarter 1 for Jan,Feb,Mar and quarter 2 for Apr,May,Jun
The £120 or so for quarter 1 is shown on the bill at the start of quarter 2 and then when the bill comes in at the end of quarter 2 it shows the £120.00 due for Q1 less the payments made in Q2 plus the charge accrued for Q2.
Bill at end of Q2
Q1 charge £120.00
less
Payments for Apr,May,Jun £120.00
plus
Q2 charge £120.00
Balance due £120.00
It does seem a bit odd but its the way they're billing me.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
You're right, that does seem odd.
I'd imagine they'd like to kick the DD up to bring your balance down to zero for the reassessment point (whenever that is), although £100/month still seems steep.
If you've been paying £55 and are £120 behind then your £65 seems right if you have 12 months to clear the balance0 -
Your direct debit amount is worked out like this
work out how much you average per month, you have been paying £55 a month and used an extra £120 over 6 months (the balance you have owing)meaning you are effectively using £75 a month, then you need to pay the amount owing over 6 months, so an extra £20 a month for the next 6 months, that adds to £95 a month
edf dont just charge what they like, there is a method in place which is what i have just described, you recieve a 6% discount of each bill for paying monthly direct debit, if you arnt covering your usage paying this way then it will increase on a 6 monthly review. Surely you cant expect a discount for paying monthly but then not pay enough each month?
The 6 month review is done to ensure your balance will be 0 after 12 months, the reason the balance needs to be cleared within the 6 months is so when the 6 month review is carried out it shows your balance as 0 and then your direct debit is only calculated on your actual usage
I hope this helps
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p.s the bills are set out like this
amount of last bill -£100 (- meaning in credit)
payments £100
charges this period (minus discounts) £50
total for this period -£150 (in credit)
figures just made up to make it easier to explain
the 1st part simply shows balance brought forward
2nd shows how much have paid since last bill (towards this bill)
3rd shows charges for this bill
4th shows total, which is balance brought forward plus payments made then deduct the charges for this period and this gives you the balance
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I suspect their DD process take no account of adhoc payments you make on the account because the whole point of a DD tariff is that the full amount is paid by DD not just part of it.IT Consultant in the utilities industry specialising in the retail electricity market.
4 Credit Card and 1 Loan PPI claims settled for £26k, 1 rejected (Opus).0
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