EDF - In Credit on both Gas and Elec

pinkarsenalprincess

Hi all, bit of a newbie to the utilities scene having bought first house in October 2009.

We currently pay our utilities on a duel fuel monthly Direct Debit. On both accounts we are now in credit and I am assuming we must be getting an annual review in the next week or so.

I was hoping that we would get refunded on our overpayments as they come to about £120. They could be a bit more than this considering when I just checked my account to enter my own readings they had hugely overestimated our meter readings for this month.

The problem is, having trawled the site I have only found information saying that they will refund amounts of £150 or more in credit. Obviously we aren't this much in credit but I would really like this money back, especially with Christmas approaching!

Has anyone been successful in getting less than £150 refunded to them from EDF?

Terrylw1

If your DD's are set to high, they need to decrease them and refund you. In cold seasons though your consumption will rise hence they try to hang onto them. If they estimate your DD payment including the code period rise and you are still in credit, they should return it...it's not their money and they caught prove them need it to cover future bills if they agree on the cold rise.

pinkarsenalprincess

Thanks for your reply.
I'm assuming they don't need to worry too much about the cold rise, as we were in credit throughout winter last year. God bless our new build terrace with its super duper insulation! Oh, and rarely putting the heating on due to getting heat from next door

Freddie_Snowbits

My account at the moment with SP is about £140 in credit, normally is this time of year prioir to the onslaught of winter. They have adjusted my payments, slightly downward from last year to reflect this, though I will not be asking for a refunds, as I know come March, I will owe about the same as I have in crdit now.

Mr_K

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

My account at the moment with SP is about £140 in credit, normally is this time of year prioir to the onslaught of winter. They have adjusted my payments, slightly downward from last year to reflect this, though I will not be asking for a refunds, as I know come March, I will owe about the same as I have in crdit now.

Wouldn't you rather that the £140 was earning interest in one of your accounts than theirs over winter ?

The 'building up a credit for winter', which the industry is very keen on, might be useful if you're on a tight budget. However its also very handy for their profit margins.

Terrylw1

Mr_K wrote: »

However its also very handy for their profit margins.

It certainly is when you times by say, oh 5 million customers...

pinkarsenalprincess

Mr_K wrote: »

Wouldn't you rather that the £140 was earning interest in one of your accounts than theirs over winter ?

QUOTE]

That's why I was hoping to get our money back! Granted it won't earn much interest in the bank, but it is better than not having the money at all. Would certainly make all the christmas nights out much easier too having that money there just in case.

Mr_K

Have you asked for it back ? They'll probably give you the waffle about building a credit for winter but I think you're entitled to ask for it back. If you owed them £140 you'd soon know about it.

If you do get it back you'll probably be in debit come the spring time, but you can increase your DD then or just pay them a lump sum. I've just paid a lump sum in the past with both EDF and EON rather than increasing my DD. The longer the money is in my hands the better (!)

pinkarsenalprincess

I am going to wait until the annual review comes in to see what the exact figure is now that I have given them the correct meter readings! Then I will ring and see what they say about getting my money back. I take after my mum, who won't take no for an answer, so hopefully I will get our money back.

davidgmmafan

"Wouldn't you rather that the £140 was earning interest in one of your accounts than theirs over winter ?

The 'building up a credit for winter', which the industry is very keen on, might be useful if you're on a tight budget. However its also very handy for their profit margins."

Ahhhh not this again. Last time I checked most companies offer decent sized reductions for paying by DD. Don't pay by DD don't get the discount, and put the 12p or so you get in the bank towards your Winter bill.

If the DD is set to cover cons then the refund won't do any harm, but if you've built up credit puerly due to the time of year and get the full amount refunded then there'll be a debit on the next statement (s).

dogshome

Hi pinkarsenalprincess - You now have bills covering a full year, look at them and reckon up how many Kw of Gas & Elec you have used in 365 days, and apply these to your tariff to judge what your monthly D/D's should be to cover tha annual cost.

Before phoning EDF to get your D/D's adjusted, use these figures on the Switch sites to get the annual cost from other suppliers The best deals are for Online billing with D/D payements - You may want to change supplier when you see the results, if you do EDF will return your Credit.
But even if you want to stay with EDF, the threat of moving when you phone to get your D/D adjusted is likely to get repayment of the majority, if not all of your Credit