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Massive bills,want to switch but trapped by debt on account

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emz1907
emz1907 Posts: 14 Forumite
HI,

I recieved my annual review letters/bills from edf last week and my bills are HUGE! I owe nearly £500 between the gas and electric and they want to up my fixed direct debit amount from £27 for electric and £44 for gas to £95 for each of them meaning a £110 hike in my overall monthly bills which I simply can't afford Im seriously freaking out here. Its been on my mind all weekend, I need to ring them obviously but Im so scared at what they will say I just can't afford to pay this or the outstanding amount Im on a very tight budget and due a baby next month so not the best time for a big outlay. Ive been on a comparison site and see I can save about £120 a year by switching but can't switch as I would have to pay the debt first which I can't afford to do so I feel trapped. I can change my tariff as I was on a previous capped deal which has just come to an end but I feel lost as to how to handle this situation. Any ideas?
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Comments

  • NeverInDebt
    NeverInDebt Posts: 4,633 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 18 April 2011 at 9:23AM
    Unfortunately if you try and switch the old supplier could very well refuse to let you go due to debt. You could ask the supplier if you can pay less off the debt but they may still refuse.

    You appear to have been told your increase payments since Jan 2010 and were in debt by £250 15 months ago


    EDF want to massively increase payment
  • spiro
    spiro Posts: 6,405 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    So last year they wanted to increase your DD by £80 to £105 but you are now saying they want to increase it from £71 to £190 because your debt has double. How come your current DD (£71) is lower than the £105 they wanted you to pay 14 months ago?

    At a guess you convinced them to keep your DD lower and this has come back to bite you big time.

    I know you say you are having a baby next month but it sounds like you have not been cutting your expenditure to match your income.

    I suspect you have 3 options:
    1) Borrow the money to clear the debt and therefore reduce the DD.
    2) Pay the increased DD.
    3) Accept the supplier may fit a PPM.
    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).
  • keith1950
    keith1950 Posts: 2,597 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi, you appear to have been paying roughly £850/year but using £1350, so even if they were prepared to let you pay the debt over a year you would need to pay £1350+£500/12 = £150/month so this is the minimum figure you can expect to have to pay/month.Give them a ring and offer £150/month and they should accept it, there is little chance of them releasing you until the bulk of this debt is cleared and as spiro says ,if you don't act soon you may end up with a prepayment meter.
  • HappyMJ
    HappyMJ Posts: 21,115 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You are using quite a lot over your estimated usage. £1350 is quite high. EDF have been good to you allowing you to remain in debt and paying less than your usage. You need to look at cutting down the usage (dramatically) or find £500 from somewhere and paying it off and switching. Do you have the figures in kWh over the last year that you could post here and the area that you live in? Someone on here will compare for you and find what you should be spending to prevent debt from accruing. Are you still willing to pay monthly by direct debit? Are you willing to lock into a fixed term contract? Finally are you willing to provide online meter readings on a monthly basis?
    :footie:
    :p Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S) :p Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money. :p
  • KimYeovil
    KimYeovil Posts: 6,156 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    So what have you been doing for the past fifteen months? Why do you feel trapped or scared? You were alerted to the situation back in January 2010. What has stopped you from reading your meters and change your useage to balance your budget and comfort?

    Until you first sort out your struthian behaviour £10 per month saving is as nothing compared to tens of pounds of debt each month you will accrue from overusing/underpaying even if you change supplier.
  • penrhyn
    penrhyn Posts: 15,215 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Struthian? Is that an Australian word?:D
    That gum you like is coming back in style.
  • spiro
    spiro Posts: 6,405 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    penrhyn wrote: »
    Struthian? Is that an Australian word?:D
    Definition - Of or pertaining to the Struthiones, or Ostrich tribe. :rotfl:
    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).
  • Have you looked in to the EDF Trust?

    The Trust's aim is to help people take control of their finances by reducing the burden of their debts and helping them meet their future bills. We hope that the awarding of grants and the provision of money advice and energy efficiency advice will enable people to make a fresh start.

    Although EDF Energy provides the finance, the EDF Energy Trust is completely independent of the company. The Trust is governed by a board of independent trustees and the day to day administration undertaken by Charis Grants Ltd, a company with extensive knowledge and understanding of debt issues.
    The EDF Energy Trust offers two types of grants:
    grants to individuals to cover the payment of gas and electricity debts and other essential household debts or costs
    grants to voluntary organisations working in the field of money advice, debt counselling or energy efficiency advice.


    I have just applied to the nPower Trust, they are paying off the £330 bill and allowing me a fresh start, I've also applied for their help to sort out my debt to the water board (only £60, but unemployment means £60 is a lot of money right now), you can apply for help purchasing a 'white good' too.


    Here the link for the EDF one, hope it helps.

    http://www.edfenergytrust.org.uk/
    If it wasn't for the mistakes I made in the past (and learned from), I wouldn't be who and where I am today. It doesn't matter if you've cocked up, what matters is that you put it right and apologise. x
  • cing0
    cing0 Posts: 431 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    spiro wrote: »

    I suspect you have 3 options:
    1) Borrow the money to clear the debt and therefore reduce the DD.
    2) Pay the increased DD.
    3) Accept the supplier may fit a PPM.

    4th option, move out or get someone to move in. The new bill payer will not inherit the old debt so they will be able to switch supplier.
  • KimYeovil
    KimYeovil Posts: 6,156 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Re #9 and #10. Yup. Bad pennies (the "exploit a charity" hands-wringer and the "commit fraud" crook) often turn up on such threads.
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