EDF Energy have put up my direct debit by £60 even though I am £100 in credit!

CelticStar

That's £60 PER MONTH not £60 per annum.

I can't believe this. My husband and I changed to EDF energy after Scottish Power hiked up their prices, we are on the Fixed Saver Version 2 tariff. I am very careful to make sure that I always input my meter readings so that we do not get behind with our energy bills but I don't like to be too much in credit either as I feel that it is wasted money which could be earning interest elsewhere - plus, I object to paying months in advance for something.

The other day I put my meter readings in as usual and when I checked back yesterday to see whether a bill has been generated I found that even though I am nearly £100 in credit for my gas account my direct debit has gone up by a whopping £60 per month. My electricity account, which was also in credit by nearly £100 has had the direct debit reduced by £10, so I have no idea why the gas should have been increased by so much. I have been with EDF Energy for around three months so they have no idea what my winter gas consumption is so I really cannot see how they can justify such a rise and have written to them asking for their explanation. Has anyone else experienced this?

JournalGirl

Give them a call. They may be concerned what your winter usage will be, but if you discuss / explain your normal winter patterns they should be able to review your payments. This has always worked with us with SSE.

backfoot

Whereas many suppliers are bending the rules to increase DD beyond that justified under Standard Licence Condition 27, I think you will find EDF is just plain incompetent.

Inputting meter readings to EDF's new and untested computer generates random numbers for DD's.

There are some active threads on both topics towards the top of the Gas and Electricity Forums for background reading.

You will need to speak to them but getting through often proves problematic as well.

McKneff

I have to stick up for EDF

Never had a problem with them and Ive been with them for donkeys years.

Alwys pretty accurate with their DDs over the year re annual consumption.

Customer service - Excellent.

backfoot

This thread shows many of the current problems.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3411705

This has affected thousands of new customers. There are references all over the web (not just here) which can be seen by a simple google enquiry.

This fact is also recognised in the number of formal complaints.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2032569/EDF-Energy-worst-supplier-complaints-20-rise-months.html

Companymole

Hi

Call them, have the discussion if your supply is new to them then they wont have a good idea of your usage so a DD may be incorrect, this is the way it is most of the time until a supplier has at least a years usage. Just remember it is automatic processes going on, the system only uses the info it has, sometimes manual intervention is needed. Also check you are billed up to date, you may be £100 in credit but not billed since May

MarkyMarkD

The OP hasn't said how much their monthly payments were, and therefore how much they've been increased to.

Most people use a VERY significant amount more gas in the winter than in the summer months; most people won't have turned their central heating on until very recently.

You really cannot judge if DD amounts are correct or not, at this stage.

And monthly FIXED DD payment plans are cheaper for a reason - because you don't simply "pay as you go" based on actual readings. If that's what you want, don't sign up for fixed DD.

mattcanary

The rate per unit is cheaper if you pay by Direct Debitt. However, the amount you pay by upfront by DD compared to other payment methods most definitely is not less in many cases

CelticStar

Just to answer some of the queries on here. I am up to date with my billing, as soon as I enter a meter reading a new bill is generated, it was after this bill was generated that my direct debit was increased even though the bill showed that I was overpaying (via my direct debit) by approximately £30 per month - hence the credit.

I have contacted EDF Energy (25 minutes in a queue with annoying messages and music) and they have confirmed that this was a mistake on their behalf and have taken the direct debit back to what is was.

MarkyMarkD, I may well use more gas in the winter but I am not going to pay that much extra in advance with no evidence that that is what I will use. I input my readings regularly and don't mind the direct debit adjusted accordingly, however, I do object to EDF Energy randomly plucking a huge direct debit amount out of the air when I am still in credit, that is just ridiculous. I very much doubt I will be using £90 more a month than I am using now!

MarkyMarkD

CelticStar wrote: »

MarkyMarkD, I may well use more gas in the winter but I am not going to pay that much extra in advance with no evidence that that is what I will use. I input my readings regularly and don't mind the direct debit adjusted accordingly, however, I do object to EDF Energy randomly plucking a huge direct debit amount out of the air when I am still in credit, that is just ridiculous. I very much doubt I will be using £90 more a month than I am using now!

Surely you know how much you use a year, from past history, and hence what you should be paying a year? How else did you choose EDF as the correct supplier to switch?

So, you should already know whether your initial DD amount was over-optimistic.

Cynics would say that many providers set initial DDs too low, to make customers think their new deal is way better value, and then claw it back later on.

CelticStar

Of course I know how much I use - that's entirely the point! EDF Energy just used a random amount to ramp up my direct debit without any relation to what I have used in the past. That they did this is surely shown by the fact that they have now lowered it to its original value without any hesitation once I kicked up a fuss.