Is This a Reasonable Rise

tesuhoha

We pay our fuel bill by direct debit. It is duel fuel and for the past year approximately its been £85 per month.

However, the meter was recently read and we received our bill on line to say that we were £35 in credit. We then received a letter from Eon to say that what we were paying would not cover our usage and our bill would increase from £85 per month to £119 per month which is a rise of just under £35 per month.

We only put the heating on in the morning and evening apart from over the Christmas period as we are all here. I am wondering if this rise is reasonable or is it time to switch suppliers. We have been with Eon for about 3 years. Are they taking advantage of our loyalty?

Yorkie1

I think you can ask for the basis of their recalculation; this will tell you whether it's a justified increase or not. There are quite a few threads on here where people have had increases based on an inaccurate annual consumption.

SYNERGY

tesuhoha wrote: »

We pay our fuel bill by direct debit. It is duel fuel and for the past year approximately its been £85 per month.

However, the meter was recently read and we received our bill on line to say that we were £35 in credit. We then received a letter from Eon to say that what we were paying would not cover our usage and our bill would increase from £85 per month to £119 per month which is a rise of just under £35 per month.

We only put the heating on in the morning and evening apart from over the Christmas period as we are all here. I am wondering if this rise is reasonable or is it time to switch suppliers. We have been with Eon for about 3 years. Are they taking advantage of our loyalty?

We have been with Eon for about 3 years. Are they taking advantage of our loyalty

Are you on their lowest tariff, or their standard tariff?

If you have been on their standard tariff for the past three years you could, in a way, say they have been taking advantage.

However, like any retailer, they won't tell the customer the cheapest option, it's up to the customer to find out. :mad:

It's worth checking what tariffs are available to you on several of the comparison sites and compare it with the tariffs shown on your bill.

Though I have never done it myself with utilities, I always check and more than often change every year, if you find a lower tariff it may be worth while contacting Eon to see if they can put you on one of their lower tariffs.

Others on MSE may have done this and be able to advise.

Though it is always tempting, historically, to use costs as the criteria when presented with a higher bill or a higher DD, don't use this in isolation, the best way is to compare usage over time.

If your usage is the same for the same period then price rises have caught up with you. :eek:

If your usage is up, then obviously you are using more.

Or a combination of the two.

I have just started using, for the past six weeks, the iMeasure site, it make interesting reading of gas/electric use and costs.

Though most utility companies have a two tiered tariff, ie x (higher) amount for the first x kw then y (lower) amount for the remainder I have used the higher amount on the iMeasure site, this will give me the maximum I would have to pay, it doesn't take into account standing charges, only usage, however these are easy to calculate.

macman

You don't switch suppliers on the basis of an increase in your DD. You do it on the basis of the price of your tariff-the DD is not relevant.
Get your annual kWh consumption figures and use a comp site to find the best deal.

Joyful

If you are only £35 in credit at the start of winter you have not had the DD set high enough. Call them and check your consumption and what they expect you to use in the coming 12 months.

george1939

Joyful wrote: »

If you are only £35 in credit at the start of winter you have not had the DD set high enough. Call them and check your consumption and what they expect you to use in the coming 12 months.

I agree this is low credit for December

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi tesuhoha,

I hope you don't mind me popping on to this thread.

Direct Debit changers can happen for all sorts of reasons.

Like SYNERGY said, make sure you are on the cheapest tariff, call Eon and ask they will advise you.

If you are still not happy, ask for your annual consumption so you are able to look at comparison sites.

We've had two price increases this year that can effect your Direct Debit, also have you just came off a really good tariff because it's ended and now your on a standard plan?

If you want me to have a look at your account, just email me to the email address in my profile and I'll be happy to have a look for you.:)

Amy.:D

celtus

And there was me thinking a credit of £436 wasn't enough

Supportspice

Hi,
I got a letter from EON this morning for gas, wanting to increase my DD by 50%.

I rang them and explained this was unecessary as I had always been in credit and they hadnt raised their prices by 50% so could they explain it. Lovely lady said this was based on my winter usage and she couldnt reset it.

Acknowledging she was limited by what her system would let her do, I politely asked to speak with a supervisor. After confirming they would tell me the same thing, she put me through.

After explaining the same to the supervisor and that, apart from price rises, it was this kind of behaviour that led me to leave my last supplier. Having to ring up at least every two months to get them to set it back or send me a cheque for the credit, I wasnt prepared to go through this again.

I was told it would be reviewed again in the summer, but I explained that over the next three months that would mean I had to find my actual payment and 150% more to pay the excess until then. Supervisor reset it back to original amount.

Thumbs up for EON customer service :j

jalexa

Supportspice wrote: »

Acknowledging she was limited by what her system would let her do,

Really? That is something you should inform Consumer Focus about. How to details in another thread.

I politely asked to speak with a supervisor. After confirming they would tell me the same thing.....

One of the more annoying CS traits. Not just dissing the customer but the supervisor too? Which training module is that?

Supervisor reset it back to original amount.

Ha, the original adviser spoke with forked tongue.