EDF Fail Ofgem Direct Debit Rules

victor2

jalexa wrote: »

Being picky:D, when you said earlier "On my account, Midata is fairly accurate (after they had readings covering a year, thanks to a meter reader) and the predicted costs excluded the 6% DD discount" did I misunderstand whether or not the 6% was included or excluded?

I can't make sense of my 'Midata'. The kWhrs are not much out and slowly coming down daily without readings being submitted but the 'projected cost' is about 6.7% high for the consumption.

You are right, there was a 6% discrepancy when I first looked at the figures. I just incorrectly (as it turns out) concluded that this was due to the exclusion of the DD discount.
In looking further, the Midata "Energy Usage" agrees with the readings I gave them on 1st August 2011 and 1st August 2012. The "Forecasted Cost" however does not tie in with my current fixed rate tariff. The forecasted electricity cost is inflated by 1.69% and the gas by 6.05%, according to my calculations, which do normally tie in with the EDF statements.
So I have to admit I don't know how they arrived at the numbers they did.

Terrylw1

Hmm...it still makes me wonder if they've factored in some form of average cost for price increases midstream in the next year.

brewerdave

Just looked at midata again as I'm just past the end of 1 year with EDF fix til 2014 - and the figures for usage are almost spot on BUT the predicted costs are miles over my ££values!
My spreadsheet shows an electricity cost ~ 3.2 % out BUT gas a whopping 15% over !!! so God only knows where they are generating the cost prediction from.
EDIT - Just noticed that the midata usage figure has changed since last month, BUT the predicted cost is the same!!( didn't bother with looking at the costs elements last time)

victor2

I guess their forecasting system doesn't take the predicted kWh usage and cost it at current rates then. Far too simple an idea!

jalexa

brewerdave wrote: »

Just looked at midata again as I'm just past the end of 1 year with EDF fix til 2014 - and the figures for usage are almost spot on BUT the predicted costs are miles over my ££values!

Huh, contary to what I said in response to victor2 I have just noticed page 4 of my latest statement. My first annual statement.

The previous 12 months consumptions are very close to my actuals and *exactly* the same figures as Midada had immediately before the meter reading submission which triggered the statement. The annual statement projected costs are *exactly* right for the projected consumption:T but the projected consumptions are 5% higher than the previous 12 months consumptions:(. The Midata costs are inaccurate rubbish.

The Edf annual statement includes this "we also adjust our estimates to represent normal weather patterns so you don't pay too much if the winter is cold, or too little if it's mild". Struggling to get my head round that. Is the statement the right way round? Are they predicting future weather? Or reflecting that last year's weather resulted in 5% below average consumption? How long an average?

Whatever, I think projecting a 5% increase is a hostage to fortune which is next year's Edf customer service fiasco in the making, particularly if they use it as the basis for DD recalulations.

More info for anybody not yet having received an annual statement...

http://www.edfenergy.com/products-services/for-your-home/customer-services/your-annual-statement.shtml?utm_source=letter&utm_medium=statement

victor2

Here's something I've just noticed....
My bill proposing an increase in DD to £111 said:

Your new payment is based on:
£62.00 for your estimated future monthly gas usage
£41.00 for your estimated future monthly electricity usage
£8.00 for your gas debt

When I spoke to customer services to get it put back to £100, the lady said she'd set it at £70 for gas and £30 for electricity. I said it doesn't really matter so long as the total is £100 as they're billed together anyway.
My account is in credit, but it mentions the gas "debt" on the bill.
So, perhaps they actually split the payments somewhere in the background and hold separate balances on each utility despite billing the customer for them combined?
Would be interesting to get some input from EDF on that, but I don't suppose anyone there knows how their billing system actually works, so we're left to theorise.

jalexa

victor2 wrote: »

Here's something I've just noticed....
My bill proposing an increase in DD to £111 said:

But that is hardly a sound calculation. Future monthly energy costs are fine (if accurate), but your account was in credit (regardless of the gas component) so the total monthly payment should be the future monthly energy costs less the account balance divided by the number of payments to the next 'annual review'.

I prefer a simpler methodology (implied by some suppliers description of the process), projected annual cost minus payments made to date minus account balance all divided by the number of payments to the next annual review.

Whatever, you me and others here know what we want to pay. There is no evidence that Edf want to force the issue in the face of a reasonable request to reinstate the previous payment.

PS, being picky:D, I would complain about the use of the word "debt". There *may* (or may not) be a "debit balance", but there is no "debt". We know there has been "systems incompetence", now we know there is grammatical incompetence. Any connection I wonder?

victor2

jalexa wrote: »

Whatever, you me and others here know what we want to pay.

That is the crux of the matter to me. Despite their various incompetences, if you take the trouble and make the effort to track your own usage, you can make it realistic for you. It is effectively up to you to spread your annual cost over 12 equal monthly payments, which is what the monthly DD system is supposed to do.
The majority of people who just sign up and then go along with what EDF say are the ones who will suffer, or at best not get a fair deal.

brewerdave

jalexa wrote: »

Huh, contary to what I said in response to victor2 I have just noticed page 4 of my latest statement. My first annual statement.

/QUOTE]

Was this statement the one produced after the "short year" meter readings for annual DD review?? If so, mine has no page 4 and nothing about annual usage!!:)

jalexa

brewerdave wrote: »

Was this statement the one produced after the "short year" meter readings for annual DD review??

No, it was the first reading generated statement produced after 12 months had elapsed for both gas and electricity. My 'annual review' statement had no annual data.