EDF more than doubled DD without informing me

catzooo

I have been paying £62 per month for dual fuel on the online saver tariff (due to end 31 march 2012)
The DD has increased to £136 this month!
They have not written to me, or email'd to advise me of the increase.
I just checked my online account and I am in credit for £750+
- so why have they increased it?
I haven't had the meters read for months - they are at the back of a dark cupboard full of stuff I need to move to get access, would that be why it has increased?
I will ring them in the morning, hoping this is a mistake and they will refund me.
Surely they ought to advise customers before increasing the DD?

catzooo

I really can't afford to have paid out so much this month - I was unemployed for awhile, have now started work but won't get paid til the end of March.
Should I be able to get the £750 credit refunded? or even part of it?
I will read the meters in the morning and call them

caeler

I don't see what anybody can add until you've called them! If your that much in credit I don't see why you can't have a refund. Most utility companies have a policy on credit and they don't let it get that high. With British Gas you can process your own refund on their website.

I believe they must tell you about DD increases, I think it is covered on the direct debt agreement but I'm not 100% sure.

catzooo

caeler wrote: »

I don't see what anybody can add until you've called them! If your that much in credit I don't see why you can't have a refund. Most utility companies have a policy on credit and they don't let it get that high. With British Gas you can process your own refund on their website.

I believe they must tell you about DD increases, I think it is covered on the direct debt agreement but I'm not 100% sure.

Thanks, I only noticed as I was paying some bills on line this afternoon, having to be extra frugal this month, I was actually unaware I was in credit with them so much!
I have sent them an email from the website, got a message back that they will respond in up to 10 days!
So will call them tomorrow

C_Mababejive

They increased mine without notice also. Admittedly,my useage is much lower than the OP.

I emailed them...no response.

However having done a meter read,it probably needed tweaking up a bit.

I suspect this is a cunning plan to shaft customers who have signed up to fixed rate term deals.

I shall keep an eye on them.


I assume there is no EDF bod on this forum...?

McKneff

catzooo wrote: »

I have been paying £62 per month for dual fuel on the online saver tariff (due to end 31 march 2012)
The DD has increased to £136 this month!
They have not written to me, or email'd to advise me of the increase.
I just checked my online account and I am in credit for £750+
- so why have they increased it?
I haven't had the meters read for months - they are at the back of a dark cupboard full of stuff I need to move to get access, would that be why it has increased?
I will ring them in the morning, hoping this is a mistake and they will refund me.
Surely they ought to advise customers before increasing the DD?

They will tell you they wrote to you and did a review and the reason for the increase, they usually look at the last 12 months usage, apply it to this years prices and divide by 12.
I would suggest you would make it easier for yourself by getting meter readings, It would be in your interests to do so then they have proper figures to work with.

catzooo

C_Mababejive wrote: »

They increased mine without notice also. Admittedly,my useage is much lower than the OP.

I emailed them...no response.

However having done a meter read,it probably needed tweaking up a bit.

I suspect this is a cunning plan to shaft customers who have signed up to fixed rate term deals.

I shall keep an eye on them.


I assume there is no EDF bod on this forum...?

Wow - I thought I was a low user - £62 / month gas + electric combined.

My fixed rate deal ends at the end of March, should start looking for a new deal I guess, EDF are only offering their standard variable tariff at the moment

Pont

Don't hold your breath for a response to your email! There are other posts on MSE, all complaining about huge increase in dds without any justification as to why. Edf doubled my dds and their reason was that I 'will use 24000 kwh of power in the next year' as I apparently used this amount last year. I didn't! I used 18000 kwh!

fiesta04

If like me, you have online bills, EDF stated very clearly they were increasing my DD.
Being cheesed off with that went straight onto comparision site.
EDF fixed 2014 which is what I am on was only £57 pa dearer than the cheapest about. Now that left me a lot happier knowing that.

So do a comparison and hopeful all will be ok.

zzzLazyDaisy

You need to provide regular meter readings otherwise you actually have no idea if you are in credit or not (and neither does the utility provider). I understand that most t&C's say that you give a meter reading twice a year - that's hearsay though as I haven't personally checked that.

macman

How can you begin to know what you are using if you can't be bothered to access your own meters? And if you want to dispute the increase with EDF, the first thing they'll want are your current readings.
How is the meter reader supposed to get to them either?
The inevitable result of this approach is an eventual catch-up bill. That can be easily avoided by supplying readings at least every 3 months.That is your job, not the suppliers-they only have to read every two years.