EDF huge bill system error

backfoot

nigelb4873 wrote: »

Hi I know it sounds strange and certainly i am not pleased or happy about the situation, as I have always paid my bills and never had anything like this before, I am certainly not on here to be say i shouldnt pay for the power used but EDF are at fault for some of this and I am for some of it, it is clear from talking to EDF that they have made the mistake, i am certainly going to pay off what I owe. I paid a large amount over 9 months and believed I was in credit, now I know that I wasnt but I was on here for some advice and I am now starting to think I shouldnt have bothered.:(

Don't rise to the bait and don't get emotional.A lot of posters look at the issues too simplistically.

Stick to the questions I asked and answer as fully as you can.

The lack of payments since September may not be the biggest factor.Why did payments stop then? When were they resumed?

EDf's key mistake may be in not billing despite you making contact.

A lot will depend on when they last billed you.

The backbilling rules may apply.

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills/412-the-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills-back-billing-for-domestic-customers.html

We need to assess if they do and if so whether the 25% discount is adequate.

ihateyes

nigelb4873 wrote: »

We didnt pay anything after September so that is our mistake.

Why didnt you pay anything? take it someone cancelled the ddeb to use the money for something else?

A court will laugh at you, as you havent paid for 5months!!!

Grow up be responsible, grab the 25%discount and learn from it.

jalexa

nigelb4873 wrote: »

I was on here for some advice and I am now starting to think I shouldnt have bothered.

In between the lines there has been plenty advice not all of which you have responded to.

If you are not satisfied with the supplier it is imperative that you quit discussing the issue by phone and raise a formal complaint, in writing or by email, strictly in accordance with the Edf complaints procedure.

I suggest that you hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The Billing Code backbilling provisions only apply to unbilled energy consumed more than 12 months prior. From your post it is not obvious that is the case.

That does not exclude the possibility of negotiating payment terms where there has been supplier error, as seems to be the case. As a minimum expect terms over at least the period of the error. The current offer may or may not be reasonable. Make sure they are aware (via the written complaint) that you are on a "tight budget".

I suggest that you don't make too much of the £53.10 credit. That is only half a monthly payment and an insignificant credit balance in September ahead of winter.

nigelb4873

Hi Backfoot,


1. Obtain a bill from EDF or print one off from the online system.
Done.
2. Check if the £1300 is the account balance before or after any payments.
After, as we had a bill of 721.91 in Jan2011 and we cleared this by September and where 168.06 in credit.
3. Check that the bill contains opening and closing readings which you can confirm as accurate. No I Cant confirm as accurate.
4. Check the tariff they have billed you on is correct.(what is it and have you switched/when?) The tariff is Standard for Gas and Economy 7 for electric. See below the tariff prices, I havent switched.
5. Check each monthly payment (£100) has been credited. Yes it has.
6. Find the previous bill and note carefully the date.
The previous bill was 12Jan2011, previously we had one on Jan, Apr and Oct every year for Electric and Gas, they have now combined these on one bill which I dont like but cant do anything about.
7. Find the last bill before this which contained an actual firm reading.When is it dated and does the reading tie into current bill? Yes they do, it is dated 12 Jan 2011.
8. What is your normal annual consumption for gas and electrcity in Kwh. You need to compare this to the payment of £1200 which you have been paying. (did you continue paying £100 after September?). No I didnt pay the 100 after september as it was in credit, naive on my part.
I have checked the rate for the electric it is Band A at 17.66p, Band B is at 11.05p and the nite rate is 5.34p, this is fine for the first quarter at a total of 84.15, but then they estimate everything after this and change our rate to one of day rate at 12.63p and 5.84p from March to November 2011 and then this changes to 13.19p for the day rate and 6.1p for the nite rate for the period from November 2011 to Feb 2012. For the Gas Band A 7p and Band B at 2.891p again this is fine for Jan to Mar 2011 but then they estimate the Gas from Mar to Nov 2011 at 3.353p and Nov to Feb at 3.886p, so I cant tell if this is a true reflection as again we havent had any bills for the whole year!!!!!!:eek:
9. Exactly why did EDF say they were granting 25% off?
As a gesture of good will as they admitted it was their mistake, the account was put on frozen and the department it went to didnt do anything about it, we had no contact from EDF since Jan 2011 till February 2012.

[Deleted User]

Hi Nigelb4873,just to rule out any mis readings of the meters, by you or the meter reader,do you have an electric dial meter ( 5 circular dials and a smaller red one). These archaic old things are constantly mis-read by customers and meter readers.£1300 behind after paying £100 a month, somethings gone badly wrong

backfoot

It looks to me that the backbilling rules might apply to approximately 6 weeks maximum.

Depending on how much you use in the winter will determine whether the 25% offer is good. On the face of it,unless you had enormous consumption in Jan/ Feb last year, a 25% reduction seems reasonable.

However, it should be applied to the amount before any payments have been deducted. I think you have said the £1300 is after payments of at least £100 per month. To septemeber that would give around £2200 gross. Does this sound like your annual bill? If it is your £100 per month was way too low. These do sound enormous numbers so check the meter readings as advised by other posters.

You don't seem to have any mitigating reason for ceasing payments from September.

If it was me, I would checking my seasonal consumption if you have any records. My own gas consumption for the 6 weeks Mid January to end of Feb represented 22% of my annual gas usage. It was very cold. Other posters may be able guide you on this figure and as you have E7 you may be more electric based heating.

So the key things are that you are entitled to a reduction of around 25% but make sure they base it on the full annual consumtion.

The above has nothing to do with goodwill.

You could also claim that not only did they fail to bill, they also failed to notify you of missing payments. You could ask for a goodwill reduction for that especially as you made several calls to determine the account balance.

Try asking for a further £100.

Ask for the remaining debt to be cleared over a period of time which you can manage. this may tie you in to EDF and if so you should change tariff to a much cheaper online tariff.

Hope this helps.

lifes-too-short

hi there, hope this mess gets sorted out soon!! I am also with EDF but not having issues thankfully.

I do my own monthly meter readings for Gas & Elec very simple to do and you can see month on month what your useage is compare last years if you have the info etc, I have been doing that for 3 years now and the calcs are spot on so every month I know exactly what I have used and what I have paid just by simply entering my meter readings, I can supply you with a copy if you want, it really will give you piece of mind and also acts as an energy saving device as you will always try to beat your consumption!

Good luck

Windy_Dave

I also noticed that we had not had a bill since 16th september 2011.
Be aware EDF seem to have slid conveniently into a semi no paper billing system (only 2 bills per year) you can register for online billing, I tried , not easy quick or an instant fix, guess what after saving paper not sending a bill they need to write and confirm your online account details, oops there goes the rain forest they just saved.

EDF had last year hiked my direct debits up by £20 per month (20 x 12= £240 per year), suprise suprise I was £288 in credit when I checked today after providing meter readings yesterday. (they also stopped taking meter readings last september). The helpfull EDF lady informed me that all would have been ok and that in april (2 months after my fixed deal would have ended they would have carried out a review Bless the lovely EDF employee(shared bonus maybe). Guess what? my higher direct debit would have covered the hike from capped to the variable tariff. Beware of EDF the french blighters are stealing from us. Goodbye to EDF end of March.:mad: sorry about the rant but EDF honestly I know youre there to make a profit and that £1.6 Billion probably wont go that far anymore but us poor people have got to eat !!!!!!!

jalexa

Windy_Dave wrote: »

... suprise suprise I was £288 in credit when I checked today after providing meter readings yesterday...

Regulations entitle you to request a refund of credit at any time. It is not guaranteed but the supplier must explain its decision.

IME it would have been an easy request to make of the "lovely Edf employee". It would be almost impossible for Edf to explain away a £288 credit at this time in billing cycle.

Windy_Dave

Thanks for your reply. Sorry my last rant was so long, didn't mention that £288 refund is on the way (nice EDF employee lady never offered a refund, I had to ask). The point really is that EDF have charge of direct debits and are still quite blatantly hiking direct debits in their favour. Come on EDF £288 credit, thats lots of money to me and my family.