edf and direct debit nightmare

raikky

i joined edf in septmeber. its now march and weve had to bills through. we pay direct debit everymonth. but, one our first bill they increased our direct debit, which is fine, from 40 to 48 pounds a month. just had our second bill through and after everything were 160 pound in debit. which, i wouldnt be worried about as weve turned out heating off now and with a new combi boiler should make that up in the summer. but, instead of waiting for that to be paid off, theyve told me there going to take 200 pounds from my account!!! in 1 weeks time, and theyve decreased our direct debit to 37 . im so angry. i spoke to some chinese woman couldnt understand 90 percent of what she said but from what i recall she said after each bill you have to pay any outstanding amount lol. ki told her thta on my bill it says my direct debits will stay the same throughout the year so that summer and winter usage will balance it out. i had no prolbem with eon and what the hell is this. like im supposed to just find 200 quid. is there anything i can do about this. i mean the whole point of paying by direct debit is so you pay the same and hopefully you pay everything off after one year to start again. i dont mind telling me they need to increase it as i know it was too low to start with (even though i asked for it to be 80 a month to start) but i tihnk this is seriously wrong. what to do about it?

NittyGritty

if you were in debit, why on earth would they decrease your direct debit to just £37? should be increasing not otherway round. first thing id do, assuming you can afford it is to ring and demand they increase your direct debit to a sensible amount, as £48 sounds very low, which in turn will lead you to be even further in debit with them, just my opinion

NittyGritty

if you cant afford to pay it all off, ring them again, and hopefully you will get through to a uk based person and expalin your situation they will prob put you on a payment plan till its paid off

raikky

i know your right. i told her to increase it to 65 and she said she would. i think thats about right. but why are saying on my bill on one part your direct debits stay the same and will cover winter and summer yet they want to take any money there owed straight away. money grabbing vultures. who can i complain to.?

victor2

EDF have a weird and wonderful direct debit system. Every time they get a reading, they generate a bill and adjust the DD amount, in my experience.
If you have a full year's record of usage (in kWh) with your previous supplier and nothing much has changed, that should give you an idea what to expect over the 12 months since you joined EDF, probably a bit less as this winter has not been as cold as the previous one.
From that, work out what your annual cost would be on your current tariff, divide by 12 and that's an approximate monthly cost spread evenly over the year. Bear in mind though, that is only the cost of your usage, it does not cover repaying any debt you have got into with EDF. If you have been paying less than the calculated amount, then you will be further in debt than you would expect to be at this time of year.
My own experience suggests that calling them will get a helpful person who probably can explain little, but may be able to sort something out. Emailing them is worse as it gets you a meaningless answer and writing is a total waste of time as they never respond.
Complaining to Consumer Direct (just google them) if you have done all of the former options without joy, will push them into action. I did that, but after further chasing, I just ended up receiving a useless letter from EDF which didn't even answer my question.

lithopsian

EDF has a written direct debit policy that debits of more than 150 pounds at the annual review will be claimed back in full. Similarly you should be sent a refund for credits over 150.

In your case, you are over the 150, but since you've only been with them for barely six months, this is a stupid time to be giving you an annual review. Tell them to wait until you've been with them for 12 months and then decide whether to mess with your direct debit. Sounds to me like the amount is approximately right already and you might even be in credit by September.

Phone them back. Don't put the phone down until they accept that they're idiots and that this isn't going to happen. There are several steps you can go through with a formal complaint process but at this stage it is far better to nip this in the bud and prevent the problem. You can always complain later. Don't put the phone down until they are fully aware of your position and that you don't accept their plan for claiming back the whole amount right now. Threaten them with cancelling the direct debit if you get some stuck-in-the-mud know-nothing operator, especially if you don't have the money anyway. Don't just do it without making it very clear to them, and write to them formally if you end up having to make good on the threat.

backfoot

Some more background.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3787041

EDf are generating random Direct Debits usually after any meter reading.

If you phone ensure that EDF put any agreement immediately in writing and insist on identifying the operator you have spoken to.

jalexa

lithopsian wrote: »

since you've only been with them for barely six months, this is a stupid time to be giving you an annual review. Tell them to wait until you've been with them for 12 months

I don't *know* what the Edf policy is but I was allocated a short year "annual review" date. I don't agree with that principle but I have a personal longer term objective of level payments until 2014 and worked around it.

Ofgem have published a direct debit factsheet.
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Media/FactSheets/Documents1/directdebitleaflet.pdf

It clearly states the Edf "zero balance" is anniversary aligned. So my account and the posters account are not in compliance with the Ofgem factsheet. That would make a very good question to ask of Edf. I asked via e-mail and they deleted my question. That was stupid as they now have a complaint (to delete). If they delete that I will ask the Energy Ombudsman to obtain an answer. That will cost them at least a case fee.

In dealing with Edf advisers on the phone I have found a softer approach that you suggest is sufficient. After 8 months I am now paying a fraction less than I was paying when I started despite monthly attempted recalculations upwards. I have just had a full balance refund 2 months ahead of my annual review and will still have a credit balance at annual review resulting from weather and energy efficiency measures.

The fact that the new billing system is "dysfunctional" on direct debit makes it easy to negotiate. Compared with forum reports about E.ON, the Edf advisers are, IME, well spoken, personable and flexible on the payment issue. Well at 09:00 they still are.:D

raikky

just spoke with them again got abit further this time. but still, i really dont get their methods. i will now pay 48 pounds a month since were heading to summer so that sounds about right. but now im more angry. to cover the 163 pounds were overdue, not 200 like my bill says lol ???!!! he will set up another directdebit which will take 29 pounds for 6 months. so in total ill pay back 174. so to me this sounds like a loan where i pay back interest. i said why cant you just increase my direct debit to 75 and after the summer the balance will of been paid. he said thats what im doing im setting you up another direct debit. i really got furstrated they are so dumb. i said if im in credit by the end of summer are you gonna send me some money huh?

i signed up till 2014 but wish i hadnt now.

raikky

oh and the guy said i shouldnt of given a meter reading for at least 12 months, lol !!!!!!??? i was giving eon a meter reading every 3 months. never had a problem with them. im gonna ring them one more time and ask them about this extra direct debit and if im paying interest on it. cause if i am surely thats out of order.

victor2

raikky wrote: »

oh and the guy said i shouldnt of given a meter reading for at least 12 months, lol !!!!!!???

That's the way round their crazy system. You are due a recalculation of your DD after 12 months, so the system doing it when you enter the reading will be in line with that. It'll will be a stupid amount though, so you'll stil have to phone them to get it set to a realistic amount.
As for the "interest", you will only be paying back what you owe, any extra will appear as credit or go towards your bill for actual usage. You would expect to be in credit at the end of the summer anyway, but make sure they cancel the extra direct debit, when enough payments have been taken.