EDF Taking the wrong amount Via DD HUGE Bill Now

bigal993

Guyz
I wonder if I can get some advice, very briefly I work out of the country, and Im separated from my wife & family, I pay all my bills by DD. on the same day each month along with an amount each month for my family to live off.

Now I was with EDF until recently, and i have just switched to EOn, upon leaving EDf have sent me a final energy bill of a massive £621. I am frantic, I have looked back and instead of the agreed DD amount of £158 per month, they have only been taking £49.00, I have been recording my calls with them, and one of there advisers stated that it looks like someone in there department has been altering the DD every month down form £158 to £49.

I have just spoken to a team leader who offered £50 goodwill, I told him that if they had done there jobs correctly, and taken the agreed amount every month I would be due a refund not a huge bill.

Now I know the wife should have noticed the extra £100 but its not up to her to ask whys its in the account she just spends all that I give her.

Where do i stand legally he said it was my legal responsibility to check, I said it was there responsibility to take the agreed amount and if it was to differ they should Inform me within 10 days of any different amounts to be taken ?

Any advice gratefully received

Al
Last edited by bigal993; Today at 4:59 PM.

jalexa

bigal993 wrote: »

Any advice gratefully received

The fundamental issue is whether or not you agree the final bill is "accurate", the main determinant being that the Edf closing readings and the E.ON opening readings are the same.

Assuming they are, then my tactical advice is to pay off the £621. In that I'm influenced by your ex-pat employment status and have made a sweeping assumption that you can find the funds. If you can clear the decks then you are open to complain about Edf's handling at no financial risk with a view to recovering your excess costs plus distress and inconvenience.

If my assumption is wrong post again.

bigal993

I wish mate, No I have to work away as no work locally, i would struggle like hell yo pay this bill, hence the question are they legally supposed to inform me of any variation in the DD, this would never have happened if they had done that

jalexa

bigal993 wrote: »

i would struggle like hell yo pay this bill, hence the question are they legally supposed to inform me of any variation in the DD, this would never have happened if they had done that

OK, moving on...

The narrow "legal" answer to your question is very easy. If the amount changes you must receive (typically 10 days) notice. If the amount has changed by bill calculation then the notice is deemed served by the bill. If the amount was changed at your request then there is a seperate confirmation notice. If you are setup for paperless billing the presence of bills and/or notices in your MyAccount are advised by email, otherwise you will receive paper mail.

Note that you only receive notice once. I do not believe the "somebody had been altering it down every month" is an accurate understanding by either or both parties of the process. Nobody is sitting at a desk micro-managing your account. Even if you have an accurate recording of that I do not believe that to be relevant to the issue.

Only the circumstance and occasion you thought there was agreement for £158 is relevant. Was that a phone call? Do you have a recording of that call? What *exactly* was agreed?

bigal993

the DD notices are all in My Account, Ive printed those off, they informed me what they want to take, ive just left them to it, thinking they would be competent enough to do just that.

I agree with someone hasn't been altering it every month, But Ive got that recorded form a call to one of there advisers, of course they were warned before hand that all calls are recorded.
they have admitted that it was there errors that has led to this amount being due. as they failed to take the agreed amount
Al

jalexa

bigal993 wrote: »

the DD notices are all in My Account, Ive printed those off, they informed me what they want to take, ive just left them to it, thinking they would be competent enough to do just that.

Sorry I'm a little confused. Are you saying they took a different amount than the notice? Or you didn't spot a notice?

If you are saying they are admitting fault, making a claim for no detriment is easy, though the practical aspects may be harder. In a narrow sense "no detriment" could be the overdraft costs for £621 (plus £50 ex-gratia). If an overdraft is not practicable you could ask for payment terms. For an existing customer affordable terms typically over the period of the error would be reasonable. Less sure about for an ex-customer, though your entitlement to "no detriment" is not diminished by not being a customer.

Up to you to suggest a proposal for remedy, but beware of an attempt to collect the £621 by direct debit.

Make sure you have a complaint formally registered.

twig1_2

Have they been taking off only the direct debit for only one fuel? Someone else was on here with similar story about their son who had only been having the electricity element taken and had run up a £1500 bill for Gas I think. They took all the money in one go making them go overdrawn so your ex wife hopefully has the remainder of the money waiting to pay it.
My own experience is that they quote you a low direct debit price to make you move and are always wrong leaving you with a year of ever increasing direct debits. Edf only bill you twice a year so you have probably only missed one opportunity to see the error.
I think the real complication that you have is that my understanding of the problem is that you have been paying your ex the money to cover the bills and they have been taking the wrong amount from her account. Who in these circumstances has been treated detrimentally as she has had the money off you but hasn't spent it on fuel. Some of this discrepancy could be due to them raising the prices in the year so the original direct debit will not have covered it anyway. Did neither of you keep an eye on the payments applied to the account which is clearly shown on the bills or the debt on the account? Probably good idea to keep an eagle eye on whoever you are with in the future. I didn't scrutinise my bills with them until the end of the year as well so have learnt the hard way too.
What did they say they would do with the debt if you are moving to a diffeent supplier?

Terrylw1

With you saying the DD notices are in your online account, isn't that the notice to change it?

Its true that suppliers are told by ofgem to act responsibly to avoid putting customers in unnecessary debt. They are expected to train their staff to do this.

However, its an error in practice so they will apologise and throw the usual £50 compensation at you.

However, you are the consumer and their is a responsibility on the customer yo spot and notify them of issues with their bills, so its a joint error. They will be reasonable over a payment plan so just plan that in since you had the benefit of paying less for a while.

Oh, ensure you agree with the switch reading as that could have added to the high level if its too high.

bigal993

Hi Guyz
They said they would take £158 via DD on there notice or bill, , and have not been taking that amount at all. I think they have beem taking £49. It was a mess form day one they failed to siwtch the gas over, form day one, cauing mayhem, they were very good at the time and a manager said he had sorted it all out gave a credit of £167 on the account, and assured me that it was all set up correctly and there would be no further problems.

We have changed suppliers to Eon, They were going to collect the amount via DD, but luckily I was home at the time and spotted it so i canceled the DD. I have told them i am not paying the bill until it is sorted to my satisfaction.

jalexa

bigal993 wrote: »

I have told them i am not paying the bill until it is sorted to my satisfaction.

Fine. Make sure that you have raised a formal complaint so that debt recovery will be stayed.