Edf - taking money when they want!!

Lovelyrita86

Hi there, wondering if anyone can help me.

I have been receiving bills from EDF stating I owe £395, when I have called to query this I have been told that this is an estimated bill and just to pay what I normally pay (£65 per month) My ex partner last week received a phone call from EDF (even though Id already requested they remove her details from the account) advising that this £395 must be paid and that our monthly payments were "eractic"?? When I called EDF I was told that this £395 was a disputed bill from 2008!!

While on holiday in 2008 EDF took £900 from my bank account leaving me stranded in Mexico with no money. On returning home I called EDF who advised me that since moving into the propery the year previous the hot water metre had been left running 24/7. Me and my partner (who were only 18 at the time) checked back every bill we had received and there was NO MENTION of this £900 or the fact we were burning the hot water constantly.

We disputed the bill endlessly. Everytime calling and being told something different. EDF finally agreed to repay around £600 of the bill and are now demanding I pay this £395.

I called EDF last night and after waiting FORTY MINUTES to speak with someone was told that its my bill, I took responsibility for it, and I need to pay. A this happened so long ago Im unsure of what was said/agreed so asked the person to read back on the file notes of everytime we called and what was said. I was then told there were no case notes on the file!!

HOPELESS!!

Has anyone had similar problems?
If I dispute this will it affect my credit?
Is there anyone else I can complain to as EDF are absolutely useless!!

Sorry for the ramblin. Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks

jalexa

Lovelyrita86 wrote: »

Is there anyone else I can complain to as EDF are absolutely useless!!

If you want to bring the issue to a head you can make a formal complaint to Edf, strictly in accordance with the Edf complaints procedure. If you remain dissatisfied on "deadlock" or after 8 weeks, whichever occurs first, you would be entitled to ask the Energy Ombudsman to consider the issue.

That said, on the basis of your post, it is not certain that that process wouldn't end with a calculation of arrears.

As a matter of interest, and this is not a trick question, are there any grounds for the Edf allegation that your "monthly payments were "erratic""? And I don't understand "the hot water metre had been left running 24/7".

My strong advice is to recognise that there *may* be an account balance owing and concentrate on asking Edf to explain it more clearly.

Lovelyrita86

jalexa wrote: »

If you want to bring the issue to a head you can make a formal complaint to Edf, strictly in accordance with the Edf complaints procedure. If you remain dissatisfied on "deadlock" or after 8 weeks, whichever occurs first, you would be entitled to ask the Energy Ombudsman to consider the issue.

That said, on the basis of your post, it is not certain that that process wouldn't end with a calculation of arrears.

As a matter of interest, and this is not a trick question, are there any grounds for the Edf allegation that your "monthly payments were "eractic""? And I don't understand "the hot water metre had been left running 24/7".

My strong advice is to recognise that there *may* be an account balance owing and concentrate on asking Edf to explain it more clearly.

Thank you very much for your response. I have also read about the ombudsman and am seriously considering this.

With regards to the "erratic" payments we (me and my new partner) pay £65 every money on the first without fail. Which to be honest seems steep as it is as we have no heating (storage heaters are all broken) and the hot water stopped working about a year ago (still have an electric shower)

As my ex and I were so young when we bought the flat we were new to all the utilities and bills etc. We didnt realise the metre on the wall in the kitchen is only to be switched on when you need hot water (to heat it up) so it was left on all the time. This is where they say the £900 came from.

I will be leaving EDF regardless as their customer service is rubbish and for a small 2 bedroom flat they are expensive.

Thank you again.

backfoot

Wow. You need to unravel this mess.

EDF should not be conducting this over the phone and you need to put the following questions in writing.(use email)

1. Request a copy of the account which shows the current debt.

2. Check the meter readings on the bill are line with the readings on the meter/s. If they differ provide up to date readings to EDf in writing.

3. Check the account and match any payments shown to your bank account.

4. Ask EDF for copies of previous bills going back to the date of the disputed account. (2008?).

5. Ask them why they had not followed up this up before. If they had not billed it before, you will not be liable under the 'backbilling rules' i.e.billing for consumption must be within 12 months.

6. Track your payments since 2008 and make sure they shown on the account.

7. Ask them to place the whole account in dispute until all the information requested is provided. In the meantime continue to pay your normal monthly payments.

It does appear from the background information that much of this energy has been consumed due to the water heater issue. How would EDF know this?

However,you are entitled to understand how this debt arises and why 'apparently' old charges are being levied now.

Split any final costs with your ex partner.

Try to keep your questions brief and to the point.

You can't go to the energy ombudsman until you have exhausted EDF's complaint procedure. (approx 8 weeks from the start)

Hope this helps.:)

dogshome

backfoot gives good advice, so do as he suggests

Whilst this may get some sense out of EDF, you must sort out the service problems with the Storage Heaters & Hot Water Tank to make use the upside of your ECO7 meter.

This meter gives you cheap power overnight for the S/heaters & Hot Water, but the downside is the power it supplies during the day is costly - So if you are useing plug-in heaters for warmth and that Elec shower for Hot Water, it is costing you Bigtime, and no matter what other supplier you move to, the bills will still be high

Lovelyrita86

Thank you all for your responses.

I have today contacted EDF and requested a record of all notes on the file ie calls made, letters sent etc to try make more sense of it all. As because it happened so long ago details are a little unclear.

Will call tonight to do as advised and make them aware Im disputing the bill until I look into it. Im going to follow procedures correctly and hope for the best! Either way we will be leaving EDF and going with another provider.

Thanks again for all your advice! Its much appreciated.

Thanks

backfoot

Lovelyrita86 wrote: »

Thank you all for your responses.

I have today contacted EDF and requested a record of all notes on the file ie calls made, letters sent etc to try make more sense of it all. As because it happened so long ago details are a little unclear.

Will call tonight to do as advised and make them aware Im disputing the bill until I look into it. Im going to follow procedures correctly and hope for the best! Either way we will be leaving EDF and going with another provider.

Thanks again for all your advice! Its much appreciated.

Thanks

Do not call. Put all matters in writing. they may block a move of Supplier until all debts are cleared.

undaunted

What is / was this "hot water meter" and for what period was it left on constantly?

I think, given the time thats elapsed without your issue / complaint being resolved you could probably go to the energy ombudsman now - see http://www.ombudsman-services.org/make-a-complaint-energy.html

However if you are talking about having left an immersion heater on constantly for any significant period & they can produce bills showing you used the energy & they've already made a £600 good will gesture (which they wouldn't have to do if it was simply your error) you may well be getting off lightly at £395 & thus be wasting your time complaining to the Ombudsman I'm afraid!

Lovelyrita86

Thanks for your replies, After speaking to my ex she has told me at the time EDF admitted some responsibility because the bills we received before they took the £900 out my bank said we were in credit and at no point did they contact us by letter or phone asking for £900 until they took it without informing us.

At the time I phoned them disputing how we could owe so much and being only 18 they had to accept responsibilty for not letting us know by sending unclear bills that looked like we were in credit. They actually credited around £300 to the account and admitted over the phone they took some responsibilty. I have asked for a Subject Access Request today from them because on at least 2 occasions we were told over the phone that we did not owe the money and after speaking to them again last night they have made clear that I will be pursued for this.

Can I get some advice please,if on the recorded phone call with EDF they stated I did not owe the money if I would still be legally liable. I understand I have to accept some responsibilty because it was used but it has been some time now without EDF asking for it. They are so unclear with there billing in writing and over the phone that if I had received a clear bill that made sense at the time I would not be in this position and could have sorted it before £900 was used.

Thanks for all your much needed help.

Terrylw1

They would never know what ran the usage up, they can only assume. For them to tell you that seems dodgy straight away.

In terms of no notes, they have changed billing systems nice then and it tends go be a practice not to transfer them but to keep them in an archived viewer system for a while, but notes are less important than billing data when they are aged so its possible they may not be able to retrieve it.

As far as being told you are not liable, they will challenge this. It does depend who said this because if its a call centre advisor, they have no authority so they will not agree they had the ability to make that decision and apologise for their mistake.

Did they show the values in the bills in 2008? If they did, the billing code won't apply but if they have just added it, it may but its not fully clear from your posts where it first appeared. Could you explain a bit more?

undaunted

You can almost bet your life they wont have / produce any recording saying you dont owe them the money anyway.

Similarly notes are written by & from the perspective of the operator & wont necessarily say what you heard them say. They will say hwat the operator wants them to reflect!

I suggest you drop the "being only 18". If it goes to Court the Judge wont make them pay for your naievity he / she will only be interested in the facts.

If they took £900 without advance notice they would have broken the DDI guarantee for example & if you were stranded in Mexico as a result you may be able to claim some damages / costs for that.

If they credited £300 on a £900 bill & you now owe £395 have you therefore acknowledged and repaid a debt of £205 so far? (based on estimated bill)

How does the actual reading compare with the estimated reading?

You mentioned the previous year yet say there was no mention on earlier bills & you appeared to be in credit - so how long and over how many bills had this £900 accrued over?

Were those bills actual or estimated reads?