It Pays to Challenge Energy Direct Debit Increases

BaeneyR

An EDF meter reader came last week. A few days later I got an email to say our combined bill for gas and electricity was online. The bill included an announcement that the direct debit was going up from £41 to £46 per month, a 14% increase despite the account being £48 in credit. I did the maths. Based on last year’s use of energy and current unit prices, the projected total was £409. EDF’s increased direct debits meant an annual total of £564, or just over £612 when the existing credit is added.

I rang and challenged the increased monthly payments and was immediately told they would remain at £41. Why the increase in the first place? Because so many customers let energy companies take them for a ride. If my rise is typical, that means millions of times £200 of cash for the major suppliers to play with.

One other point, the bill covers five A4 pages and still lacks the kind of clarity that would make it easier to see that the increase is rapacious. The bill needed no more than three pages to make quite plain what the position was, had that been the intention of the company.

dogshome

Well thats EDF for you, and thousands of others

One thing that strikes me is that with your combined Elec/Gas billing for a year totalling only £409, you fall into that enviable catagory of being a 'Low User' and as such it could be worth taking a look at Ebico's tariffs