Direct debit cancelled by EDF now left with huge bill.

kathwin

Hi.

I would like some advice / opinions please on the situation I find myself in with EDF regarding my electricity account. I'll try and keep it brief.

I received a letter stating notification of legal action from EDF last week demanding payment of £472.24 even though I pay monthly by direct debit to cover cost of usage. The following day I received another letter saying 'your bank informs us that your direct debit has been cancelled......because of this you need to pay your bills manually...'.

I rang EDF and was told that the direct debit had actually been cancelled in July 2012 and they were not certrain who had done it but it wasn't my fault it was either their mistake or the banks. I've been into the bank and they confirmed that it had been cancelled but they didn't know why, but it was looking like EDF had either cancelled it or when the payment we pay each month was adjusted, they hadn't renewed the direct debit with the new payment. This is strange because we also have our gas with them and everything is fine with the direct debit / payments with that account.

They then went on to say that the bill had now increased and it is actually £639.12 which has to be paid by 3rd July 2013. They said I could pay in instalments and quoted me an amount I had to pay monthly over a 12 month period. They then said as a goodwill gesture they would credit my account by £20. I told them I wasn't happy about that and was asked 'well what DO you want'? When I said I don't know because I have never been in this situation before she said, 'well I've offered you £20 and your not happy so YOU have to tell ME what you want'. I said I would like to seek advice and think about it so they are due to ring me back in a few days for an answer.

What do you think? I personally was very annoyed that they left it 12 mths before they informed me of this. I know I have to pay for the fuel used, but now I will be paying a monthly payment to pay for current usage and also another payment to pay for last years usage. All this after I received my usual statement in March saying your elec statement is £.....because you pay by direct debit you do not need to do anything. Your next payment of £65.00 is due to be collected on or immediately after 25 April 2013'.

I will be interested to hear what you think.

macman

I think that you've answered your own question. You are obliged to pay for the energy used. How come you did not notice for 11 months that the DD was not being taken from your account?
In effect you have had a year's interest free credit, with another 12 months to pay off the arrears that have built up. So I'm not quite sure what more you are expecting to get, other than the £20 nominal compensation already offered?
Only you or the bank can cancel a DD-not the supplier. All they can do is fail to draw on it.

matelodave

How do you manage to miss that 12 months of a DD hasn't been extracted from your bank account - Don't you ever check it? If no,t then its hard to have a lot of sympathy for you - you have to take charge of your own money and not let others do it for you and then complain if it goes wrong

One assumes that you should at least have that amount (12x the monthly DD payment) still in the bank if they haven't been taking it so you ought to be in a good position to pay a good lump of it off.

Buzby

Take the money! Irrespective of any DD mandate, the customer remains fully responsible to pay (even if the mandate exists but they do not take anything) and has no relevance.

If the money is owing and they don't take it, you still remain liable regardless.

dogshome

Hmmm - The OP mentions letters and phone conversations, but not a word about actual bills (For EDF to take £20 off the debt, they must know something isn't quite kosher.)
If he/she hasn't had a bill justifying the demand, there is no debt till a fully detailed bill is supplied

If he/she has had or eventually does get a bill, it needs checking - Most EDF tariffs have a 6% discount for D/Debit payments - Has this been allowed on the bill?
If not, it's not the customers fault that the D/D's were not collected and they should be allowed for on what is owed

MillicentBystander

You've effectively had an interest free loan from them. Now, I'm by no means an EDF apologist, they are useless imo and this episode only backs up my theory but to be fair anyone who doesn't realise that they aren't paying anything for one of a household's major ongoing expenses for 12 months is about as efficient as EDF. You've got a good deal imo.

chanz4

dogshome wrote: »

Hmmm - The OP mentions letters and phone conversations, but not a word about actual bills (For EDF to take £20 off the debt, they must know something isn't quite kosher.)
If he/she hasn't had a bill justifying the demand, there is no debt till a fully detailed bill is supplied

If he/she has had or eventually does get a bill, it needs checking - Most EDF tariffs have a 6% discount for D/Debit payments - Has this been allowed on the bill?
If not, it's not the customers fault that the D/D's were not collected and they should be allowed for on what is owed

companys give people just to stop escalation, thats only reason

Wywth

kathwin wrote: »

Hi.

I would like some advice / opinions please on the situation I find myself in with EDF regarding my electricity account. I'll try and keep it brief.

I received a letter stating notification of legal action from EDF last week demanding payment of £472.24 even though I pay monthly by direct debit to cover cost of usage. The following day I received another letter saying 'your bank informs us that your direct debit has been cancelled......because of this you need to pay your bills manually...'.

I rang EDF and was told that the direct debit had actually been cancelled in July 2012 and they were not certrain who had done it but it wasn't my fault it was either their mistake or the banks. I've been into the bank and they confirmed that it had been cancelled but they didn't know why, but it was looking like EDF had either cancelled it or when the payment we pay each month was adjusted, they hadn't renewed the direct debit with the new payment. This is strange because we also have our gas with them and everything is fine with the direct debit / payments with that account.

They then went on to say that the bill had now increased and it is actually £639.12 which has to be paid by 3rd July 2013. They said I could pay in instalments and quoted me an amount I had to pay monthly over a 12 month period. They then said as a goodwill gesture they would credit my account by £20. I told them I wasn't happy about that and was asked 'well what DO you want'? When I said I don't know because I have never been in this situation before she said, 'well I've offered you £20 and your not happy so YOU have to tell ME what you want'. I said I would like to seek advice and think about it so they are due to ring me back in a few days for an answer.

What do you think? I personally was very annoyed that they left it 12 mths before they informed me of this. I know I have to pay for the fuel used, but now I will be paying a monthly payment to pay for current usage and also another payment to pay for last years usage. All this after I received my usual statement in March saying your elec statement is £.....because you pay by direct debit you do not need to do anything. Your next payment of £65.00 is due to be collected on or immediately after 25 April 2013'.

I will be interested to hear what you think.

Your bank will be able to advise you how the DD mandate was cancelled

You'll have to pay for the energy you have used. If you agree to set up a new monthly DD with the supplier, they may be prepared to allow you to repay the amount owed over a number of months

undaunted

I'd pretty much agree with all that has been said above.

You appear to have no obvious dispute with the supplier, could / should have realised they were not collecting money from your bank, acknowledge that you need to pay for energy used & have been offered a nominal gesture of goodwill by the supplier.

The fact they have asked what you want implies you may be able to push them a little further perhaps - eg try asking for £50 and see what happens? - but beyond that I don't think you have any room for serious argument here

PlutoinCapricorn

Kathwyn, your post might help other people in the future.

I check my bank statement every month now, but there was a time when I never bothered.

Your experience shows just how important it is to keep on top of financial affairs. I have a spreadsheet, and put expected future expenses in italics. When I get the statement and see the DD, I change it to regular type. I noticed that EDF missed a month after a change of amount/meter reading date and made a note to check next time, but they drew the DD the following month.