EDF took direct debit early

tuggy12

sniggings wrote: »

and the way DD are you have to have the funds in for a full 2 weeks as they check the funds are there 2 weeks before collecting them, .

What a load of nonsense!

sniggings

tuggy12 wrote: »

What a load of nonsense!

nonsense? may be incorrect but that is what i was told by British gas on more than on occasion, but my point still reminds, even if not true or nonsense as you put it.

Nada666

armith wrote: »

I'm guessing but is the reason you find it puzzling is because you always know that you're going to be able to "make" the DD when it's due? I am now in the fortunate position of being able to ensure there's always enough money to cover the DD but it hasn't always been the case. I've only ever had two problems with DDs - one from the council when they accidentally took it early and once when BT accidentally requested money they already had taken. Both these caused major problems.

Despite my financial situation improving to a point where I no longer live week-to-week I still pay for almost everything "on receipt of bill". I know it costs me more but at least I know exactly where I am.

From the people who I know the only people other than me who do not pay by DD are those whos finances are precarious. I can understand companies wanting to gain a little more profit by getting people to pay via the method that suits them (the company) best but I just wish that they would offer an alternative.

I can't believe that they can't come up with something along the lines of emailing a bill and giving customers 7 days to make a direct payment using the internet. Surely this would incur only a minimal extra expense for the company but would offer a huge benefit for less well off customers.

The poorer you are the more likely you are to have money in the account to cover your debits. If you are poor you can not afford to spare £12 or £25 and more. No poor person is going to be in the OP's situation - you have the money in your account from the day that you apply.

Ofgem have banned the fair alternative. It is Ofgem who have demanded that those who do not pay by direct debit are forced to pay extra. If you pay on time then you are forced by Ofgem to cover the cost of recovering moneys from those who choose not to pay on time. Prompt payment discounts have been banned. Complain to Ofgem, not your supplier.

Nada666

sniggings wrote: »

living on a basic wage or benefits, it's not easy budgeting, the wage is hardly enough to pay for weekly living expenses

[...]

I bet you are on a fair bit more than the mon wage if you can have 12 DD set up, so probably can afford to leave large chunks of your income untouched, a lot of us can't.

Nonsense. The lower your income the tighter your budget. You keep your useage in line with your budget. Paying by direct debit is far easier as you are free to use heating et al as you see fit without having to pay for it one go. If you are poor you are used to having no money and living for days or weeks on nothing. As such keeping your account credited with your monthly payments is of little consequence and is not a hardship.

sniggings

Nada666 wrote: »

Nonsense. The lower your income the tighter your budget. You keep your useage in line with your budget. Paying by direct debit is far easier as you are free to use heating et al as you see fit without having to pay for it one go. If you are poor you are used to having no money and living for days or weeks on nothing. As such keeping your account credited with your monthly payments is of little consequence and is not a hardship.

it's a fact, you say if you have nothing it's easy to leave the money in the bank as you are used to it...that's my point, you do not have nothing you have money in the bank waiting for a DD to come out, people use this money for food, or unexpected things, with the intention of paying it back, so you say you can use what you want when on DD, yes true but what you you do when in my case one month the decided to take £87 instead of £40 as they upped my DD? I didn't have the funds to pay that so other DD didn't get paid.

You seem to be making the argument that it's easier when poor to pay DD, now that is nonsense, of course it is easier when you have enough funds that when emergencies pop up you do not have to touch the DD and can just forget it's there, that is obvious and for you to argue different is just silly.

Nada666

The argument is that it is more necessary and more sensible to pay by direct debit when poor. You sound like Boris Johnson - you think the poor are thick. Many are not and are perfectly capable of behaving like grown adults.

sniggings

Nada666 wrote: »

The argument is that it is more necessary and more sensible to pay by direct debit when poor. You sound like Boris Johnson - you think the poor are thick. Many are not and are perfectly capable of behaving like grown adults.

It,s not a matter of being thick as you put it, you would be "thick" if you had £40 in the bank but no fuel in the car or bus money to get to work on time and didn't use that money for getting to work.

I have no idea how rich/poor you are but you come across as never having been on such a low income just feeding your self and heating were all but impossible, or you have to take an extra bus ride which costs around £4 in my areas, which tips you over the edge, no money for the kids school dinners etc etc living on the min wage is a balancing act, you only need one thing to crop up and all your cards come falling down.

So yes it is easier if you have more money to budget with, than trying to budget with an amount that doesn't even cover your living expenses in the first place.

ValHaller

Nada666 wrote: »

The poorer you are the more likely you are to have money in the account to cover your debits. If you are poor you can not afford to spare £12 or £25 and more. No poor person is going to be in the OP's situation - you have the money in your account from the day that you apply.

Ofgem have banned the fair alternative. It is Ofgem who have demanded that those who do not pay by direct debit are forced to pay extra. If you pay on time then you are forced by Ofgem to cover the cost of recovering moneys from those who choose not to pay on time. Prompt payment discounts have been banned. Complain to Ofgem, not your supplier.

A slightly roundabout argument - but it is a well made and fair point.

frank777

I recently changed to EDF and my account is managed online (blue+ Price Promise March 2015) and I received 2 letters from EDF about my Direct Debits, the final one was a breakdown of the change in payment amount - We will collect it at this time, so we don't start your account in arrears. Your subsequent payments of xxx will be then debited from your account on or shortly after the xx of each month as you requested. Maybe the 2nd letter ''got lost in the post'' or was not sent. Do you file all your correspondence in folders?

Just to add the EDF online system is not fit for purpose and did not indicate this early DD, if a letter gets lost in the post your none the wiser and can end up out of pocket!