EDF Fraud?

scubahelen

I have been living in my property for a couple of months now and have had problems with EDF and my tariff. To cut a long story short, EDF have claimed by post that I made a telephone agreement on a date in December to be on a certain tariff which I did not do. I have spoken to EDF and they have admitted there is no evidence of any such phone call and have apologised but have only offered a small amount of money off my bill as compensation which I am not happy with. Could anybody tell me what legal standing I have against them? Is this letter claiming a telephone agreement fraud? Any help would be appreciated please.

sheffield_lad

Hi there, who were the previous occupants with?


When you move into a property you normally stay with the previous supplier (this is called a deemed contract). Did you make a note of meter reads when you first moved in did you call them with the readings?


I would have thought you would go onto standard tariff.

Cardew

No of course it is not 'fraud'!


Fraud is intent to deceive(intent on the part of the defendant to deceive the alleged victim,) and you should be careful - even on line- to make accusations of criminal behaviour.


At best it appears to be a mistake by EDF, for which they have apologised and offered a small goodwill payment(they are not compelled to give you anything) assuming they have put you on your desired tariff.


You have only been with the company for 2 months; what are your expections?

scubahelen

We did give them the meter readings on the day we moved in by phone which they say they have lost, I'm currently arguing with them about tariffs and bills etc but I really would like to know about my standing legally regarding this 'telephone agreement' which they have admitted didn't take place. The date they claimed it happened was almost 2 months after we moved in and was the first response we recieved despite e-mailing them several times. Does this mean I have legal grounds against them because surely it's fraudulent?

scubahelen

Cardew "Fraud is intent to deceive(intent on the part of the defendant to deceive the alleged victim,) and you should be careful - even on line- to make accusations of criminal behaviour."

Surely making up a complete lie about a telephone agreement is indeed an intent to deceive?

sheffield_lad

No idea on the legal grounds sorry.


Which/what tariff are you on?

scubahelen

We are on a eco20/20 tariff but this is an expensive one as the bill came to £255 for one quarter with only two of us living here. We have gas heating and gas cooker so our electricity usage isn't excessive.

sheffield_lad

So forgetting about all the fraud bit, have you asked them to work your bill out on say standard tariff?


I would have thought it reasonable to ask for the bill to be recalculated from your first day.


You may even find that the difference is minimal in which case find a tariff you are happy with possibly with another provider.

scubahelen

I have asked them to work the bill out yo a standard tariff and it was over £100 cheaper than the one I'm on now. I am currently checking with other providers to see which would be the best one for me. The problem I really have is with the claimed agreement they have made. I have had to fight tooth and nail to get them to review and finally admit it was completely made up. I am sick and tired of companies thinking they are above the law and I don't expect them to be perfect but this has annoyed me as it's been done in the knowledge that it wasn't true.

sheffield_lad

I have just had a look at the 20 /20 tariff and it requires a different meter to reflect the 2 different time periods. Was this meter already in when you moved in? If so this could well be the deemed tariff you would be put on.

scubahelen

Yes this was in place when we moved in but we contacted them several times asking about this tariffs and other tariffs they provide and we received no reply until they sent a bill along with the made up telephone contract. So I am unwilling to pay for a bill over £100 more than I should have been paying if they had responded to me and also because of the 'contract' they have admitted to making up.