Eon decreased direct debit, now i have a massive outstanding amount to pay.

schwam66

BensonBlue wrote: »

Hello everyone,
I have been with Eon since moving into this flat just over a year ago, at the end of July. It is all electric and has no gas. My direct debits to start with were £66 each month and as i haven't lived anywhere with only electric heating before i wasn't sure what i should expect to be paying.
In January they sent me a letter stating "We've checked your electricity Direct Debit and noticed you're paying too much." so they decreased it down to £46 each month. Who was i to argue?!
I then received another letter in April, which was estimated saying i was £62.39 in credit. With hindsight i should have taken more notice of the word "estimated".
Around May time i had a letter from them telling me they were going to be putting my tariff's up and i might want to think about changing tariff's or suppliers which i was going to do. However in
June i received a statement telling me i now owed them £321.84!
As a single parent, and anyone for that matter, that is a lot of money to find. It just seems very much as though Eon lowered my direct debit so i would end up owing them and having to stay with them until i pay it off. So if i want to go to someone cheaper i have to pay all the money off first or stay with Eon and pay more in the long run while paying off the balance. Surely that's not right!
I rang them to complain but was simply told that it was all done by an automated system and there was nothing they could do except raise a complaint and if enough people complained about the same thing then Eon would look into it! :mad:
Is there anything i can do about getting the bill lowered? And if i manage to pay the bill in one to move to a cheaper company can i still try and get a refund or something back from them?
Has anyone experienced the same thing and can give some advise?

Thanks in advance!

sounds crazy but i would rather pay lump sums than have to be paying the huge amounts each month...i was paying 126 for both gas and electrics they just sent a thing it will be going UP to 142 yet they dont even know what i will use!!! will be moving house next month though so will be canceling them and shopping around....they are !!!! to begin with....

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi schwam66

I know an unexpected increase can come as a shock. I understand you're moving but thought it might help if I explain a bit about how we calculate the monthly payments.

They're based on current prices and past usage. If either changes, so will the monthly amounts.

A few of our tariffs are coming to an end at the moment. If you're on one of these, you may see an increase in prices. There'll be more details on our website. We'll also send a letter to let you know.

Has your usage changed much in the past 12 months? If it has, this will contribute to a higher monthly amount too.

Is there a debit balance on the account? If there is, previous monthly payments may not have been covering the usage.

Going forward, we'll spread any outstanding balance over the next few months and include it in the monthly total. As you're moving, I suspect this won't be of much use to you.

It always helps if you can let us have meter readings at regular intervals. It's is a good way of keeping on top of payments. It'll help make sure they're covering the ongoing usage and stop arrears building up.

If you've an online account, you can pop them on there and even create your own bill if you wish.

As I mentioned to BensonBlue earlier, the 'Direct Debit Manager' on our website can help with this. It comes in handy if circumstances change and you finish up using more/less energy.

If you let us know the details when you move, we'll close your account and make sure the final bill is accurate. At this point. any credit balance will be refunded.

There's a form on our website where you can let us have the details. It's in the Home Moves section.

Alternatively, we've a specialist team you can phone if you prefer. Contact details are on the same website page.

Hope the move goes well.

Malc

Nada666

schwam66 wrote: »

sounds crazy but i would rather pay lump sums than have to be paying the huge amounts each month...i was paying 126 for both gas and electrics they just sent a thing it will be going UP to 142 yet they dont even know what i will use!!!.

On comparison sites you can choose 'pay quarterly by direct debit'. That will allow you to pay bills based on actual readings each quarter. Uswitch.com has this as a pull-down menu on the results page so you don't have to start again for different payment methods.