Switching Energy Supplier

Tricia007

Following Money Saving Expert's recent promotion, I am currently in the process of switching supplier from EDF to EON. As I am some £250+ in credit with EDF I cancelled my Direct Debit as from next month, but have now been informed that I will be charged more for my energy as I have already cancelled this Mandate. The reason for this post is to advise other members not to fall into the same trap, and to hang fire on cancelling their Direct Debit instructions until after the transfer has gone through.

mapron

BEWARE! I am in the process of switching after doing a comparison with Martin's mass switch deal. I have now had an email telling me that the figures they quoted were not comparing my actual bill with a new tariff, but an assumed bill that I might have paid after my current deal ran out. This is clearly misleading and I am very disappointed to find that the Energy Club is not being straight with customers who are thinking of switching. Martin gets £30 per switch!


The saving is compared to what you would have paid

This is an important one for budgeting help - the saving we showed you in the comparison is compared to what you would have paid, not what you were paying.


While it sounds strange, you may save money by switching, but the price you pay may actually go up. For example, if you're on a cheap fixed deal, at the end of that deal the price would have gone up as you would have rolled on to a standard tariff - which is probably pricier.

If you'd done nothing your price would have gone up - by switching you could still be saving but you're paying more than you did in the past. So don't assume your bills will get lower.

System

Tricia007 wrote: »

Following Money Saving Expert's recent promotion, I am currently in the process of switching supplier from EDF to EON. As I am some £250+ in credit with EDF I cancelled my Direct Debit as from next month, but have now been informed that I will be charged more for my energy as I have already cancelled this Mandate. The reason for this post is to advise other members not to fall into the same trap, and to hang fire on cancelling their Direct Debit instructions until after the transfer has gone through.

Correct. You entered into a contract with EDF where one of the tariff conditions is to pay by DD. Therefore, in line with their ts and Cs, they have moved you on to their standard variable tariff until such time as your switch goes through. Had you kept your DD mandate in place then you would have remained on your present tariff. There is a clear benefit here for those switching at the end of a fixed tariffs. A cautionary warning indeed.

footyguy

Tricia007 wrote: »

Following Money Saving Expert's recent promotion, I am currently in the process of switching supplier from EDF to EON. As I am some £250+ in credit with EDF I cancelled my Direct Debit as from next month, but have now been informed that I will be charged more for my energy as I have already cancelled this Mandate. The reason for this post is to advise other members not to fall into the same trap, and to hang fire on cancelling their Direct Debit instructions until after the transfer has gone through.

Good luck.

As already stated, you have failed to abide by the terms & conditions you originally agreed to, so they will hammer you.

What's more, if you ever want to see that £250 (or whatever is left of it after the new prices have been applied) EDF will go and reinstate that DDI direct with your bank (and no one will tell you)

Something else for you to keep an eye on.

Then when you go and cancel it again, you'll get another snotty letter of EDF...

:cool:

Here speaks the voice of experience, but I didn't cancel my DDI until I had received the final bill from EDF that said they had been paid for all consumption etc and there was still some credit left owed to me ... but they still tried to charge me more after I cancelled the DDI after I had received the final bill :mad:
(but they failed )

SoletraderSteve

Tricia007 wrote: »

Following Money Saving Expert's recent promotion, I am currently in the process of switching supplier from EDF to EON. As I am some £250+ in credit with EDF I cancelled my Direct Debit as from next month, but have now been informed that I will be charged more for my energy as I have already cancelled this Mandate. The reason for this post is to advise other members not to fall into the same trap, and to hang fire on cancelling their Direct Debit instructions until after the transfer has gone through.

Regardless of your balance, why would you cancel your direct debit before your supply has been transferred and before any final bills have been issued? If you finsh in credit on the final bill and the dirct debit it active then you will be paid this back into your account, likewise if you owe money it will be debited. As a reuslt of cancelling your direct debit you will be billed on cash cheque rates indtead of Direct Debit rates until the transfer date. Silly mistake on your behalf and if you finish in credit at the final bill you will have less credit than what you would have had you left your Direct Debit active. A lesson learned.

blanik

mapron wrote: »

BEWARE! I am in the process of switching after doing a comparison with Martin's mass switch deal. I have now had an email telling me that the figures they quoted were not comparing my actual bill with a new tariff, but an assumed bill that I might have paid after my current deal ran out. This is clearly misleading and I am very disappointed to find that the Energy Club is not being straight with customers who are thinking of switching. Martin gets £30 per switch!


The saving is compared to what you would have paid

While it sounds strange, you may save money by switching, but the price you pay may actually go up. For example, if you're on a cheap fixed deal, at the end of that deal the price would have gone up as you would have rolled on to a standard tariff - which is probably pricier.

If you'd done nothing your price would have gone up - by switching you could still be saving but you're paying more than you did in the past. So don't assume your bills will get lower.

But you would probably been better waiting for your fixed deal to end then switching. If your fixed rate ended on 2 months the figures assume you will go onto the most expensive tariff for the next 10 months so any saving may be misleading.

davemaxted

blanik wrote: »

But you would probably been better waiting for your fixed deal to end then switching. If your fixed rate ended on 2 months the figures assume you will go onto the most expensive tariff for the next 10 months so any saving may be misleading.

Energy Club Alert: You have now hit your savings trigger


Good tool but can be a bit misleading, as it predicts cost over the next 12 months, wrongly assuming that when my fixed price deal ends mid-next year I will revert to standard terms, increasing the cost - which I won't do!
The software even lists my current deal (Ovo Better energy fixed online) as the one to switch to to save money!

It can be confusing enough without this!

Baby_Angel

I am in the process of switching to EON. Although it stated it was cheaper on MSN, I called my existing provider to find out what I would pay with their cheapest deal that suits me. As all rates were cheaper with eon including the standing charges, I went with them. Of course made sure it was DD and Dual fuel and paperless billing to get all the benefits. I called today to give the final reading to my provider and they also insisted not to cancel the DO until I get a refund. I also gave EON the same reading so as not to be double billed.