EDF Problems- Charging a ridiculous amount for information.

angel91baby

Hello,

EDF is taking me to court on the 9th January. They are fighting to install a prepayment meter due to non payment. I owe around £750.

The problem is, I HAVE been paying them, £50 a fortnight, with my usage being around £70 so they get £30 a month against the actual debt.

They are just cross because I pay by Standing Order and they want me to pay by DD which I can't do. :mad:

I phoned them today to ask for copies of all my records. They said it would be £10 for each phone call, letter, and note on the system. The total bill comes to over £1,000!!!!

Are they allowed to do this? Is there anything I can do? I have severe mental health and physical problems. They keep sending scary men to my door despite me asking for them to only send females, and my mental health is really, really suffering as a result of this.

I feel completely lost, I don't know what to do. I can't do a prepay meter, they are too expensive and my local shop doesn't do the key and I simply can't walk to the closest shop that does do them, it is too far away. And that is ignoring just how expensive it all is!!!

Please help. I am desperate.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

angel91baby wrote: »

I phoned them today to ask for copies of all my records. They said it would be £10 for each phone call, letter, and note on the system. The total bill comes to over £1,000!!!!

Make a Subject Access Request (SAR). For £10 they should send you everything.

Bark01

Its got nothing to do with DD, you state above you are underpaying by £30 (42%). If you raised you standing order to cover the bill amount then that would be a start but you also need to repay the debt. You are using more than you can pay, this needs to stop, the only way fora supplier to do this is by use of a ppm meter.

As for the charge amount you've been quoted, I'd ring back and speak to someone else as what you've been told either isn't correct or you've misunderstood.

angel91baby

I said I was OVER paying by £30 a month, which should be coming off the debt. The other £70 covers my usage. The debt should be coming down, albeit slowly. xxx

lvf

If there is any reason that affects you from topping up a PPM or could cause severe problems if your credit ran out, then they are not allowed to install a PPM in your property.

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:
* Occupants under the age of 12 (I think) or over the age of 60
* Anyone on medical equipment
* The meter being out of reach (eg above head height, or not having 24 hour access)
* Restricted movement (like you say, can't get to the shop to top up)

If any of the above or any other circumstances apply that might affect topping up the meter, then they should work with you to repay the balance in the same manner as if you did have a PPM installed.

I cannot understand how they would not work with you on this, as most suppliers look to recover large balances at a rate of £3 to £4 a week (roughly £12 a month) off a PPM, while you are paying around £30 a month off your debt. I understand they have an obligation to at least try and have your balance cleared within 12 months (as do all suppliers) but this makes no sense whatsoever.

Joyful

Are you on benefits? If so you could have it taken by fuel direct from your benefits.

angel91baby

I am confused too. They know about my medical conditions and I am a priority customer because of them. Even the collection guy they sent round to try and intimidate me into paying apologised profusely and said he didn't know why they had sent him! I already had an ombudsman appeal won in my favour for the appalling way they treated me last year, and I got a small amount of compensation for my trouble.

Cardew

lvf wrote: »

I cannot understand how they would not work with you on this, as most suppliers look to recover large balances at a rate of £3 to £4 a week (roughly £12 a month) off a PPM, while you are paying around £30 a month off your debt. I understand they have an obligation to at least try and have your balance cleared within 12 months (as do all suppliers) but this makes no sense whatsoever.

Like you 'I cannot understand' why EDF would not work with the OP if indeed £30 a month was being paid off the debt. However do you not think it just possible that this approach has been tried by EDF?


Everyone on this forum is surely aware that going to court to enable a PPM to be fitted is the last option for Utility companies.


If the OP has been paying £30 a month more than consumption, how has a debt of £750 accrued?


I also agree with you that this situation 'makes no sense whatsoever' however perhaps I am looking at it from a different angle!


It is a pity that the Utility companies don't have the right of reply to individual cases. However going to court will enable both sides to give all the facts. If the OP is blameless then she will win the case.

McKneff

OP is payinh £50 per fortnight, so £100 per month.
£70 for current elec and £30 towards the arrears.

angel91baby

The debt came from a period when I was severely struggling with mental health issues, and didn't pay for a while. Last January I set up the payment plan and have made every payment since. They want me to switch to a DD which I can't do, so I pay via standing order, which they don't like.

I have it written on my account with them that due to my past I find men at my door very frightening, so I asked if they could only send women to talk to me. And yet they keep sending huge men to my door! And the men are always alone, so anything could happen. They should at least work in pairs!! They are trying to pressure me into a DD, which they can control.

I know this court case is completely ridiculous, I have got a years worth of bank statements backing me up. This whole thing is making my mental health issues much worse!

Joyful

I can understand why they do not want a standing order. Do they not have a card you can pay on instead? I take it you are not on benefits.