EDF Problems- Charging a ridiculous amount for information.

maas

I have no idea why the have decided to rip up the payment plan. As has already been pointed out, we only have one side of the story and it may be that they are just being irrational! It could also be that your usage has gone up (particularly in Winter) and the payments are no longer sufficient to bring £30 a month off the debt. We could guess all day long.

Why are they sending people to you door and when did that start?

I would get that SAR sent off pretty sharpish to make sure you have a chance of getting copies of whatever you need, in good time for the court hearing with the usual christmas holdups etc

spiro

You say ppm is expensive but you won't pay by DD which I presume means you are on a non DD tariff, if that is the case it is highly likely you are paying the same as you would on a ppm.

angel91baby

maas wrote: »

I have no idea why the have decided to rip up the payment plan. As has already been pointed out, we only have one side of the story and it may be that they are just being irrational! It could also be that your usage has gone up (particularly in Winter) and the payments are no longer sufficient to bring £30 a month off the debt. We could guess all day long.

Why are they sending people to you door and when did that start?

I would get that SAR sent off pretty sharpish to make sure you have a chance of getting copies of whatever you need, in good time for the court hearing with the usual christmas holdups etc

I know the reason some on here are a little sceptical is because this doesn't make sense, which gives me hope for the court case.

As for the usage, it is calculated as an average over the whole year. I send in meter readings every 10 weeks so it wouldn't have been hard for them to tell me if my payments had to go up. I also check my quarterly statements, and the amount owed is slowly going down so I must be paying enough.

One of the collection men they sent to my door told me they just don't like standing orders because I have all of the control. He actually apologised profusely and said he had no idea why he had been sent. But I was crying at that point so he may have just been trying to comfort me. He said he would be putting a complaint in because he was angry he had been sent to me.

They are sending collection agents to my door, that is why they are coming. I have had 4 come out this year (since I have been paying) and nobody came out at all when I wasn't paying.

As for the SARS, I have put the request in now. The problem is they have 40 days to respond, so the chances of getting it by the 9th January are slim to none. I also phoned EDF to ask them to put their quote in writing. The agreed, but I wonder if it will turn up or not.

I am hoping to go in and get an adjournment until I can get all the paperwork- though I might have enough to win even without it.

As for the price, I am not sure. I was on prepayment meter when I first moved in here and I was putting £50 a week on gas alone and £10 on electric during the winter, it went down to about £25 a week on gas and £10 a week on electric over the summer. It is an awful lot more than I am paying now? xx

JimmyTheWig

angel91baby wrote: »

I know the reason some on here are a little sceptical is because this doesn't make sense, which gives me hope for the court case.

There are three scenarios...

1. EDF have made a mistake and if given all the relevant information at the same time they would realise this.
2. EDF know something that you don't know (e.g. your usage is higher than it was when the figure was agreed, your bank have messed them around and not always paid the SO, etc) which makes them unhappy with the plan.
3. You know what the problem is but for whatever reason aren't sharing it with us.

I'm not accusing you by stating number 3 above. It's just something that happens fairly often on these boards. We get to sometimes page 3 of comments before an OP answers a particular question in a particular way which suggests there is more at play than they first let on.
In those situations, OPs don't do themselves any favours as people can't help them without the full information.

One of the collection men they sent to my door told me they just don't like standing orders because I have all of the control.

Has that control ever been (ab)used in this case? E.g. have you stopped the SO on the odd occasion when you were short of money?


I think that rather than concentrate on getting proof that EDF agreed to the SO, can anyone else confirm if energy companies generally accept SOs as a reasonable payment method for customers in arrears?


As a complete alternative, have you got anyone who would set up a direct debit for you if you changed your existing SO to pay into their account rather than EDF?

Cardew

Are the 'scary men' coming to your door, who you describe as 'collection agents' from a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) or EDF?


What are they trying to achieve? Collect money? persuade you to have a PPM? persuade you to set up a DD?


You said earlier that you had taken EDF to the Ombudsman and 'won' with EDF paying you compensation. Was that in relation to this present issue? i.e. your £750 debt.

angel91baby

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Has that control ever been (ab)used in this case? E.g. have you stopped the SO on the odd occasion when you were short of money?


I think that rather than concentrate on getting proof that EDF agreed to the SO, can anyone else confirm if energy companies generally accept SOs as a reasonable payment method for customers in arrears?


As a complete alternative, have you got anyone who would set up a direct debit for you if you changed your existing SO to pay into their account rather than EDF?

Hiya, no I have never missed a payment via standing order to any company- which is why I chose them (the money goes out before I can spend it). My dad can't afford to have all my bills come out of his account along with his own, which would happen occasionally given my payment dates change. He would be paid early (in time) some times and not in time others.

angel91baby

Cardew wrote: »

Are the 'scary men' coming to your door, who you describe as 'collection agents' from a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) or EDF?


What are they trying to achieve? Collect money? persuade you to have a PPM? persuade you to set up a DD?


You said earlier that you had taken EDF to the Ombudsman and 'won' with EDF paying you compensation. Was that in relation to this present issue? i.e. your £750 debt.

The collection agents are from EDF, not a debt collection agency. And all three really. They ask me to make a payment against the debt. When I say I can't, they tell me they will be forced to fit a prepayment meter. When I explain that I am paying them so they have no right, they look confused, phone up EDF to confirm it, then tell me that I need to set up a DD. When I refuse, they go back to telling me they will install a PPM. It goes round in circles from there until really. Except with the last guy who came, who got quite angry at being sent out to me, especially in my state and with my history.

As for the Ombudsman, that case was in some ways related to this. Before I set up a payment plan, I wrote to EDF to try and figure out exactly what I owed and how best to pay. I got told one amount, then another, then another until in the end I had 15 contradicting explanations of my debt, the time it took to accrue it, and how much my averaged monthly usage was. I got so sick of it that I put in a complaint, still got me no closer to the answers I needed. So I went to the Ombudsman who demanded they provide an accurate in depth letter stating exactly what I owed, what my usage was etc etc and a letter of apology. They also awarded me compensation for the ludicrous manner in which my question had been dealt with, and for the emotional toll that took (considering my mental health problems). One letter came, the apology did not until the Ombudsman asked after it for the second time. :mad:

Joyful

As you are on ESA you can apply for fuel direct. This way you will pay for your consumption plus arrears which can be set at £3.65 per week. This seems the best option for you. As this gets taken from your benefits the company will feel more secure in getting their payments rather than a standing order.

spiro

Joyful wrote: »

As you are on ESA you can apply for fuel direct. This way you will pay for your consumption plus arrears which can be set at £3.65 per week. This seems the best option for you. As this gets taken from your benefits the company will feel more secure in getting their payments rather than a standing order.

Given that fuel direct only covers debt they may still require a ppm if you have a poor credit rating.

Joyful

Spiro Fuel Direct does not only cover the debt. It also covers ongoing usage.