E.oN Energy Bills - DD Calculations

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

GailForce wrote: »

Hello Malc,

Thank you for replying to my post of 21/07/2015.

I estimate that for a full 52 week period my electricity bill would have amounted to £410.00 (excluding two ex-gratia payments amounting to £30.00). At the time of the Annual Review E-On had collected 10 monthly payments of £38.00 and one more payment was due later in March 2015. £32.53 was subsequently refunded, so effectively I was approximately £6.00 in credit at the end of the period.

The notification that my Direct Debit was increasing to £56.00 was based on E-On’s assumption that I was going to consume £705.85 worth of electricity during the next 12 months (an increase of 72%). Neither of these figures appears relate to my last 12 months consumption – or indeed to each other.

My original letter to E-On Customer Services was ignored. The reply to my second letter while helpful did not explain why my Direct Debit had increased to £56.00. I then rang twice for further clarification and received two different explanations, both of which upon closer examination proved to be incorrect.

Subsequently, looking at my last quarterly bill which amounted to £168.14, I realised that if this figure was multiplied by 4 and divided by 12 the result is £56.05. I rang E-On again and proffered how I thought the £56.00 was determined. I was kept on hold while colleagues were consulted and advice was sought from another department. Eventually it was confirmed to me that this was indeed how ‘The System’ calculates Direct Debits, using the most recent quarterly bill. I expressed my concern at this flawed methodology. A few days later I received a letter advising me of the end of E-On’s complaints procedure.

My calculations show how the £56 00 figure could arise and this was confirmed during my telephone conversation, but you are adamant that Direct Debits are not calculated this way. What is clear is that the £56.00 figure was certainly not calculated using my last 12 months meter readings.

I think this saga illustrates not only failings of E-On’s automated billing system but also a lack of commitment by E-On Customer Services staff to fully investigate and resolve my complaint. This should have been resolved within 14 days of my original letter.

I am pleased that you have added my experience to your report. Thank you for your interest.

Gail Force

Hi Gail Force

I'm sorry you've received such conflicting explanations when you've dealt with different advisors. Just a couple of things I'm not sure about from your post.

You mention the proposed increase to £56 per month came 10 months into the agreement. You also said, in a previous post, there was a false start when the arrangement was first set. This sounds like the hike to £56 wasn't the annual review. If this was the case and a separate review was carried out so close to the annual point then a different practice kicks in. Here, to make sure the account is on track for a zero balance, we'll do an interim review based on the last quarter's usage. This only happens with reviews so close to the annual one. Payments, though, will be reviewed again at the annual point and reset for the next 12 months. This follow up review will be based on the calculation I've outlined previously. Reviews at other times are also based on this calculation.

The refund of £32.53 also leads me to believe this wasn't the annual review. At this point, the entire credit balance is refunded but you say there was still about six quid left.

Another thought. If you're on a fixed tariff that ends soon, it may be the calculation was based on the number of months remaining on this product and then the rest on our standard tariff. As we don't know what you'll do in the future, we use our standard tariff as a kind of worst case scenario. This can certainly affect the proposed payments. The Direct Debit Manager can come in handy here as it lets you reset payments to better suit changed circumstances.

Sorry if my speculation's way off the mark. Just a few random thoughts.

Malc

MABLE

After reading various posts on paying monthly dd and the issues that arise confirms to me I made the best decision with E.on paying by var qtly dd.

Ok I could save about £35 a year by paying monthly dd but to me its just not worth the hassle.

However very happy with E.on and no complaints at all.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

Not sure if I'm posting in the right place, so apologies if not.

I'm about to get my first bill from e-on for duel fuel, and was wondering if anyone could tell me how to work this out for myself. In other words the formula.

eg; elect units, x ?? -?? =?? % ?? = ££ and same for gas units = ££, then I will add the standing charge.

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

as I have not yet had a bill from this company I do not know what the unit price is/will be. Hence the question, once I have calculated the forumla, how much is each unit on gas and electricity from e-on?

or can i find this online somwhere?

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

Took over from last owner.


gsminx


Thanks, there it was all along.


Right so where's the ladders - I also have a meter positioned inside a cupboard built ontop of another cupboard to the ceiling, so ladders, torch, pen and paper are all required. Not forgetting the calculator once I'm firmly back on the ground.

Hi A Frayed Knot

Already some excellent advice on here. Thanks all.

As Hengus says, make sure you let us have details of when you took over. Opening meter readings would be great as they'll help keep things accurate. Don't worry if you didn't contact us at the time. We can back date to the time you took over. It'll help if you can let us have sight of the Tenancy Agreement/Ownership docs (only the bits with the relevant dates). We'll send a Welcome Pack with details of the account including the tariff/prices. To do this, please either phone our Home Moves team or use the form on our website.

Also, as others have said, there's lots of information on our website. This includes details of how we work out the gas charges that victor2 talks about above.

If you do receive an estimated bill, just do as matelodave says and let us have up to date readings. We'll be happy to re-bill to these.

Hope the move wasn't too stressful A Frayed Knot. Let me know if you need any more details as happy to help.

Malc

GailForce

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi Gail Force

I'm sorry you've received such conflicting explanations when you've dealt with different advisors. Just a couple of things I'm not sure about from your post.

You mention the proposed increase to £56 per month came 10 months into the agreement. You also said, in a previous post, there was a false start when the arrangement was first set. This sounds like the hike to £56 wasn't the annual review. If this was the case and a separate review was carried out so close to the annual point then a different practice kicks in. Here, to make sure the account is on track for a zero balance, we'll do an interim review based on the last quarter's usage. This only happens with reviews so close to the annual one. Payments, though, will be reviewed again at the annual point and reset for the next 12 months. This follow up review will be based on the calculation I've outlined previously. Reviews at other times are also based on this calculation.

The refund of £32.53 also leads me to believe this wasn't the annual review. At this point, the entire credit balance is refunded but you say there was still about six quid left.

Another thought. If you're on a fixed tariff that ends soon, it may be the calculation was based on the number of months remaining on this product and then the rest on our standard tariff. As we don't know what you'll do in the future, we use our standard tariff as a kind of worst case scenario. This can certainly affect the proposed payments. The Direct Debit Manager can come in handy here as it lets you reset payments to better suit changed circumstances.

Sorry if my speculation's way off the mark. Just a few random thoughts.

Malc

Hello Malc,

To clarify the comment in my initial post – In February 2014 I enquired about paying by Direct Debit and a figure of £51.00 was quoted, which I considered to be far too high. Both my October 2013 and January 2014 bills were overestimated (unfortunately I had not advised E-On of the actual readings). I assume £51.00 was based on these overestimated readings. I did not proceed at this time.

After an actual reading was taken at the beginning of April 2014 I again enquired about paying by Direct Debit and the figure of £38.00 was quoted. My first £38.00 was taken later in April 2015.

I elected to receive quarterly bills, but for some unknown reason I did not receive a bill in July or October 2014. I was slow to spot this and notified E–On on 5th November 2014, but even then I did not receive a bill until 27th November 2015, which covered 8 months consumption. Therefore I did not have a six monthly review, but I was £121.12 in credit at this time. I received an ex-gratia payment of £20.00 for this mistake. (The other ex-gratia payment was a £12.00 Government Rebate, making I total of £32.00, not £30.00 as previously quoted).

The notice I received dated 20th March 2015 reads as follows: -

[FONT=&quot]“Your Annual Review Statement[/FONT][FONT=&quot]”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“We need to change your electricity payments from £38.00 to £56.00[/FONT][FONT=&quot]”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We'll start taking this from 25th April 2015. We're also refunding your credit balance of £32.53 within the next 10 days.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]How have you worked out my new payments?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 1 -[/FONT][FONT=&quot] We work out how much we think you'll use until your next annual review. For you, this is £705.85 until April 2016.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 2 -[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Then we split £705.85 into monthly payments.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As stated previously the £38.00 Direct Debit was actually quite accurate. The credit balance refunded practically equals the [/FONT]ex-gratia payments. [FONT=&quot] The difference I calculated as being £6.00 was for my consumption for a complete 12 months not just 50 weeks as E-On’s figures.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I note that there are circumstances when E-On does indeed undertake a [/FONT]review based solely on the last quarter's usage, but this should not have applied to my account. [FONT=&quot] I confirm that I am not on a fixed term tariff.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your continued interest in this matter and your efforts to explain E–On’s fabricated calculations. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Regards,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gail Force
[/FONT]

worc1146

I received a message from E-On this weekend announcing that my direct debit would be increasing from £34 a month (for gas and electricity for a small 1 bed flat) to £172 a month with effect next month. This is an increase of around 500%. I plan to call E-On today to seek an explanation. Having looked at the bill just generated it appears that their estimates are massively inflated. Since I joined as a customer last autumn, I have always provided actual meter readings but forgot last time a request came round - I figured I could remedy it next time a bill was generated. I did not expect that it would cause this!
What makes me really really cross is that for so many people up and down the country who are living hand to mouth, or otherwise on a tight budget, a message like this - suggesting that an additional £138 a month would need to be found from somewhere - would be enough to send a person into a state of anxiety and despair. All too frequently, a customer would assume that this is the bill to pay and wouldn't challenge it or have the mental capacity to even call up customer services and debate it. It's the vulnerable people in society that suffer for the ridiculousness of E-on's projected usage calculations. I regard this kind of corporate behaviour as totally unacceptable. It should be illegal to automatically increase a bill at this level based on an estimated reading.

MABLE

worc1146 wrote: »

I received a message from E-On this weekend announcing that my direct debit would be increasing from £34 a month (for gas and electricity for a small 1 bed flat) to £172 a month with effect next month. This is an increase of around 500%. I plan to call E-On today to seek an explanation. Having looked at the bill just generated it appears that their estimates are massively inflated. Since I joined as a customer last autumn, I have always provided actual meter readings but forgot last time a request came round - I figured I could remedy it next time a bill was generated. I did not expect that it would cause this!
What makes me really really cross is that for so many people up and down the country who are living hand to mouth, or otherwise on a tight budget, a message like this - suggesting that an additional £138 a month would need to be found from somewhere - would be enough to send a person into a state of anxiety and despair. All too frequently, a customer would assume that this is the bill to pay and wouldn't challenge it or have the mental capacity to even call up customer services and debate it. It's the vulnerable people in society that suffer for the ridiculousness of E-on's projected usage calculations. I regard this kind of corporate behaviour as totally unacceptable. It should be illegal to automatically increase a bill at this level based on an estimated reading.

Be like me and pay var qtly dd. Then that way you are in control. Costs me about £35 more per annum over monthly dd but worth it. Even though I have a dd in place I normally end up paying by my cash back credit card so the cash back normally softens the impact of the £35.