Eon group switch via MSE October 2015

BaldacchinoR

I wish to know whether this offer has a clause restricting Eon from increasing the monthly payments set at the start of the deal? I ask because mine was set at £49.50 a month by DD, which was in line with the predicted savings. But Eon tried to increase the monthly payment to about £108!!! I refused and they reduced it to £49. I now owe them £225 approx.!!! So I have not saved anything and it has cost me, IF AND ONLY IF, my balance does not increase before October 2016, which is highly unlikely, almost £20 a month more than claimed by Eon. I think we i.e., subscribers to this deal, have been done!

JJ_Egan

Your original DD was based upon an estimate .
The amount you pay is the amount you use not the amount of an estimated DD .

You have readings ?? and know what you use .

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Afternoon BaldacchinoR.

On all our Fixed Price tariffs, it's the unit rates per kWh and daily standing charges that are guaranteed not to change for the duration of the agreement. Monthly Direct Debits, though, are different. They're based on prices and usage and a change to either usually results in a change to the monthly payments. As you're on fixed prices, I suspect you might be using more energy than anticipated when you switched. Guessing though.

Can I ask, when you did the comparison last year, was it based on 12 months usage in kWh or a monetary amount? Comparisons are only as accurate as the information entered and it's always best to use usage. As JJ Egan says, Monthly Direct Debits can be a bit of an estimate as a surge or decrease in usage can have an impact.

We didn't do you any favours, though, when we agreed to reduce payments to £49 a month. This contributed to putting you in debt and I'm sorry about this. Thought it might help to give you a bit more information about these arrangements including details of an online tool to help keep on top of things.

Our aim is for arrangements to achieve as near as possible to a zero balance by the time of the annual review. At this point, any credit over a fiver is automatically refunded. A debit balance will be included in the ongoing arrangement and spread over the next 12 months. Although we review payments regularly, if necessary, we'll only make changes at the midpoint and annual reviews. At the other times, we'll let you know if we think payments should change but leave it up to you to make any alterations.

Provided you've registered with our website, you can take more control of the arrangement through the Direct Debit Manager. This includes changing the monthly amount and comes in handy should circumstances change. So long as the account is billed up to the latest meter readings, payments can be changed by up 20 per cent up or down. By up to 5 per cent up or down without readings. Before confirming the new amount, we'll let you know by how much we anticipate the account will be in credit/debit by the time of the annual review if payments are changed but usage doesn't alter as expected. There's more information about how we look after Monthly Direct Debits on our website.

Going forward, we'll be happy to look at spreading the debt over a longer period. This will lower the monthly payments.

Hope this explains BaldacchinoR. Let me know if you need any more information as happy to help.

Malc

System

BaldacchinoR wrote: »

I wish to know whether this offer has a clause restricting Eon from increasing the monthly payments set at the start of the deal? I ask because mine was set at £49.50 a month by DD, which was in line with the predicted savings. But Eon tried to increase the monthly payment to about £108!!! I refused and they reduced it to £49. I now owe them £225 approx.!!! So I have not saved anything and it has cost me, IF AND ONLY IF, my balance does not increase before October 2016, which is highly unlikely, almost £20 a month more than claimed by Eon. I think we i.e., subscribers to this deal, have been done!

Just a few things to check:

1. Have you been providing E.oN with frequent ACTUAL meter readings? Is the debit balance based on an ESTIMATED or ACTUAL reading?

2. How does your usage in kWhs compare to the projected usage when you switched?

3. Do you have PV solar or solar heating as this can distort projected summer usage?

As has been stated many times on this forum, the only things that are fixed are time, standing charges, unit price and exit fees (if applicable). Use more energy - in kWhs - than estimated at contract start, and you will end up in a pay more situation.

footyguy

BaldacchinoR wrote: »

I wish to know whether this offer has a clause restricting Eon from increasing the monthly payments set at the start of the deal?...

There's almost certainly a clause you agreed to that does allow them to change the monmthly amount collected

If you think the change requested is unfair, try this
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits

As for whether or not the deal you selected will save you money, what was the anticipated annual cost of the deal you selected compared to the anticipated annual cost of the old deal you were on?

If your consumption varies, so will both deals costs.
If you were so far out with your initial estimated annual usage in kWh, then it could well be that you are not on the best deal for you. Consult a comparison site using the more accurate annual consumption figures you now hopefully have, and see where you stand