E.on Problems with Annual Review being done very early

abiabc

Hi Malc and Helena

My annual review is not due until 14 February 2017.

However on 27 December 2016 I entered meter readings and raised a bill to keep up-to-date and this triggered the annual review over 6 weeks early.

This has led to E.on sending an email in which they say they are issuing a refund for a credit balance of over £200 - most of which will be needed to pay for gas/electric over the next 6 weeks - the coldest part of the winter. They also say they have done the annual review.

What is going on? This early annual review will actually leave me owning money at my "real" annual review date and if I don't make an extra payment then it will lead to higher than necessary direct debit payments over the year to come until my next "real" annual review date - February 2018.

In the last billing year I raised a bill in January 2016 and this didn't trigger the annual review so why this year has raising one in December which is earlier done so. Something has changed on the programming side and not for the better. What's the point of giving money back early when I didn't request this, only for it to have to be paid back again within a couple of months - either as a one-off payment or increased direct debits. Plus it makes it very difficult to keep track of usage and payments.

Please could you try to find out what has happened and see if the systems can be changed back. Quite a lot of us raise bills more frequently than quarterly and this could really mess things up.

Thanks very much
Abi

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hello Abi.

We haven't changed the way we look after Monthly Direct Debits for quite a time. Where does the date 14 February 17 come from?

With Monthly Direct Debits, we don't give a specific date for the annual review but a general idea of when it can be expected. This is because reviews depend on the billing window we use. For quarterly billed customers this is open 14 days either side of the next bill date. The first set of readings entered inside this window automatically creates a bill. As this could be any time over a 28 day period, we can't give an exact date. I suspect your account is inside the billing window and this triggered a bill and review once you entered readings.

Annual Monthly Direct Debit reviews are usually 12 months from the point the arrangement was originally set up. Are you thinking about the tariff start date and is this different from when your payment arrangement first started?

Tariff and payment arrangements don't always run side by side. Where a Monthly Direct Debit runs for 12 months from the original start date; tariffs often start/end/change at different times particularly where customers regularly switch.

Our Monthly Direct Debits look to spread payments evenly over a year with the aim of reaching as near as possible to a zero balance by the annual review. At this point, any credit over a fiver is automatically refunded. Arrangements coming up for review now will more than likely have significant credit balances. I'm afraid, it's just a consequence of when they originally started. A few years back, all annual reviews were in the Spring but this caused a lot of complaints, many from these Forums. As a result, we changed this to the present system of reviewing 12 months from the start regardless of the season.

The only way round this is to cancel the arrangement and re-start it around the date you want. Although I wouldn't expect your monthly payments to alter too much unless your prices or usage change. The email we sent will have advised the ongoing amount.

To make sure accounts are on track, we review payments every three months but will only make changes, if necessary, at the mid-point and annual reviews. At the other times, we'll let you know if we think a new amount is needed but leave it up to you to make any alterations.

We do, though, have an online tool to give you more control over the arrangement. This is the Direct Debit Manager. Provided the account is billed up to the latest meter readings, payments can be changed by up to 20 per cent up or down. By up to 5 per cent up or down without readings.

Another possibility is a change to the bill date. These dates are in line with when our meter readers are due to visit even if customers give their own readings. If your regional meter readers have re-aligned their visits, this might have had a knock on effect on statement dates. Usually such changes aren't too significant but this might explain why a bill last January didn't lead to a review but one a few days ago did. Guessing though.

I'm speculating a lot here Abi and sorry if I'm off track. Hope it gives you a few pointers though.

Malc

abiabc

Hi Malc

Thanks for your reply. Understand all you are saying but none of it fits what has happened.

I got the date of 14 February 2017 as my annual review date from the annual review email sent in February 2016. When I raised the bill on 27 December 2016 the annual review was triggered and I have received a new annual review email with a new annual review date of 13 February 2018. Also in Direct Debit Manager it now says that my next Annual Review will be in February 2018. This is on the "My Status" page.

My meter reading/statement dates haven't changed for years. They are February, May, August and November. Usually a meter reader visits in mid-May and mid-November. This happened this year as normal.

My next "real" statement/bill isn't due until 14 February 2017 (same as original annual review date!). My last "real" statement/bill due date was 15 November 2016. These are/were the dates shown on the meter readings page. So 27 December certainly wasn't inside any billing window. It isn't within 14 days or even 28 days of either the last or the next statement date. So if it isn't inside a billing window why did me raising a bill trigger the Annual Review?

What I suspect is happening is that any bill raised by a customer once the Direct Debit Manager is closed down for adjustments a couple of months before the Annual Review is triggering the Annual Review. Could be wrong, but that is my suspicion. Especially if there is a significant credit balance. That's the only difference I can see - on 27 December I had a credit balance of over £200. On the one done 13 January 2016 it was just over £100 and didn't trigger the Annual Review.

But something must have changed on the programming side as none of my dates have changed. Even if no-one has realised yet! Or my statement/review dates are about to change but no-one knows about it yet ...

Sorry this is so long-winded. I hope it makes some sort of sense.

If you could investigate further I would be extremely grateful.

Many thanks and hope you had a nice break.
Abi

abiabc

Bumping this message as I think it has been missed.

Thanks Abi

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hello Abi and you're right, I missed your reply. Sorry about that.

This does seem strange. As I mentioned before, there've been no changes to the way we look after these types of payment arrangement for quite a time. It could be a local glitch that has caused this but I'm guessing. I say this because the timing of the annual review has returned to virtually the same as it was before in February 18.

Account balances, whether credit or debit, don't influence the timing of annual reviews. These do impact the monthly payments going forward but not the actual date the review is done.

Can't say much more without looking at your specific account. Happy to do this if you drop an email with your details to the address in my Profile. If you pop in some meter readings, too, that'll be great.

Sorry again for missing your reply Abi and look forward to hearing from you.

Malc