EDF BIue+Price Protection Feb18

vadc01

Hi - can I get some advice please?

We signed up for the above tariff in February this year and on their website and our account it says guaranteed no price rises until February 18. My boyfriend does a meter reading every 3 months and submitted one over the weekend - he got an email this morning saying our DD is increasing from £68 a month (gas and electricity) to £109 a month? He's had an online chat with them and they've put the DD back to £68, but i'm confused - Is this tariff just guaranteeing the rate they charge at? Our account shows as being £204 in debit - I read this now as being the £68 we pay monthly only covers that amount of energy used, and the £204 is an excess that is still outstanding, hence why they wanted to change the DD amount? Is this right? Sorry if this is a lot of stupid questions - I've been all over their website this morning and I can't make head nor tail of it! Thank you!

molerat

The tariff, both unit price and standing charge, is guaranteed not to change. The DD is an estimated amount based on your use with a view to your account balance being £0 at the end of term. It can change, up or down, if your actual usage is more or less than you stated in your application. Your debit balance is quite large, not increasing the DD now could lead to you being in more debt later on.

StopIt

Your are correct in what you said at the end.


The energy price doesn't change, that is guaranteed. However, because you've used more energy than you've paid for, you have that £200 shortfall. This is common after winter because gas/heating usage is usually higher. If your usage goes down enough you'll be in balance at the end of the summer, but you may want to tweak the DD a little higher to make sure you do.


It's usually best to work out a full 12 months usage in kWh, multiply by the tariff rates including standing charges then divide by 12. That should be the basis for your DD. It'll mean paying more than your usage in summer and less in winter but should work out.


I'd also tell your partner to do a meter read every month, that way you wont get "bill shock" like this.

vadc01

Thank you Molerat and StopIt! It's all clear now :P