EON increasing my monthly DD from £51 to £131

System

DisneyB wrote: »

I had a similar issue with them a few years back and after calling up due to not being able to afford the new amount they wanted to charge, they allowed me to keep my direct debit at a lower amount and pay off the debt separately

Yes, but as others have said, a formal debt with a supplier on a credit meter will invariably lead to a situation where all attempts to switch will be blocked/or the full amount due becomes repayable immediately. Switch blocking often leads to frustration when people see that the amount owed could be paid off more quickly if they were allowed to switch suppliers, and the debt was transferrable. Sadly, in this regard, credit and repayment meters are treated differently.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

jonbey wrote: »

No idea why - electric use has not changed.


My account balance is £195.74, but I have been paying £51 for a year since I moved into the house, so at most I would guess I was about £16.30 short each month.


How can they increase my DD to £131? And where is the money going to come from?


Any advice on what to do?


UPDATE - email just come in:


We need to increase your fixed monthly Direct Debit
We've reviewed your Direct Debit and you're no longer paying the right amount to cover the electricity you're using. To make sure you keep on track we need to increase it from £51.00 to £131.00. Your new payment amount is effective from 28 September 2018. As long as you don't change how much electricity you use and your prices and any discounts you receive stay the same, you'll continue paying this until we review your payments again at your annual review. Your payment plan Your annual review date
February 2019






How much we think you'll use up to your annual review
£458.56
If the estimated readings on your last statement are different to your own, please give us your readings.




How much you'll pay up to your annual review
£654.30
This includes your current balance of £195.74. If you have a credit balance, this could be less than how much we think you'll use.




Your expected balance at your annual review
£0.00
If your statement dates change, your annual review will be moved to be in line with your new statement date.




According to this, i will be reviewed in February, 5 payment months from now. They want to cover the shortfall of £195 plus £458 (their guess) (458+195/5 = 39) by taking £131 a month ...



So that answers that.



Now I need to find out if £90 is right for my electric use, seems very high.

jonbey wrote: »

Thanks.

It's not all electric, have gas heating and hot water.

I have been sending them readings, although they did mention an estimated reading on this bill.

Maybe I was just paying too little - but I have sent them several readings since I moved in August 2017, so a bit dumb of them to just keep billing me the same each month when it was not covering our usage!

I'll send a reading tonight and hope that changes something. Otherwise, my usage is about £90 a month. Is that about normal these day for a 3 bedroom house?

Hello jonbey and glad our letter explains why we need to increase your monthly payments.

We're looking to achieve as near as possible to a zero balance by the annual review next February. Based on usage up to the review, your current prices and the debit balance now on the account we've worked out you'll need to pay the higher amount in the coming months. Provided the circumstances don't change, this will cover the ongoing usage and clear the balance leaving the account debt free going into the next 12 months after the February review. Payments can then be re-set to cover usage only.

I totally understand this is a big hike when compared with what you've been paying and, if you're struggling, please do as Cardew suggests and talk to us. We'll be happy to look to see if the debt can be spread over a longer period.

We review payment arrangements every three months but only look to make changes at the annual and mid-term points. At the other times, we'll let you know through a message on the relevant bill if we think the payments should change but leave it up to you to make the amendments.

It's great you're giving us meter readings and thank you for doing this. It's the best way to keep accounts accurate and make sure payments are coving usage. You mention the last bill was estimated. I'm wondering if you gave us readings outside of the billing window (for quarterly billed customers this window is open 14 days either side of the next bill date)? If you did, we'll have recorded the readings but wouldn't have used them for billing. Without a reading inside the window, we'll have estimated your usage.

I'm speculating here but to avoid this sort of thing, it's best to let us have readings inside the window. If you've registered with our website, we'll email when we need readings. You can also check online when the next bill is due. Readings received during the window automatically create a bill. Outside the window, you can create your own bills by popping readings online and requesting the option to issue a bill. It's a good way to keep on top of your account.

Hope this is of interest jonbey. Let me know if you need any more information as happy to help.

Malc

jonbey

Hi Malc

I just entered a meter reading, and the balance increased to £250.
It now says "We can't take your meter readings
As your statement is being produced we can't take any meter readings until it's ready." and I cannot get any details...

What is frustrating is that I have been giving meter readings, and the debit of £51 a month has remained. Why didn't the DD get increased as soon as it was evident I was using more? It's been over a year.

jonbey

Found my meter reading history. Eon have not used my meter readings for billing for a year. Now they've put the prices up, I have to play catch up ... great, thanks.

Date Reading Source Register Bill Date
13/09/2018 43743 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
04/06/2018 42450 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
22/02/2018 41028 Customer Day / Rate 1 Not used for billing
20/11/2017 39655 Customer Day / Rate 1
20/11/2017
03/09/2017 38521 Estimated Day / Rate 1
03/09/2017
18/08/2017 38420 Customer Day / Rate 1
18/08/2017

jonbey

OK, my balance is now reading as
Account balance: £249.26

If I pay this off now, I will be free to transfer to another supplier? Will get a dual fuel deal. Bulb looks OK, renewable energy.

Any bulb fans here?

wakeupalarm

You can recover £50 of that eon energy debt by being referred to bulb energy. I've had no problems with them so far. I've sent u a PM if you want to join bulb.

matelodave

Why haven't you been checking your on-line account and querying why the readings haven't been used for billing. As other have sad, never accept an estimated reading, get it corrected.

If you check you account yourself regularly then you should be aware that your DD isn't covering your consumption or that your billing has gone awry.

Try being a bit more proactive in future to avoid getting into a similar situation.

notbritishgas

jonbey wrote: »

OK, my balance is now reading as
Account balance: £249.26

If I pay this off now, I will be free to transfer to another supplier? Will get a dual fuel deal. Bulb looks OK, renewable energy.

Any bulb fans here?

Bulb is ok, but they have just announced a drastic price increase, effective immediately for new customers.

Robin9

jonbey wrote: »

OK, my balance is now reading as
Account balance: £249.26

Where has this figure come from ? Is it an Eon estimated figure or have you been in touch with them and it is a revised bill ?

A few other comments

1) Your consumption for a gas C/H house is high. Aug 2017 - Nov 2017 is 1235 ie 5000 a year (3000 is more typical) . Why ?

2) You've been with Eon for over 12 months - has your initial fix ended and have you been transferred to a SVT ?

3) Look at separate suppliers for Gas and Electric as well as Dual fuel

4) Have you been in touch with Eon as to why the readings haven't been used ?

chrisw99

Robin9 wrote: »

1) Your consumption for a gas C/H house is high. Aug 2017 - Nov 2017 is 1235 ie 5000 a year (3000 is more typical) . Why ?

5000 is not particularly high.

My last 4 years electricity usage is 6464, 7255, 7387, 7850

Standard 3 bed semi, 2 adults 2 kids.