EDF and their dodgy twice a year billing rule.

ariarnia

Mstty said:

As much as the "do your own calculations from your usage" is correct I am glad I am with a supplier that takes the smart meter readings monthly and issues a monthly statement.

I would move away from EDF for this billing cycle alone.

i agree. we are with ovo so get monthly bills but i think its worth knowing how to check anyway.

knowing how its worked out lets you understand the bill from your supplier better and if andehh had a builder in for one day or a guest for a week or whatever and wanted to check they could also just work it out from meter readings before and after the builder turned up. 

not knowing and feeling stuck waiting for someone else to work something out for you is horrible so i hoped setting out how to do it would help with that. 

pseudodox

jimjames said:

Andehh said:

Found this thread through my own frustrations with this. First time I have come across an energy company that wont show the bill monthly. 

Except they will. Switch to full bill payment each month, you give a reading they bill you for your usage. Downside is that over the winter the bills will be much higher than summer.

As an glass half full person I see the upsides that bills in summer are much lower.  My money is under my control. I know exactly what I have used each month and what I am paying for it.   I have a spreadsheet, with the formulae for the rates and cost calculations, and enter the readings whenever convenient and the whole sheet updates. I take at least weekly readings from the meters and then know to within a penny or two how my current bill is stacking up.  Makes it easy to compare with past usage and reflects how much prices have increased.

Spoonie_Turtle

Mstty said:

As much as the "do your own calculations from your usage" is correct I am glad I am with a supplier that takes the smart meter readings monthly and issues a monthly statement.

I would move away from EDF for this billing cycle alone.

I agree.  Whilst it is possible to calculate it yourself, and it is possible to get a more frequent bill with extra effort, it seems to me such an antiquated and unnecessarily difficult system.  If people are to become more aware and more in control of their energy, it needs to be easy and responsive; 6-monthly billing default is neither of those.

Which supplier is it that's moving to Kraken?

jvjack

I was with Utility Point before being moved to EDF.  They had lovely monthly graph.
Can take own readings and calculate but miss that graph. 

ariarnia

jvjack said:

I was with Utility Point before being moved to EDF.  They had lovely monthly graph.
Can take own readings and calculate but miss that graph. 

if you have a smart meter then something like the bright app might be a fix? displays like this:

pochase

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Which supplier is it that's moving to Kraken?

It's EDF.

jvjack

Nice. Am always working on getting smart meter fitted in holidays. Never works out. Would mean day of work. But yes that graph looks good.

Spoonie_Turtle

pochase said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Which supplier is it that's moving to Kraken?

It's EDF.

Oh good, I couldn't remember if it was them or Eon.  Presumably that'll make life easier for customers then, with more billing flexibility.

getmore4less

With smart meter, internal credit/debit  accounts topped up by DD energy companies could do any money collection or  billing notification period including daily with a bit of effort.

You would want to have those options for electronic communications.
Anyone wanting paper a longer cycle saves cost.

nrmsmith

BronteLad said:

Just discovered tonight that EDF now only bill you twice a year when you pay by monthly direct debit, which effectively stops you from calculating your usage, even if you have a smart meter. They call it Budget Direct Debit. So who benefits? They do as it makes it harder to know how much youve used before you switch. And if you are on a year fix, you will have to rely on guess work. Naught naughty EDF!

Tell them you want to switch to “Direct Debit Whole Amount (Monthly) and like me get a monthly bill which is settled by D/D in full every month (or by your built up credit until that is all used up). Be aware you will get very high winter bills as you pay for your energy consumption every month rather than averaged over 12 months