EDF bills more than doubled!

sarah7610

Hi, this morning I received a message from my bank saying I was in an unauthorised overdraft. When I checked I've found that EDF have taken £212 from my account. I have be
paying £63 for my electricity and £39 for my gas since I was put with EDF by 'Look after my bills' early this year. Last month EDF sent me an email saying my bills were to increase to £152 electricity and £60 gas so I went straight on to my account and changed the tariff as there is no way I can afford to pay this much and I can't understand how it can increase so much. The new tariff I chose was £89 electricity but it wouldn't let me change my gas tariff.
So, this month I was expecting to pay £149 for both but instead they have taken £212!
I live in a three bedroom terrace so I can't understand why my bill has risen so much. 
Also, I asked EDF for a new smart meter as mine no longer works and they said they couldn't replace it for whatever reason, (I can't remember)
The bottom line is, I can't afford to pay £212 a month for my fuel. That's nearly as much as my mortgage and £70 more than my car monthly payments.
I am now overdrawn and still have DD's due out before I get paid, one of which has been refused already. 
I really don't know what I am supposed to do.
Any help would be gratefully received.

Robin9

How long is it since you sent EDF a meter reading ?
Look at your bills - are there lots of E's (meaning estimated) on them .  Also on your last bill there would have been a note on the opening page saying that your DD was to be increased.

Read your meters NOW - give them to EDF - and to us please. A copy of your bill , blanking out the personal info would also help.

What info have you been giving EDF so they can make a guess at your annual cost -   if its based on those estimated readings then the old saying - rubbish in, rubbish out - will apply.

macman

Changing your tariff will have minimal effect on your DD. Your problem is, as ever, that you've been receiving estimated bills, not sending regular reads (because your smart meter doesn't work?) and, following a recent actual reading, you are now in substantial debt on your account, so they have hiked the DD to recover that. Your bill (units charged for) has not doubled-your DD has.
You can't choose a tariff that 'costs £89pm'. That is purely an estimate-what you are billed is based on your actual kWh usage. All this should be obvious from a look at your recent bills.
Once the debt has been reduced, your DD should drop back again, but, in the meantime, it looks like over half your monthly DD is for recovering the debt.

Robin9

@sarah1972 Please don't take "LAMB" too literally - don't ignore those monthly bills as they contain a lot of useful info.

LAMB doesn't actually do anything that you can't do - better - yourself.  You will be better informed and more in control when yoy DIY

Gerry1

Unfortunately you're probably making many of the classic mistakes.

• Using Look After My Bills or similar.  You're unlikely to get the best deals, and you won't understand the basics of what's going on.  You can do better yourself and stay in control.
• Not reading the meters each month and not keeping your own records.
• Thinking in Monthly DD amounts rather than annual kWh usage derived from actual meter readings.
• Not understanding that your DD is only a contribution to a kitty, which may or may not be enough to pay the bills.
• Not entering your actual annual kWh usage when comparing.
• Choosing dual fuel rather than separate suppliers, which are usually cheaper.

When you get an accurate bill, pay it or ask EDF for a payment plan.  When you're not in debt, find cheaper separate suppliers (start comparing using Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?').

Hasbeen

sarah7610 said:

Hi, this morning I received a message from my bank saying I was in an unauthorised overdraft. When I checked I've found that EDF have taken £212 from my account. I have be
paying £63 for my electricity and £39 for my gas since I was put with EDF by 'Look after my bills' early this year. Last month EDF sent me an email saying my bills were to increase to £152 electricity and £60 gas so I went straight on to my account and changed the tariff as there is no way I can afford to pay this much and I can't understand how it can increase so much. The new tariff I chose was £89 electricity but it wouldn't let me change my gas tariff.
So, this month I was expecting to pay £149 for both but instead they have taken £212!
I live in a three bedroom terrace so I can't understand why my bill has risen so much. 
Also, I asked EDF for a new smart meter as mine no longer works and they said they couldn't replace it for whatever reason, (I can't remember)
The bottom line is, I can't afford to pay £212 a month for my fuel. That's nearly as much as my mortgage and £70 more than my car monthly payments.
I am now overdrawn and still have DD's due out before I get paid, one of which has been refused already. 
I really don't know what I am supposed to do.
Any help would be gratefully received.

You appear as others have intimated to rely on estimated bills and not to actually read your meters and sending the readings to EDF. Really bad practice, suggest monthly readings submitted from now on.

When was the last time the meters were actually read by yourself / EDF? Do all your bills have E against the readings?

Your electric £89 and gas £39 is not an all you can eat amount. This money is put into a kitty to help pay for what you use, it could be under or in your case over.

You need to supply ACTUAL readings to EDF now, if your bills are all estimates, so that your bill can be adjusted accordingly. If they have changed the DD because of an actual meter read then contact re payment plan.

Once you get the  revised bill, if owing a substantial amount then again contact EDF regarding a payment plan.

The £212 per month is only their estimate to pay back what they believe you owe at the moment.  Not £212 for ever.

You should not rely on others like "Look after my bills" to change tariffs for you. You can easily do this yourself by comparing ACTUAL Kwh yearly usage, not monthly DD payments in comparison sites such as CAB and Which to see any savings to be made.

As others have asked please if possible, provide a copy of your latest bill with personal details covered for more advice. 

Gerry1

The monthly amounts of £63 for electricity and £39 for gas cannot be relied upon because your bills have probably been estimated incorrectly, but if you are really paying far more for electricity than gas it suggests you are using electricity inappropriately.

You should use only gas for your room heating and hot water.  Look at your bills and you'll see that every kWh of electricity costs you about five times as much as gas.

Are you using any fan heaters, oil filled radiators, electric fires, convector or panel heaters?  Use the gas CH instead.  Similarly, switch off the immersion heater(s) and don't use an electrically heated shower.