EDF - What action can I take

ajc137

Long story short, I live on a small holding in very rural Wales, I am in receipt of disability benefits and live alone. My supplier was Isupply. First few bills over £100 a month, then they rapidly escalated every month eventually hitting over £750 for one month.  Started a complaint with Isupply. They told me to get an electrician out and send them the report, which I did and paid for and it confirmed I was using an average of 11kw a day. My bills were an average of 88kw a day. This was ignored and they came out and checked the meter and found it was under-recording by 12%, meter replaced. Went to the Ombudsman and, as Isupply had already stated they would, they ruled the meter says you used it so pay up.  This had gone on for the best part of 2 years at this point. I cannot possibly use 88kw of electricity a day. I am one person, I do not hold raves every night nor do I have the Blackpool Tower in my garden. I charted my use for them, when I was asleep I was using 34-38kw of electricity, when I was out of the house all day I was using 32-38kw of electricity. I suggested electricity theft to them, this was the only option left given all my appliances had been tested by the electrician. They were not interested.  They then informed me they were leaving the UK market and EDF were taking over so I attempted to take up the fight with EDF. Initially, very good customer service, I was sent a form of all my appliances, energy ratings, how often used etc, which I completed and returned. Their result was the same as the electrician report.  I started sending my readings to them and was surprised to find that my electricity use has drastically decreased. Nothing has changed, but my use is now more in line with the 11kw stated. Then it was escalated to a different department who were quite rude and after a few emails told me pay up, we refuse to enter into any further correspondence and the threats to pay up or else started. I have a debt of nearly £6,000 to them.  I am now in a position where I don't know what to do. There was obviously something very wrong but I have no clue how to prove it, or what steps I can take now. EDF stance is the Ombudsman has already ruled therefore we don't care and we don't want to know. I will happily pay for what I use, but 88kw a day is an impossibility for me to use and I don't see why I should have to pay for it. However, it is looking like I will have to as the threats are now getting serious, ie., bailiff, court etc. Does anyone know where I can go from here. 

Robin9

You've accidently posted in the wrong part - you should be in Energy rather than LPG.
It's a bit of a long story - breaking it into para graphs would be easier to understand.

A couple of questions - are the bills based on your readings or Smart meter (an actual meter reader is a rare sight these days)

We've had issues with supplies on small holdings here before - I don't think we ever did hear the result - but is it possible there are other buildings or water pumps that might be on your meter.

Is the meter actually on your property.

I assume electric heating - is it storage rads, panel heaters (I hop not magic dust ones) ?

welshmoneylover

Is it an all electric property?
you are disabled and live rurally, do you have the heating on all the time? Are you using any standalone heating radiators or fan heaters?
if the meter was checked and under recording by 12% that is in your favour .
does the energy supplier have a vulnerability fund you could apply to? 

Are you receiving the Warm Home Discount?
what tariff are you in? I am assuming you are on economy 7; is your immersion heater on all day for the hot water? 

Are the bills based on accurate meter readings or did you have a catch up bill?
we need more information to be able to help.

Carrot007

welshmoneylover said:

if the meter was checked and under recording by 12% that is in your favour .

In what way is the meter recording lower than actuyal useage of any benefit to OP?

Would need a lot more infor from OP to assess but it could just be catch up bills. Without a history of reads nothing can be proven. Hopefully OP gave a monthly read, or at least kept them themselves. Some does sound like high use, others sound low. But without knowing GAS usuage as you say and a read history who knows.

tim_p

Start by reading your meter now (if possible/ accessible) then do it again in the morning and at the same times for the next few days. Post the readings here. 

ajc137

Hi, sorry for delay in replying, also apologies for lack of capitals, the key keeps sticking. Apologies for posting in the wrong part.
I have oil here, its an oil boiler, only 3  years old. My heating is oil. The hot water is heated within the boiler, there is no tank. 
For the duration of the problematic period, I could not afford oil and the electricity and the boiler was turned off once the oil ran out. I then used a wood burner, and was a tad on the chilly side,  and had no hot water for best part of 2 years. I had one oil radiator that was thermostatically controlled, tested by my electrician during his visit for the report and included in the 11kw a day.
I do have my own well and that is run on electricity. 
I do not have a smart meter, the signal here is very weak, mobiles are hit and miss. The defective meter was replaced for a new one and nothing changed, still high recordings.
Isupply, as with EDF, are not one of the cheaper suppliers but refused to let me change to a cheaper company until I cleared the debt.
I supplied meter readings. I kept a record for a few weeks, recording the meter reading in the morning, what I used during the day, the meter reading when I went to bed, etc. That was illuminating as it showed I use the same amount of electricity in my sleep, or when out of the house. I also recorded the strange flashing it was doing at night when everything was turned off and I was going to bed. I keep nothing on standby, I have no TV etc. I use a halogen cooker not the main cooker.  Nothing else on the property has electricity, except the garage.  I did initially have the heating on, at the time I had long haired dogs who don't cope with heat well and the house was never overly hot, I don't like the house too hot personally, I would rather put a jumper on. Once the oil ran out, the house was pretty cold. I was even seriously thinking that I would have to move, loose the home I love.
It isn't a catch up on bills, yes of course I can't afford to pay £768 a month for electricity, I don't know many people who could afford that let alone use that much, so most of the bill is as a result of the fact I can't afford it. 88kw a day for one person, doing the same thing every day, with none of the technical gadgets that families have is impossible.
I went from averaging 88kw a day, back to 11kw a day. How is that possible. EDF suggested it was as a result of the lock down. The lock down has no effect on me. I live half way up a mountain, rush hour is when the postman comes and I have no transport, so effectively, lock down has no effect on me because of where I live (I do have a friend how lives in a barn conversion on the land, her electricity is separate). In any event, lock down would see an increase in use, not a drastic decrease. 
I am looking into ways of paying this off, despite the fact that it is physically impossible for me to have used all of this electricity, but I have been fighting them for so long and getting nowhere, I don't see any option. I am also trying to see if they will let me change suppliers so I have a cheaper supplier, but I doubt they will. 

tim_p

So, the debt is down to when you were supposedly using 88kWh / day?
Now back to a more normal 11kWh / day?
The 88 kWh / day is from when you couldn’t afford oil so everything was heated using electricity?
Does that sum up the overall situation?

Carrot007

ajc137 said:

I went from averaging 88kw a day, back to 11kw a day.

To address this bit as it the important one.

However again you had a wall of text with no information. If you are giving EDF the same it is no wonder they are not doing much.

What you need is a nice spreadsheet of reads and usage and maybe a few words of comment at each point (if required qhich most should not).

Unfortunatly the people on the phone will not know what is a feasable ammount of electric to use or not. And witht he amount they get paid it is arguable they do not need to know, however it would be nice it the people paying them provided a quick FQQ style document to help, but I have never seen such!

Here are my view on electric usage, which many around here will deem to high.

16 units a day is reasonable is you have gas heating. This is for an avarage 3/4 bedroomeed house. Of course others will be different and alot around here pride themseves on using what to me would be a inconvient amount. (16 assumes electric shower, the most costly electric item beyond heating, I use less these days without one but still 14ish).

Up to 40 units a day is reasonable for all electric.

88 Units seems unlikely for anyone in the average house I mentioned. However it is still possible I think. Though it would need something constantly on which the usual culrpits of heating would never be as they would only be on when used. You dont want the water cylinder boilding away etc.

Yes you will need to clear or agrue away the debt before swithcing (to a certain point at least, might be £100 where they can no longer block it I think).

I see what you say abount using the same at night, but of course there may be things on you do not know about. If there is still use when you flick the switch to off on ALL (just covering all possibilities!) consumer units then the meter is faulty and it needs tested. Ignore the talk of charging you if you are in the wrong, as hey at least you would know and it should not occur if you have done your own tests.

You seem to be unhelpfully targeting these average day usage. Average means nothing. And if it is their calulations and not yours means even less. Takign a daily reasd and keeping a spreadsheet is not hard.

ajc137

As mentioned in my first message, spreadsheets of use etc given not only to Isupply and the Ombudsman, but also EDF, including a current spreadsheet given to EDF showing the current  use. 
I had NO heating, NO hot water, the boiler was turned off, wood burner used for heat, yet every month, my average was 88kw. 
It is all electric house except for the boiler which is oil. There is no gas up this mountain. It is oil and electric.
At night there is the usual fridge and freezer, my alarm clock. Nothing else is on.
All appliances had been tested by the electrician.
The meter was replaced, as I said, and is therefore new.
As I stated, there is no water cylinder, I do not have a water tank as such, the water is heated within the boiler itself, don't ask me on that, the plumber told me that is how it works. I don't have a big cylinder thingy full of water. 
I tried using 88kw of electricity, I failed, it was a worth a shot just to see, but I only managed 19kw. 
My spreadsheet shows that now, I use approx 4kw overnight, including when I put the washing machine and tumble dryer on.
The boiler is now on, and has been since just before EDF took over from Isupply. I have heating and hot water and my average is still around the 11kw mark.
I also have a heat lamp working in the house currently as I have chicks in a spare room. Still only managing around the 11kw mark. 
Using more/equal amount of  electricity at night seems to be rather odd given it is during the day when you are using electrical appliances etc.
I have nothing on standby. I don't even have a TV. 
I live alone. I do not heat or light rooms I don't use.
Exactly the same use now as then but a massive difference in what the meter is recording that I can make no sense of. I have never seen the light flash so slowly.

dogshome

That well that is run by Electricity - I presume that when you turn on a tap, a submersable pump in the well kicks in to push water through the pipework.

Two possible problems

1) These is a leak in the pipework so the pump is running 24/7 - This could be at the pumps outlet nozzle so you would not notice the leak

2) The pump itself or it's wiring, has an electrical fault

Gerry1

• You need to understand the difference between kW and kWh.  Using the wrong units won't help your case.  kW is a unit of power; it's what you are using at any moment. Think of it like speed, it's how fast you are going.  kWh is a unit of energy, it's how much you have used over a period.  Think of it like distance, it's how far you have gone.
  It wouldn't make much sense if you said you lived 30 miles per hour from a town or complained that a speeding ticket was unfair because you'd only driven 29 miles.
  

• The pump must be a prime suspect.  Have a look at this thread.

• Do a sanity check on the meter.  Switch off all the circuits and make sure the light on the meter marked 1000 Imp/kWh (or similar) never flashes.  Plug in say a 3kW kettle and check that the Impulse light flashes about 50 times per minute (i.e. 3000 flashes per hour, corresponding to 3kWh which is what a 3kW device would use in an hour.