Help understanding my energy bill

veedub565

Hi, I'm afraid I don't really understand a few things with my bill. I've heard we should be checking the latest deals, and not sticking with the same old provider, but I'm not sure I understand it enough to know if I'm getting a better deal or not. Would someone be able to help me make a bit more sense of it.

Provider = EON
Tariff = EON Energy Plan

Dual Fuel
Electricity usage last year  = 2877
Electricity Usage Estimated = 2868 (£628.86)
Gas usage last year = 24744
Gas usage estimated = 24691 (£916.33)

Monthly payments £135
Account Balance £27.01
Balance at annual review £207 (in red) 

Suggested total payment £1422


Ok here's what I don't understand

• They are suggesting I put my monthly amount up to £158. Well that adds up to £1,896 not £1,422 ? 

• £135 a month that I'm currently paying adds up to more than £1,422. So they have quoted me £1,422, I'm currently £27.01 in credit, The amount I currently pay adds up to more than what they've quoted me and they think I should increase my payments ?

• My account is £27.01 in credit, what are they on about £207 in red at annual review?

• My statement says I am  currently on the cheapest tariff. And then directly underneath says I can save £27 by switching to this other tariff.. !?  so I'm not currently on the cheapest tariff then am I. 

• I put all my details into USwitch and the cheapest deal was £1,400 with a monthly payment of £116 So it's not really an appreciable difference in price annually, but the monthly payments are much cheaper. 

So if I have this right I can stay with EON, pay £158 a month which adds up to £1,400 a year by their maths. Or switch pay pretty much the same yearly price, but the maths add up. 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

You're on a very expensive standard tariff and you need to switch.  Unfortunately it seems you haven't looked at the full market so you've missed the best tariffs.

Start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch', entering your annual kWh usage derived from actual meter readings a year apart.  Just compare annual costs, always ignore all projections and savings claims: they aren't realistic because of Ofgem's daft rules.

Remember that separate suppliers are often cheaper than dual fuel, so do the sums for both cases.

Also have a look at the customer service ratings on Citizens Advice and the 'Add your feedback on energy supplier xxxx...' threads here on the forum.

veedub565

Thanks Gerry

I'd assumed USwitch would show me the best rates. 

Not sure I quite understand, I'm sure my current tariff is very expensive, but £1,422 isn't much different from the cheapest £1,400 USwitch offered.

veedub565

I did a check on switchwhich cheapest is £1,292.54 which it says is a saving of £256 .... over £1,422 ?  I know my maths aren't great but I'm pretty sure the difference between £1,292 and £1,422 is £130 not £256 

veedub565

Oh yeah ignore that last post. I see you said ignore the savings claims 

veedub565

I'm still not really understanding it £1,296 isn't a lot different from £1,422 only £130 difference.

 but then why am I paying £135pm for a quote of £1,422 ? 

£108pm for a quote of £1,296 adds up

Gerry1

veedub565 said:

I'd assumed USwitch would show me the best rates.

Wrong !  Most sites default to showing you only the companies that pay them commission, so they won't be the cheapest.  The Uswitch setting is well hidden and misleadingly labelled Filter.

When I tried it the default dual fuel result was £1,439.87, the whole market dual fuel result was £1,258.50

Citizens Advice and 'Which?Switch' don't default in this way.

Gerry1

veedub565 said:

I'm still not really understanding it £1,296 isn't a lot different from £1,422 only £130 difference.

 but then why am I paying £135pm for a quote of £1,422 ? 

£108pm for a quote of £1,296 adds up

As I said, just compare annual costs.  Never compare DD amounts, your DD may have been set higher to reclaim arrears.

MSE DD advice

veedub565

I could understand the higher monthly charge if I was in arrears, but I'm not I'm £27.01 in credit. It doesn't make sense. I asked EON about the request to up it to £158pm and they told me to ignore it, something to do with the system thinking something that isn't actually the case. 

Looking at the annual cost one is £1,422 and one is £1,296 well £130 a year is neither here nor there to me, so on that basis I'll stay with EON. Very expensive tariff that, doesn't appear to be significantly more expensive than the rest of them. 

veedub565

I did switch by the way, to one of the cheaper tariffs. I still don't understand it, and the annual quotes aren't a big difference only about £130. The new tariff is £108 a month though not £135 a month so that's cheaper. Works out about £324 cheaper a year. 

Reed_Richards

Where I live the Eon EnergyPlan dual fuel paid by monthly DD costs:

Electricity:  18.549p per kWh plus 24.878p per day
Gas:            3.282p per kWh plus 26.601p per day

But where you live, @veedub565 , it might well be different and where Gerry1 lives different again.  I don't see that you have stated this information anywhere which means that Gerry1 can only guess how good or bad these rates are.