£89 start off with EDF, now charging £171 😕

enginestar

I switched to EDF last year in October.
I was given a quote of £89 a month.
For the past 2 months, they have changed and are charging me £171.
I queried and they said the £89 didn't cover the usage and they needed to increase.

I'm on a fixed tarriff. (Ends on October 31st).
I don't mind paying if I rightly owe the amounts.
But... where can I go to, to check I am being fairly charged?

EDIT the past 6 months, we've had a smart meter installed (they took absolutely ages to install)

Thanks.

Robin9

Unless you have not already done so print off all your invoices from Edf.

First check that the Smart meter change has been correctly recorded.  Does the info on your bills agree with the info on the sticker on the new meter.  Do the bills now have N or C against the meter reads (there should be no E's)

Time now for some calculations - the very first Edf  bill will show the meter readings (A) you gave them last October, the one when you changed meter will show the reading from the old meter (B) and  the new one (C) (usually 0000.0) . Now read the meter (D). What is B-A and D-C ?    

Does D agree with the latest bill ?

When you switched to Edf you gave them I hope an estimate of your consumption - perhaps Electricity 3000 kWh and Gas 12,000 kWh.   How do your sums compare  now ?  If you have used more then the original DD was never going to be enough.

Your latest bill will show a bottom line credit or debit  in £'s  - what is it.

As you will be aware the whole energy market is in turmoil -   increase in cost of 25% or more are not uncommon.

Just because you have a smart meter doesn't mean you take your eye off things  - keep your own records, a simple spreadsheet , read (and understand ) those bills.

[Deleted User]

enginestar said:

I switched to EDF last year in October.
I was given a quote of £89 a month.
For the past 2 months, they have changed and are charging me £171.
I queried and they said the £89 didn't cover the usage and they needed to increase.

I'm on a fixed tarriff. (Ends on October 31st).
I don't mind paying if I rightly owe the amounts.
But... where can I go to, to check I am being fairly charged?

EDIT the past 6 months, we've had a smart meter installed (they took absolutely ages to install)

Thanks.

Normally, a good supplier will attempt to achieve a zero credit balance at the end of your fixed term contract. By the sound of it, a review of your account indicates that you might have had a debit balance of (171 -89). * 2 or £164 by the time that your present contracted ended if nothing was done. Given that we had a very cold Winter, this isn’t that surprising. I should also add that the later the correction is made, the higher the DD is going to be (ie; had the correction been made at the 6 month point then the increase would only have been £164/6 or £27 per month.)

You just need to sit down and look at your past bills. Normally, a supplier will have raised an interim Final Bill for your old meter. The new smart meter reading would have been 00000.

Going forward you need to re-assess your annual usage based on kWhs/year; agree a tariff and then work out what your monthly payment should be taking into account any debit/credit balance if you decide to stay with the same supplier.

Ultrasonic

Was your original DD amount based on you giving them accurate annual kWh usage figures, or an estimate?

wild666

Every time I give a reading to my energy supplier I do calculations using the prices with VAT added then unless they change a part of the gas billing, it's sometimes 39.X and sometimes up to 40.X. last month it was 39.8.
So multiply gas by 1.02264 then the figure above, it might change from month to month say for the last month its 39.8 then divide by 3.6 to give the price of the gas used minus the daily charge. 
With a Smart meter it's just the number difference from last month multiplied by the kWh price then say 30 days DC added that should be your monthly electric but the gas could be a bit out depending on the number multiplied by before dividing by 3.6 but it might only be pennies depending on the users usage.

I take weekly reading for electric and gas they are usually around 36 kWh, 5.15 kWh, electric and 1 unit, 11.4 kWh, 1.62 kWh, Gas. 
If you don't have any office software package then download a free one like libre office and start taking readings on the same day, around the same time once a week, then when you submit readings make a note of them in the office software document you keep the reading in. 

IamWood

You pay only for your use with the contracted tariffs. Direct debit is irrelevant and only a means of paying for your energy.

Curiousgirl1

Think what @[Deleted User] posted seems correct. You’ve had an interim review and the direct debit has been increased to cover any previous shortfall as you’re using more energy than you had been quoted for. The new amount will only be until your annual review is done & not for the whole of the next year. 

[Deleted User]

wild666 said:

Every time I give a reading to my energy supplier I do calculations using the prices with VAT added then unless they change a part of the gas billing, it's sometimes 39.X and sometimes up to 40.X. last month it was 39.8.
So multiply gas by 1.02264 then the figure above, it might change from month to month say for the last month its 39.8 then divide by 3.6 to give the price of the gas used minus the daily charge. 
With a Smart meter it's just the number difference from last month multiplied by the kWh price then say 30 days DC added that should be your monthly electric but the gas could be a bit out depending on the number multiplied by before dividing by 3.6 but it might only be pennies depending on the users usage.

I take weekly reading for electric and gas they are usually around 36 kWh, 5.15 kWh, electric and 1 unit, 11.4 kWh, 1.62 kWh, Gas. 
If you don't have any office software package then download a free one like libre office and start taking readings on the same day, around the same time once a week, then when you submit readings make a note of them in the office software document you keep the reading in. 

For the sake of a 99p spend, an App called 'Meters' does all the work for you. All it needs is details of the tariff; the gas volume conversion factor ( I use 11.22 for a metric meter), and it will produce usage graphs etc based on any meter readings that the user provides. It is also a very simple way of checking billing charges.

tim_p

Another vote for the Meters App here, been using it for years and it’s a great way of keeping track. Author is responsive too. 

Robin9

Apps and so forth are fine but time and time again on this forum we hear of people you seem to believe that (a) a DD is the answer to everything (after all that's how we pay our Council Tax, insurance premiums etc) and (b) once a Smart meter is fitted you need do  nothing..   Then that big catch up DD comes .......................


PS It's the last day of the month - time to read my meter's !

[Deleted User]

Robin9 said:

Apps and so forth are fine but time and time again on this forum we hear of people you seem to believe that (a) a DD is the answer to everything (after all that's how we pay our Council Tax, insurance premiums etc) and (b) once a Smart meter is fitted you need do  nothing..   Then that big catch up DD comes .......................


PS It's the last day of the month - time to read my meter's !

Pen or paper; spreadsheet or app makes no difference if the consumer can’t be bothered to check their energy statements or, in some cases, their Bank statements. I have never understood why anyone would pay out c.£1000 per year and not bother to check whether they are being billed properly.