Over Estimated and Increased Fixed Tariff

Peri

We have lived here since Sept 20. I was with Octopus in my old address and for the first year of living here my bills were fine. 

t0rt0ise

Don't cancel the direct debit if it's part of the contract, or they will say you've broken the contract and they will move you to a different tariff, then you'll see a price rise.

Robin9

@Peri   Could we have the readings that appear on your EDF bill please - that of Sept 21 and of Feb 22 . The Feb 22 will have the letter E against it - what letter is against the Sept 21 ?  
Have you given the 6703 reading to EDF ?   and also your gas of yesterday.

Going back in time was the property a new build in Sept 20 . The meter would  have been Smart and a reading of 0000.0 (there will be a sticker on it with dates and readings of the old and new meters.  If that's the case then the consumption in Sept 20 -Sept 21 would have been 5682 (6703 - 1021) and that's in line with EDF's guestimate.

Are your meters the ones with a small keypad where you have to press 9 to get the readings?

Peri

The house is not a new build. 
We have lived here since Sept 20.
Here are my last two bills. The smart meter was in the property when we purchased the house in 2020. 

Robin9

Thank you very much - I can see no logic from your bills as to how your annual consumption is being calculated. 

Try  Chat and argue for a more realistic estimate.

Gas reads are a bit iffy varying between  our reads/your reads / estimated - make sure you read monthly

Peri

They have finally contacted me and I am chatting as we speak, they have quoted the blurb about how the system estimates usage etc. Ive told them politely its wrong and fully explained why, I have also worked out my gas usage and consumption this morning and my annual bill for both should be no more than £1450 for the year. I have told them to change my DD from 1/4 to £130 this takes into account what I have already paid plus a small amount of debit on my account, I will keep you posted. 

Peri

So after 3days of waiting i was contacted through WhatsApp this morning. They gave me the reasons for their over inflated estimate and I gave them the reasons and proof that their calculations the system has done was way off and told them what my payments should actually be. Three hours later they got back to me and said they had lowered my payments to what I suggested. I am furious actually because there are people out there who have probably had a review like mine and have just excepted it I know if you overpay you get the money back, but money is tight for lots of people at the moment and every penny each month counts. Thank you to anyone who took the time to reply to my post.

Robin9

A good result.

MWT

Peri said:

Three hours later they got back to me and said they had lowered my payments to what I suggested.

Now just keep an eye on the bills each month over the summer and make sure you are building up a reserve for winter, or be prepared to increase significantly once we get to October....

Gerry1

Consider switching to 'Direct Debit Whole Amount (Monthly)' then there won't be any hassle about credit building up.  You could pay a fixed amount each month into an instant access savings account and get a small amount of interest.

Of course, bills will be higher in winter and lower in summer, but at least you'll be in control.