Price increased on my prepayment gas meter before my contracted fixed tariff ended!

KitKatKen

Hello everyone,

I hope someone can give me some advice...

I have the old-style gas and electric prepayment meters with EDF and have a fixed price until the 31st of May, my gas tariff was 2.802p per kWh and Daily SC 36.19p.

I took Martin Lewis' advice and topped as much as I could over the last six weeks and kept a check on the tariff, that until ten minutes ago was correct before I transferred my last amount of credit from my card to my meter.

I topped up my gas card about a month ago with £45 but only transferred it to my meter this evening, the 22nd of May, making sure I did this a good week before my fixed rate ended but am shocked to see my tariff is now 7.308p per kWh and Daily SC is now 37.27!

I'm going to complain first thing tomorrow morning but do I really have any chance to get my rate returned to its former low rate or has my energy company screwed me over?

Can I contact OFGEM with this or is it too late?


Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

MWT

Martin did update his advice re the gas meters as the gas cards can be loaded with the next rate to be made active in advance, so with that one the rate change was always a possibility...

What basis did you have for being on a fixed rate though? ... generally prepayment tariffs are all variable rate?

Ultrasonic

For info. OFGEM don't deal with consumer complaints. The first step with any dispute is to follow your energy supplier's complaint procedure but as above there may unfortunately not be anything you have grounds to complain about.

KitKatKen

Hello MWT,

Oh, I missed that update from Martin.

Last year, through Martin's Energy Club, EDF were offering a fixed rate deal for gas and electricity prepayment meters called 'Prepay Total Service May22' which stated:

'Tariff End Date: 31-05-2022'

'No price rises guaranteed for the length of the tariff'

So as EDF seem to have increased my tariff at least nine days before my contract has ended I wanted to challenge them as they have clearly broken the terms of our contract.

Many thanks for replying.

KitKatKen

Yep just found the update from Martin regarding the U-turn of some of the energy companies. Looks like I won't be able to do anything. 

I still think it's disgusting they ignored a contract regardless of the current situation. One of their agents confirmed my tariff would not increase until the end of May when I enquired so thought I had time to keep topping up before that date.

I would have been better off ignoring Martin and keeping my money in my bank, I could really do with it at this moment too.

And yes this is late to be replying but I'm in such shock as to what has happened I cannot sleep. 

Oh well, you can't take it with you I guess.

Thank you for your replies, everyone.

Stay safe and try to keep happy.

Mstty

The good news is you shouldn't be using too much gas at the moment. So the price difference won't actually be too much at all for the next 9 days.

However no harm in contacting them if your fix ends 31/05 it shouldn't have changed price early.

MWT

KitKatKen said:

Yep just found the update from Martin regarding the U-turn of some of the energy companies. Looks like I won't be able to do anything. 

I still think it's disgusting they ignored a contract regardless of the current situation. One of their agents confirmed my tariff would not increase until the end of May when I enquired so thought I had time to keep topping up before that date.

I wouldn't give up so quickly, if your tariff really was fixed until the end of May then it should not have gone up yet.

The unit price should change effective Jun 1 though so there is no advantage in loading more onto the card/meter than you would use before then, but at least until then the price should not have changed.

Call them and complain...

KitKatKen

Hello MWT,

Many thanks, I contacted EDF through their online chat service this morning but wish I had not bothered. The utter rubbish the EDF support member gave me was bewildering beyond the point of insulting.

The online chat conversation can be saved into a pdf and the following is a copy and paste of the EDF support agent's conclusion of my issue:

----------------------------------------------------

EDF Agent: 1
10:57, May 23
"A letter was sent on your MyAccount dated 20 April 2022 informing the Standard Variable rate that will be applicable from 01 June on the account and before that, it will reflect on your meter.

If you can get access to that letter you will find the rate on the letter and your meter are the same.

The rate has changed to inform how much it will be.

Regarding your meter usage being on the higher side.

It could be a different issue and we would need to get that checked internally."
----------------------------------------------------

In other words the new tariff price shown on my meter's display is for notification purposes only and would not become effective until the 1st of June and my increased gas usage may be due to another issue that can only be resolved with an engineer's visit.

What utter tosh!

I told the agent he made no sense  and I was disappointed which resulted in him recording a complaint on my behalf and I will be contacted with the result on the 3rd of June, surprise surprise, three days after my contract expires.

Martin Lewis did warn that some suppliers were increasing their prices early. I guess it's easier for energy companies to raise prices in an underhand way and get the money in the bank first, then let their support staff face the complaints.



Anyway, apologies for the long post and once again thank you to all who replied.

Take care everyone and have a good week.

Oh and just a side note, Natural Gas profits just rose to 6.2%.   

Mobtr

KitKatKen said:

Hello MWT,

Many thanks, I contacted EDF through their online chat service this morning but wish I had not bothered. The utter rubbish the EDF support member gave me was bewildering beyond the point of insulting.

The online chat conversation can be saved into a pdf and the following is a copy and paste of the EDF support agent's conclusion of my issue:

----------------------------------------------------

EDF Agent: 1
10:57, May 23
"A letter was sent on your MyAccount dated 20 April 2022 informing the Standard Variable rate that will be applicable from 01 June on the account and before that, it will reflect on your meter.

If you can get access to that letter you will find the rate on the letter and your meter are the same.

The rate has changed to inform how much it will be.

Regarding your meter usage being on the higher side.

It could be a different issue and we would need to get that checked internally."
----------------------------------------------------

In other words the new tariff price shown on my meter's display is for notification purposes only and would not become effective until the 1st of June and my increased gas usage may be due to another issue that can only be resolved with an engineer's visit.

What utter tosh!

I told the agent he made no sense  and I was disappointed which resulted in him recording a complaint on my behalf and I will be contacted with the result on the 3rd of June, surprise surprise, three days after my contract expires.

Martin Lewis did warn that some suppliers were increasing their prices early. I guess it's easier for energy companies to raise prices in an underhand way and get the money in the bank first, then let their support staff face the complaints.



Anyway, apologies for the long post and once again thank you to all who replied.

Take care everyone and have a good week.

Oh and just a side note, Natural Gas profits just rose to 6.2%.   

Rather than do a chat, why don’t you just ring them and ask what’s going on & if what you have been told is correct? 

wild666

With a prepayment meter I have suggested to people with them that they take regular readings, maybe daily and work out how much the electric/gas is costing them using the rates they are supposed to be paying and if they are having the money deducted according to new rates then complain and use the working out figures for the rates you should pay against the new rates as evidence that they are overcharging. 

To work out the readings and money deducted it's just a matter of working out how many kWh's the person has used and multiplying it by the pence per kWh then add the SC then 24 hours later do the same using the figure of the money on the meter and comparing it to what the new figure is using the older of the two charges if the charge for X kWh plus the SC works out as the same as the figures you have then it's no problem but if the figure is say £24.50 and your workings show that there should be £26.00 on the meter then different rates are used so use the same numbers to calculate at the new rates shown on the meter and if they get to the £24.50 then they are overcharging. 

I had this Many years ago when I moved into a property with prepayment meters the supplier, BG, said the figures were correct, I knew they weren't,  but when I went to the ombudsman and sent a video of the meters and working out of prices they backed down, sending new keys for the meters and paying compensation.

KitKatKen

Hello Wild666,

Thanks for your reply.

I did a rough estimation to ensure I was actually paying more before contacting EDF.

I have used a prepayment meter for over ten years and the tariff displayed only changes at the time I add credit via my gas card after being notified of an increase and automatically check the tariff price every time I top up, usually once a month.

Since switching to the fixed tariff nearly a year ago, I have averaged around £18 of gas a month, however, since topping up on the 31st of March, exactly two months before my fixed rate was due to end, I have averaged £38 a month. 

The thing is I did check the tariff on the 31st before and after topping up and it was the same price,2.802p per kWh and Daily SC 36.19p, I then went back and topped up my gas card the same day and left the money on the card as I had hit the limit on my meter and only transferred it a few days ago and so I cannot fathom how they managed to increase it between now and back then. It was only after calming down that did I do my due diligence and worked out how much actual money had been used since the 31st of March I realise I was paying double for my gas.

I will wait for the result on the 3rd of June and make a decision then.

Thanks for your time.