EDF surprisingly helpful when challenged on DD

drenk1976

I just thought I'd post in case others find themselves in the situation we found ourselves in with EDF.  We're mercifully on one of the last EDF EV fixed rates which isn't super cheap but good in the grand scheme of things.  We signed up in Jan and just had our first bill.  Without boring everyone with the details, it's an unusual tariff where you get off peak between 9pm and 7am and critically all weekend.  We have done a pretty good job of diverting the majority of our energy usage to these times, including charging our car and we built up nearly £500 in credit over less than 6 months.  Bearing in mind this included some of the coldest months of the year, and that we're fixed to 2024, it seemed the DD was far too high.
When the bill came I was pretty irritated to see that EDF "had reviewed" the DD and they were leaving it the same.  Also according to their website and their "chat assistant", they will only look at refunds on an annual review.
I ignored this and waited for an agent on the online chat, expecting a fight.  Without any prompting at all, he offered me a refund and a £38 reduction in the DD.  I still thought this was too high and said that I wanted a £68 reduction, explaining why.  Again, no resistance at all, and instantly agreed to.
I know high DDs have been in the news recently and maybe this is why they were so helpful but I would strongly suggest that anyone lucky enough to still be on a fixed rate with a DD which is too high and a growing balance ignores all the stuff on the website and gets in touch with their supplier, particularly if it is EDF!

littleteapot

Thanks for reporting a positive experience, most people only report their bad experiences with energy suppliers!

I've also had no problems with EDF who I have been using for at least the last 8 years. They did refund a modest credit balance whch had built up due to the lower consumption over this mild winter, and increased the DD shortly before my 2 year fix ended in march, but by my calculations their adjustment is about right taking into account the SVR rates. All this happened automatically with no need for action on my part.

Tigsteroonie

I had a recent good experience with EDF also. Fixed deal taken out last September, at that point they increased my DD but also a month later sent me a substantial overpayment refund; it seems that their anticipatory system (to calculate the DD) and their billing system (which then uses the DD) don't talk to each other very well. Anyway, I did the livechat with them in May - about six months after my refund - and asked if they could review my account and the DD as I'd rather have the money now than a refujnd again at the end of the year. Immediate response, they were happy to drop my DD by £60/m. 

lohr500

I had the same experience with EDF on the same GoElectric 98 tariff a few months ago. No issue at all in reducing the monthly DD value. Our usage varies very little between summer and winter so I had no desire to build up a credit through the summer to cover higher usage in the winter.