EDF and the £400 : Differing payment methods

The_Fat_Controller

DD Whole Amount Monthly customers and Budget DD Monthly get their credit in different ways, hope you all have noticed this !

[Deleted User]

Which I read as going against government guidance for the scheme.

"Standard credit" - i.e. pay on bill - should get the automatic credit.  Direct Debit should get the automatic refund.

I always understood that Direct Debit Whole Amount (or variable DD as other suppliers call it) was still DD, because it qualified for DD billing discounts and uses the DD price cap.

It works out the same overall - £400 more in your bank after paying your energy bill - so a timing problem more than anything.

jak22

Its good that they're applying it as credit for Whole Amount DD - already if you have a credit balance the monthly DD is reduced by that, and it makes little sense to take say a £200 DD and then immediately credit £66 instead of just taking a £134 DD in the first place.

Maybe normal DD customers would also prefer a reduced DD but perhaps they though it confusing that a DD amount that normally doesn't vary now changes - the unchanged DD amount will still be what's needed to cover the next bill. With the cap changing every 3 months and EDF only doing a bill every 6 months it's going to be hard to set an accurate budget DD amount. 

The_Fat_Controller

jak22 said:

Its good that they're applying it as credit for Whole Amount DD - already if you have a credit balance the monthly DD is reduced by that, and it makes little sense to take say a £200 DD and then immediately credit £66 instead of just taking a £134 DD in the first place.

Maybe normal DD customers would also prefer a reduced DD but perhaps they though it confusing that a DD amount that normally doesn't vary now changes - the unchanged DD amount will still be what's needed to cover the next bill. With the cap changing every 3 months and EDF only doing a bill every 6 months it's going to be hard to set an accurate budget DD amount. 

DD Whole Amount Monthly is NEVER in credit under normal circumstances, the balance is either £0.00 or whatever you owe from the last bill.

[Deleted User]

The_Fat_Controller said:

jak22 said:

Its good that they're applying it as credit for Whole Amount DD - already if you have a credit balance the monthly DD is reduced by that, and it makes little sense to take say a £200 DD and then immediately credit £66 instead of just taking a £134 DD in the first place.

Maybe normal DD customers would also prefer a reduced DD but perhaps they though it confusing that a DD amount that normally doesn't vary now changes - the unchanged DD amount will still be what's needed to cover the next bill. With the cap changing every 3 months and EDF only doing a bill every 6 months it's going to be hard to set an accurate budget DD amount. 

DD Whole Amount Monthly is NEVER in credit under normal circumstances, the balance is either £0.00 or whatever you owe from the last bill.

I ended up in credit with the whole amount DD because I didn't bother submitting a reading since transferring to SOLR in December. It was heavily over-estimated and when I finally provided a reading in April I was about £270 in credit. Not paid a monthly DD since and the credit. Moved over to monthly fixed DD now.

jak22

The_Fat_Controller said:

jak22 said:

Its good that they're applying it as credit for Whole Amount DD - already if you have a credit balance the monthly DD is reduced by that, and it makes little sense to take say a £200 DD and then immediately credit £66 instead of just taking a £134 DD in the first place.

Maybe normal DD customers would also prefer a reduced DD but perhaps they though it confusing that a DD amount that normally doesn't vary now changes - the unchanged DD amount will still be what's needed to cover the next bill. With the cap changing every 3 months and EDF only doing a bill every 6 months it's going to be hard to set an accurate budget DD amount. 

DD Whole Amount Monthly is NEVER in credit under normal circumstances, the balance is either £0.00 or whatever you owe from the last bill.

Thank you for the lesson on variable DDs but I said if you have a credit balance. Anyone on whole amount is already used to the DD varying due to usage or if there's a credit or debit balance for whatever reason like at the point of switching from budget to whole amount.

But those on budget are used to a fixed DD amount that only changes after an EDF review or their own request and those DDs still need to cover the next bill as the £400 credit isnt being used to reduce the 6 monthly bill. 

[Deleted User] said:

The_Fat_Controller said:

jak22 said:

Its good that they're applying it as credit for Whole Amount DD - already if you have a credit balance the monthly DD is reduced by that, and it makes little sense to take say a £200 DD and then immediately credit £66 instead of just taking a £134 DD in the first place.

Maybe normal DD customers would also prefer a reduced DD but perhaps they though it confusing that a DD amount that normally doesn't vary now changes - the unchanged DD amount will still be what's needed to cover the next bill. With the cap changing every 3 months and EDF only doing a bill every 6 months it's going to be hard to set an accurate budget DD amount. 

DD Whole Amount Monthly is NEVER in credit under normal circumstances, the balance is either £0.00 or whatever you owe from the last bill.

I ended up in credit with the whole amount DD because I didn't bother submitting a reading since transferring to SOLR in December. It was heavily over-estimated and when I finally provided a reading in April I was about £270 in credit. Not paid a monthly DD since and the credit. Moved over to monthly fixed DD now.

Being on whole amount DD only makes sense if you can find the time to give monthly readings or have a smart meter. With the cap rising so much every 3 months ignoring usage and hoping for the best with budget DD will surely build up errors more than £270 which isnt that large a balance,