EON not taking account of£400 grant when demanding DD increases.

Nomorescams

My elderly mother received a letter telling her to pay more than £500 to keep her annual forecast on track. She is currently £240 in debit. This was in addition to increasing her DD to double the current payment.

I called EON to complain as they are aware my mother has dementia and is vulnerable and I am registered on her account. I asked if the £400 grant had been factored in to their annual prediction. It had not. 

When this is applied in a few weeks, my mother’s account will actually be in credit. Fortunately, I stopped her from immediately paying the £500+ demanded.

How many more people have EON distressed by this process?

[Deleted User]

Firstly, if this is the £400 rebate - it's not applied all at one go, it's applied in six installments from October.

There is no obligation for a supplier to include the £400 rebate in the direct debit calculation.  Some are reducing the DD by the relevant £66/£67, some are taking the normal DD and then pushing the rebate directly into the customer's bank account.

If she's in debt going into the winter, then she's miles behind where the balance should be (so the old DD value was wrong), and asking for additional payment to avoid a massive shock in spring is a good idea.

molerat

Eon will reduce the direct debit taken by the £66/£67 over each of the 6 months so the requested DD needs to ignore the £400 as it will effectively be refunded monthly.  Have you worked out, using actual past meter readings, what her monthly payment should be ?

Robin9

@Nomorescams   Did your mum get the £150 ?  Did she use it to reduce her debt ?

Don't forget she will also get the larger Winter Fuel payment  which she could use to reduce her debt. Did she qualify for the extra payments  - the first £326 has already been paid but she must qualify .


Just checking - her bills are based on actual readings aren't they ? 


and PS  does she qualify for the Warm Homes Discount of £140 ?

wild666

Octopus don't take the £400 rebate into account either. If they did my payment would drop to around minus £50 for the next six months, even in winter as I rarely use the heating but use a hot water bottle unless it's really cold.

MWT

There shouldn't be any account taken of the £400 by any supplier, the DD should be set or reset according to the new cap, and then the monthly £66 portion of the £400 will be either repaid to the customer, or the DD previously set will be reduced each month by the £66.

It should not therefore be taken into account when setting the DD.

rp1974

OP,as much as your trying to help maybe you could try finding out why your mums so much in debt at this point which would probably be a more constructive use of your time.
Was in a similar situation with my now late grandparents so know how testing such things can be,also as you say Eon are aware of the health issues,are you quite certain that's the case?,if it's not the ask to have your mum put onto the priority services register.
As mentioned by others the £400 wasn't ever going to be paid as a one off credit,for the obvious reasons and will be effectively disregarded by suppliers when setting the DD amount.
Slightly touchy subject possibly,have you checked what,if any additional help,support or benefits your mum could be entitled to?.