Increased DD from companies

Mandy1Kay

I think this question goes on this thread but I'm not sure, apologies if I'm wrong.

Having bought a new flat in March this year, I joined EDF Energy because they were the existing supplier and no other companies were accepting new customers at the time; I still can't find any company who would accept me as a new customer and even if I could, I'm not sure that there would be any point in doing so at the present time.

I have so far had to pay my bills by cash/cheque monthly because the monthly direct debit EDF wish me to pay is based on an absolutely ridiculous usage estimate for a single person living in a small one bedroom flat and I quite simply cannot afford to overpay my bills by more than £60 a month. As a consequence of this, I am stuck paying the higher unit and daily charge for my gas and electricity because I have no choice other than to pay monthly by cash or cheque.

Bearing in mind that I have no heating at all on electricity, so the only increase in my electricity usage will be for lighting usage during the winter, EDF have somehow decided that the 410 kWh I  have used in the past 6 months equates to an estimated usage of 1700 kWh over the year. Likewise for gas, they have calculated that the 500 kWh
 I have used over the past 6 months equates to a total usage in excess of 10000 kWh.

My gas usage so far has been particularly low as I have rarely put my heating on  and I regularly go swimming and use the showers at the swimming pool so I do expect this to increase, but my usage for the last year in my previous flat, which was a two-bedroom flat and included a winter of prolonged periods of lockdown, was 8500 kWh so I do not see why I would be using more than this now.

It might just be me but I cannot get any sense out of EDF. I'm advised that they would review my direct debit after 6-months based on my actual usage and at this point I would be able to claim back any credit but I can't afford to get hundreds of pounds in credit to a utilities company for 6-months. In addition, EDF are strongly encouraging people to use their online services rather than contact them by phone for everything other than emergencies but you can't talk to an online system. The only choice I get online is to accept a monthly payment of nearly £200 or stay as I am.

The automated and chat services are frustrating beyond belief and the information given is neither clear nor consistent. I have been advised that I can set my direct debit up on the higher amount and then phone to discuss this but that doesn't seem to offer any reassurance that it will be changed before the apparently mandatory six months period once I have signed up to pay it.

I suppose I am wondering if I have to accept the direct debit set by the company or if this can be negotiated. EDF seem to be implying that I have to pay their set amount for 6 months before any review can take place but I may be wrong, I just can't get any clear information.

Any information would be gratefully received.
M 😵‍💫

t0rt0ise

Mandy1Kay said:

I think this question goes on this thread but I'm not sure, apologies if I'm wrong.

Having bought a new flat in March this year, I joined EDF Energy because they were the existing supplier and no other companies were accepting new customers at the time; I still can't find any company who would accept me as a new customer and even if I could, I'm not sure that there would be any point in doing so at the present time.

You could move to Octopus. You need to either phone, email or the quickest is direct message on twitter.

[Deleted User]

BooJewels said:

@[Deleted User]  You're putting words in my mouth without foundation - I didn't say I wanted the support spread over 12 months.  I'm on a fixed and tight budget - I personally would prefer if it worked differently - if I'm confused by the method of delivery chosen, you can be sure next month I won't be alone.

I would just prefer that my personal payment was the same every month, I will need to work something out that works for me.

You did say that.  You said you wanted both fixed monthly payments and fixed monthly credits across a period that both includes and does not include the support.

If you’re now going back on your own point - where you said specifically “I want  both” - then that’s fine, you prefer the second version that I detailed. Unfortunately, that isn’t the way it was chosen to be done.

QrizB

Mandy1Kay said:

I have so far had to pay my bills by cash/cheque monthly because the monthly direct debit EDF wish me to pay is based on an absolutely ridiculous usage estimate

EDF allow you to pay the exact bill monthly by variable DD. This gets you the cheaper DD prices without having to put up with EDF's estimate of your consumption.

wild666

laura_louise said:

I just got notice of a doubling in my direct debit payment from Eon Next, despite going into winter with £500 credit on account. I was planning to keep my heating on as low as 14 degrees over the winter to save substantial amounts but they won't allow me to drop my direct debit by more than 10% of their recommended amount. I don't want to cancel the direct debit because I think it costs more to pay on receipt of bill, but i also don't want to massively overpay... bit stuck really. 

You could keep asking for refunds, minus a months DD, every few months, I think they are only allowed to keep a months payment in the account if you ask for the credit to be transferred back to your bank account.

[Deleted User]

wild666 said:

laura_louise said:

I just got notice of a doubling in my direct debit payment from Eon Next, despite going into winter with £500 credit on account. I was planning to keep my heating on as low as 14 degrees over the winter to save substantial amounts but they won't allow me to drop my direct debit by more than 10% of their recommended amount. I don't want to cancel the direct debit because I think it costs more to pay on receipt of bill, but i also don't want to massively overpay... bit stuck really. 

You could keep asking for refunds, minus a months DD, every few months, I think they are only allowed to keep a months payment in the account if you ask for the credit to be transferred back to your bank account.

Do you have a source for your claim that suppliers are ‘only allowed’ to a keep a month’s payment on account? If that was true then DD payments would be set much higher than they currently are as a large number of energy accounts would go into a debit balance situation over Winter. The whole point of the DD scheme is that consumers should have some certainty over what they pay on account with credit balances increasing during the summer only to be drawn down when winter bills are charged.

Mandy1Kay

QrizB said:

Mandy1Kay said:

I have so far had to pay my bills by cash/cheque monthly because the monthly direct debit EDF wish me to pay is based on an absolutely ridiculous usage estimate

EDF allow you to pay the exact bill monthly by variable DD. This gets you the cheaper DD prices without having to put up with EDF's estimate of your consumption.

Thank you for your reply. I have seen this option on the website and wanted to sign up for it  but when I go into my direct debit options, it isn't there. I did contact EDF to ask how I set this up and was advised that I needed to go through the process of setting up the monthly direct debit suggested by EDF first and then phone them to discuss setting up the variable direct debit. I am reluctant to do this for fear of being advised that I have to wait 6 months before I can go on to this plan. 

I've now tried contacting them again by email to ask about the variable direct debit as well as the reason for the super high estimates of usage so I guess I will just have to see if they get back to me and what they advise if they do. The reality may be that I will just have to pay the higher unit price for another 6 months at which point EDF cannot say they have nothing to measure my annual usage at my current property against and so should be able to set a realistic direct debit amount. It doesn't really seem very fair but it is what it is - I am under no illusions about my chances of success should I try and argue with a big energy company, even if I am right 🙄.

Thanks again for getting back to me.

molerat

With EDF you have to have a DD set up before you can go to whole of bill DD.  Many here have done it and it is a painless process.

MWT

Chrysalis said:

Octopus are about to reduce my DD to £28 a month from October.

£28 add £67 = £95.

They probably should explain why, it doesnt say on the dash.

I assume will be a separate £67 credit to my account.

Details here...

https://octopus.energy/blog/energy-crisis-support/#400energybillspayment

molerat

BooJewels said:

Deleted_User said:

BooJewels said:

molerat said:

The company will not be "receiving" £400, they will be reducing your DD by £66/£67 per month for the 6 months or returning that amount into your bank account. You should not factor in the £400, doing so will possibly put your account into debit.

Can you reference somewhere where this method is outlined please, because that's not what I'm reading anywhere other than by posters on here.  The Government web site states:  "The discount will be applied to your monthly household electricity bill for 6 months starting in October 2022."  I'm reading the same elsewhere too - a credit to your account, nothing about reducing DD amounts.

That sounds to me - and makes more sense - that a credit will be applied to your electricity account, as though you'd just paid £66 more than you have.  So if I paid £100 by DD, my electricity account would be actually be credited by £166 that month.  I'm trying to project forwards to see what I need to set my DD at to come out around the same credit balance this time next year.

Need any more?  Look on your own supplier's site and they will tell you how it works.  In fact, I don't recall any supplier doing it the way you suggest.

I wasn't personally 'suggesting' anything, but directly quoting the Government web site, with a link.  Many thanks for those references, I'm not with any of those companies so hadn't even looked at them.  I'm with Octopus and my initial search came to their blog about it, which sent me to the BBC web site to explain how it worked, which did say it would be a credit to your electricity account.

I've just searched again and found another Octopus page which does indeed state:  "Direct Debit customers will have their monthly payment reduced by the discount amount."  I can't spend too long on their site as their colour scheme can start off a migraine, so I only look in very short bursts.

What a stupid way to implement it - I'll have to overpay by £66/£67 just to keep my account straight.  I just can't figure it out at the moment.

If your recommended DD is set correctly at 1/12th your EAC then your account will be straight as that is exactly what will be credited to your account.  The difference is that you will be getting £400 spread over 6 months extra in your bank account to spend as you wish.   If you have gas, or in fact wood or oil, from a separate supplier there is no rebate to that account so you could put that £400 there to help out over winter.  So in my opinion this is the best way to proceed for the majority, giving people a choice adds extra complications with more chances of it going wrong somewhere.  You could always make separate one off payments to your electric account but that runs the risk of the DD being reduced to "keep your account straight".