EDF Whole Amount D/D issues…

KevinM2

EDF really are messing me about, and after having spoken to their customer services 5 times over the past month, nothing seems to have resolved, and I am still paying a crazy amount by D/D

Basically, up until about 4 months ago I was on a budget direct debit of £247…then EDF told me that my budget D/D was going to increase to £726 per month…I told them it wasn’t, as I refused to pay that, for 2 pensioners living in a 3 bedroom bungalow.

So, I changed over to their Whole Amount Monthly D/D thinking that I would simply pay what I used every month, which seemed the fairest and best way to pay my energy…pay exactly what I used…however, it seems that in the Whole Amount D/D you still have to set up a figure to pay, just in case meter readings aren’t sent in…they set that figure at £415/month…

I didn’t think it would be an issue as I send readings in every week, and have now had smart meters installed. However, they keep taking the £415 by D/D every month. My account now says that another £415 is due to be taken again tomorrow, despite being £100 in credit on my account, and according to my smart meters I haven’t used anything like £415 worth of energy this month…

Conversations with EDF are terrible…we go round and round in circles, but all I want is to pay for what I use every month…despite being on the Whole Amount D/D plan, it is effectively acting like a very expensive budget D/D right now…Last month I had to get them to refund my account credit back to my bank account, and I suspect I will need to do the same after tomorrow’s £415 is taken from my bank, putting me £515 in credit (and that’s before the Government’s £66 credit goes on in a weeks time)…

I am heartily fed up with the situation, and am thinking I will be better off just leaving EDF, despite being with them for 5 years…

Is this how Whole Amount payments are supposed to work?

Thanks…

[Deleted User]

It’s supposed to be pay the exact bill if you gave meter readings at the right time, pay the ‘reserve’ DD amount (your £415) if you didn’t.

Have they got accurate meter readings at the right time - either from you or from a working smart meter?

KevinM2

That, I think, is part of the problem…every time I speak with them, their answer is always, wait for a bill to be generated, but any bill always seems to be generated after my D/D payment date, and the £415 has been taken by the time I get a bill…

Seems like a totally cac handed way of doing things, and is a total pain in the backside every month…

If (and it looks likely) they take another £415 from my bank again tomorrow, that’s another 60-90 minute phone call that I have to look forward to…

ariarnia

if the bills are always generated on the same day or nearly then move your dd payment date to where it needs to be to be based on the bill? probably about 10 days after i would think.  

[Deleted User]

I’d agree - the dates need moving so things happen in the correct order.

Give reading - get bill - pay bill.

KevinM2

I didn’t even know that was an option, moving my D/D date…I was never given that as a choice by EDF in any of my telephone calls. I will suggest that tomorrow when I speak with them. Thanks!

Mobtr

KevinM2 said:

I didn’t even know that was an option, moving my D/D date…I was never given that as a choice by EDF in any of my telephone calls. I will suggest that tomorrow when I speak with them. Thanks!

Ring the complaints team on 0333 200 5101 open Monday - Friday 8-6. You’ll get straight through to someone in the uk 

Alnat1

Can EDF actually get the readings direct from the smart meters? If so, maybe if you didn't give them readings (on the wrong day) they would get them when they needed them, and your DD would function correctly.  

Fairzo

I've just changed from budget direct debit to whole amount monthly for the same reason as OP. Readings on Thursday, bill on Friday and the amount deducted from existing credit. Monthly direct debit date was 1st of the month so 🤞 nothing goes out.

ariarnia

Alnat1 said:

Can EDF actually get the readings direct from the smart meters? If so, maybe if you didn't give them readings (on the wrong day) they would get them when they needed them, and your DD would function correctly.  

if the smart reader is giving readings then the ops readings on a different day wouldnt be used to generate the bill would it? a manual reading doesn't normally stop a smart reading from being taken on a different day. 

mmmmikey

Hi - I am with EDF and have recently changed from fixed monthly direct debit to paying the whole amount monthly so can shed some light on this....

I'm 99% sure the problem is that the billing system can't cope with the weekly readings. Every time you submit a reading, it generates a bill, and if it gets multiple readings in the monthly billing cycle it can't cope, gets confused and so just takes out your "default" fixed payment. Not saying that it's beyond the wit of man to invent a system that can cope, and I've read references elsewhere to EDF changing their billing system and I daresay the new billing system will cope better. But in the meantime, if you want the whole amount monthly billing system to work you need to stop giving it the weekly readings and only submit readings if and when asked.

There are 2 significant dates in the system: the standard billing date and the direct debit date. Once a month, on the billing date, the system will check if you have a connected smart meter (i.e. a smart meter that is sending them data) and if you have it will use the latest reading from that. If you haven't, it will ask you for a reading. As long as you submit a reading in the requested time reading it will use that.

For everything to come right, you will need to stop providing readings unless asked and sit tight while the system sorts itself out. Asssume your billing date is 7th of the month. If you've submitted a weekly reading since the 7th October, when it comes to 7th November the system won't know what to do so that will trigger collection of the standard amount. When you come to the 7th December, providing you have't submitted a reading in the meantime, you'll get a bill which will trigger the collection of the correct amount.

The bottom line is if you just stop submitting the weekly readings and relax for a bit this will sort itself out but you do need to give it a "clean" month between billing dates for that to work.

I'm not for a moment saying this is a good system or how things should be, but it is how it is at the moment and if you step back and do exactly what EDF say I'm confident that all will come right.

Hope this helps