Energy Bills Support Scheme Confusion

PeterGr

On another page of the bill EDF show the annual consumption of gas and electricity.  You appear to be submitting readings for each 6 monthly bill.  It could be that the readings for February 2022 were estimated or incorrect and have resulted in annual consumption figures which affect their forecasts for September 2023.

BigMac79

She paid £172pm during that period so that’s £1032. They gave her back the £333 which they now want back from future bills? Why give it in the first place then?

MattMattMattUK

BigMac79 said:

She paid £172pm during that period so that’s £1032. They gave her back the £333 which they now want back from future bills? Why give it in the first place then?

The £333, as well as the remaining £67 to come in March is free money from the government (paid for by net taxpayers), it is not from the energy provider, they were just required to administer the scheme. 

pochase

BigMac79 said:

She paid £172pm during that period so that’s £1032. They gave her back the £333 which they now want back from future bills? Why give it in the first place then?

Because she did get it back not once but twice as explained.

The government paid the £333  to EDF.
The £333 was refunded to her bank account.

At this stage it is she has no advantage.

The £333 was also deducted from the final amount she has to pay (see above).

So she is £333 better off.

They don't want the £333 back from future bills. They want back the £314 she owes them because her direct debit was set to low.

BigMac79

MattMattMattUK said:

BigMac79 said:

She paid £172pm during that period so that’s £1032. They gave her back the £333 which they now want back from future bills? Why give it in the first place then?

The £333, as well as the remaining £67 to come in March is free money from the government (paid for by net taxpayers), it is not from the energy provider, they were just required to administer the scheme. 

So the confusion here is that they have deducted £333 from her bill and also paid £333 into her bank account and now they want one of those back. Why do both?

pochase

They don't want the £333 back. They want the £314 that she used more than she paid.

BigMac79

pochase said:

They don't want the £333 back. They want the £314 that she used more than she paid.

They do want £333 back. She’s already paid £19 of it which leaves £314 outstanding. 

So essentially they’ve credited her twice which in turn has left her with a debt she would have to clear if she wanted to change supplier.  A cynic might say that was a deliberate move to retain customers. 

pochase

She started the billing cycle with zero, the £180 credit was returned.

She paid £1032 DD, but £333 was refunded, so she only paid £699.

She used energy for £1346. So she owes £647.

The government gives her the £333 (which reduces the bill from 1346 to £1013) so this is £647 - £333 = £314.

Energy suppliers either use the refund or reduce the DD so the money is available for the customer to use what they want.

ariarnia

pochase said:

Energy suppliers either use the refund or reduce the DD so the money is available for the customer to use what they want.

and that was the govermets decision because they wanted people to see the extra cash in there bank/pocket 

BigMac79

pochase said:

She started the billing cycle with zero, the £180 credit was returned.

She paid £1032 DD, but £333 was refunded, so she only paid £699.

She used energy for £1346. So she owes £647.

The government gives her the £333 (which reduces the bill from 1346 to £1013) so this is £647 - £333 = £314.

Energy suppliers either use the refund or reduce the DD so the money is available for the customer to use what they want.

I understand that. But in this case they’ve decided to refund her AND to apply the discount to the bill. So she’s worse off than she was 6 months ago as she obviously wasn’t expecting that to happen.