EDF increasing DD despite me still being in credit 5 March at 9:56AM in Energy 32 replies 1.2K views

in_spired2

EDF are increasing my dd from 153 to 219 a month.  My account is around £150 in credit.  

Does this seem reasonable?  Unless the cost per unit is increasing by a huge amount (I'm on the variable tarif) surely my highest usage in the last year is just about over and they're going to owe me a lot more this time next year?  My usage this year is lower than the previous year and I'm not expecting it to get higher again. 

thoughts?  I'm not sure how the £67 per month refund and expected higher/lower/higher/lower epg/other thing works and the difference it would be expected to make to my bill.

I think I did a quick calculation the other week and we use around 4320kwh electric and 6111kwh gas per year.

Robin9

Are you on an EDF tariff that only bills every 6 months ?  Are you looking at the balance on the App ?    If so that is misleading as it only shows the DD credited since the last bill plus the credit/debit since that bill - it does NOT include cost of energy.

The £67 will have been paid to your bank - check there.


Edit Very Roughly - 4300 at 34 p = 1700 ; 6111 at 11 p = £700.  Add S/c and VAT approaching £3000 or £250 / month

Zandoni

Give them a ring and ask them to justify the amount they want.

EssexHebridean

Do the sums first - albeit it’s not possible to get totally accurate figures as we don’t know what the rates will be later in the year yet - however it’s to be hoped that they’re not going to go any higher, so using current unit rates should give a slight over estimate, if anything.

Suppliers have a duty to ensure that DDs are reasonable, so if your sums indicate that yours are not, then definitely worth a call and a polite request for them to explain how they arrive at the figure they have. If your calculations show their amount isn’t reasonable then it’s absolutely fair for you to tell them where you feel IS reasonable! 

diystarter7

Hi OP

Possibly you had larger credit but being used quikly

We are with EDF by default when our supplier went belly up and I stayed with them

Re the increase tell them no, then they cant increase it - they said to us it needs to be raised by xxxxx amount but we decided less than that and they have to accept

Be warned, its easier to be in credit than finding out you own them hundreds so tell them what the levels of payments you want and keep a close eye on it by giving them a call every couple of months or calculating your own bll
Thnaks

Eldi_Dos

Robin9 said:

Edit Very Roughly - 4300 at 34 p = 1700 ; 6111 at 11 p = £700.  Add S/c and VAT approaching £3000 or £250 / month

It is eye opening when you see it put like that, for what is quite modest consumption.

PeterGr

in_spired2 said:

I think I did a quick calculation the other week and we use around 4320kwh electric and 6111kwh gas per year.

On my SVT / EPG tariff this level of consumption would cost £199 per month if the rates remain unchanged.  So an increase from £153 appears correct, but £219 is a little high if your annual consumption figures are correct.  Check that EDF are not giving you a refund of your credit.  On my last review they refunded the credit and increased the DD.

in_spired2

I will call them and tell them £200 a month.  My own calculations at current prices come to that.  I check my meters regularly (more often than once a month) and calculate how much i've used, so no chance that I'll end up owing them hundreds... any extra I've used can go in my savings account instead of theirs and I can pay them from my savings+interest if things do go to titzupville regarding the constantly changing prices and caps etc.  (I have non-smart meters - I see £ on the ihd for gas and that meter communicates with edf, but electric one hasn't worked with ihd or sent EDF a reading since they installed it - I have to send in my own readings)

As I'm in credit I'd like to switch to a PAYG type contract and earn some £ interest during summer months while putting extra by for winter, but not sure if that will have higher costs per unit/sc.

I don't have an app, so definitely the cost / amount of energy used is on my last bill.

If I knew what the charges per unit / sc will be at later points in this year, it would be easier to calculate with more accuracy.  I just don't want to get a bill in a year's time where they owe me four or five hundred pounds because they're  taking the wrong amount.

cheers

diystarter7

in_spired2 said:

I will call them and tell them £200 a month.  My own calculations at current prices come to that.  I check my meters regularly (more often than once a month) and calculate how much i've used, so no chance that I'll end up owing them hundreds... any extra I've used can go in my savings account instead of theirs and I can pay them from my savings+interest if things do go to titzupville regarding the constantly changing prices and caps etc.  (I have non-smart meters - I see £ on the ihd for gas and that meter communicates with edf, but electric one hasn't worked with ihd or sent EDF a reading since they installed it - I have to send in my own readings)

As I'm in credit I'd like to switch to a PAYG type contract and earn some £ interest during summer months while putting extra by for winter, but not sure if that will have higher costs per unit/sc.

I don't have an app, so definitely the cost / amount of energy used is on my last bill.

If I knew what the charges per unit / sc will be at later points in this year, it would be easier to calculate with more accuracy.  I just don't want to get a bill in a year's time where they owe me four or five hundred pounds because they're  taking the wrong amount.

cheers

Hi OP

Excellent choice

Good luck

badmemory

We should all remember that these companies are not really suppliers but just billing agents & will want as much in their accounts (& not in ours) as they can without themselves having problems.

Scot_39

Eldi_Dos said:

Robin9 said:

Edit Very Roughly - 4300 at 34 p = 1700 ; 6111 at 11 p = £700.  Add S/c and VAT approaching £3000 or £250 / month

It is eye opening when you see it put like that, for what is quite modest consumption.

That - or at least the expensive electric part - is not MODEST for a duel fuel home.

It's over a third higher than the headline Ofgem cap TDCV of 2900kWh behind the headline cap £4279/3280 now / April and EPG £ 2500/3000 now/ Apr?  Although the gas is only around half of the 12000kWh..

The TDCV for E7 pure electric is only 4200kWh - for a smaller home / fewer people though.


The problem is of course electric is c34p ave against gas c10.3p on epg rates. So 1400kWh  over on electric equivalent price to c4500 on gas.  So closing in on EPG levels.

And so at the average uk epg OP use - df dd rates does add up to c£2400pa and so £200pm (at ave SC - which can vary c£80pa from London to NW &Mersey iirc)

But if the EPG rises to £3000, that 34p expected to be low 40s - for at least 3 late winter / spring months.

And the electric SC 7p ave for at least those 3m - another £2 pm.

And other posters here say that suppliers may be compensating for 22/23 above ave temps and so lower use -  putting c20% on estimates.

Whereas others speculate just building up credit for cash flow.

But £200 seems like a reasonable  min to aim for for now - we only have forecasts suggesting it may be far cheaper in July taking back down to c£2100)

£219 as requested really not a silly number, even allowing for a true £150 credit with uptodate billing.

Far more reasonable than some other demanded uplifts posted here.

And the OP would do well to look at electric usage if he can.

There may be very good reasons for high electric.

But that 1400 excess - only a couple of hours of a panel or fan heater - for 5m over winter  - it really adds up quickly.

Rather than thinking theirs is a normal split.