EDF Credit Balance Issue

Arunstone

I've been a little too good at managing the electricity and gas - we're with EDF and the app was showing a credit balance of £1,337.54.

My past history at sending meter readins wasn't great (we don't have a smart meter), but certily for the last three months I've been sending them to ensure the account details were up to date before claiming a credit back.

My last meter readings were taken on the 3rd June and were E: 47116 / G: 5295.

I've phoned up EDF today to ask for the credit balance to be refunded. They asked me for today's meter readings which were E: 47132 / G: 5297.

I was told by EDF over the phone that the account had "now been updated", and the available credit had been knocked down to £335.60. I agreed to have them refund that amount, at which time I was put on hold and cut off.

I was told that the only reading that mattered was the one send today which "updated the account". I have trouble buying this for a number of reasons but:

a) I've certainly been sending regular readings for this year. I don't understand why these aren't used to update the account as that's the whole point of taking readings.

b) I'd used the fact that the account was in credit to reduce the monthly direct debit, on the basis that I was clearly paying too much. As a result of EDF not updating the balance and basically providing false information, I've made a descision on the DD amount that could now end up with me going into debt.

The whole situation just stinks and I feel that I've had £1,000 taken from me with no justification at all.

Any advices on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Swipe

EDF bill 6 monthly on budget Direct debit. They probably issued you a bill using the last reading that has correctly used up all your built up credit from the last few months. I doubt you have been ripped off. Check your account for a new bill.

MattMattMattUK

Arunstone said:

I've been a little too good at managing the electricity and gas - we're with EDF and the app was showing a credit balance of £1,337.54.

My past history at sending meter readins wasn't great (we don't have a smart meter), but certily for the last three months I've been sending them to ensure the account details were up to date before claiming a credit back.

My last meter readings were taken on the 3rd June and were E: 47116 / G: 5295.

I've phoned up EDF today to ask for the credit balance to be refunded. They asked me for today's meter readings which were E: 47132 / G: 5297.

I was told by EDF over the phone that the account had "now been updated", and the available credit had been knocked down to £335.60. I agreed to have them refund that amount, at which time I was put on hold and cut off.

I was told that the only reading that mattered was the one send today which "updated the account". I have trouble buying this for a number of reasons but:

a) I've certainly been sending regular readings for this year. I don't understand why these aren't used to update the account as that's the whole point of taking readings.

b) I'd used the fact that the account was in credit to reduce the monthly direct debit, on the basis that I was clearly paying too much. As a result of EDF not updating the balance and basically providing false information, I've made a descision on the DD amount that could now end up with me going into debt.

The whole situation just stinks and I feel that I've had £1,000 taken from me with no justification at all.

Any advices on how to proceed would be appreciated.

EDF only bill every six months (which can sometimes extend to up to seven and a half months), meter readings do not impact that. What happened when you called them is they generated a new bill based on your reading, that bill which covered the period since the last bill, as well as any potential adjustments if estimated reads were used accounted for the bill of approximately £1,000. That will all have been detailed on the bill, although EDF's bills are notoriously not the clearest, you have to take some time reading them if you do not know where to look, and relevant information is split over multiple pages. 

How you proceed would be to double check the meter reads on the current bill they have issued, if those are correct then the bill is almost certainly correct and all that has happened is that the six month billing cycle has caused some confusion. Amend the Direct Debit to cover 1/12th of your annual usage (this will be detailed on your bill), plus or minus an amount, depending on your appetite for risk in terms of variability of usage. 

dunstonh

I've been a little too good at managing the electricity and gas - we're with EDF and the app was showing a credit balance of £1,337.54.

The app shows and the real position are two different things.

EDF show the credits received on the app but they do not deduct your energy use until they run a bill off every 6 months. i.e. that credit balance will drop once a bill is produced.  This is why your credit dropped.

I was told that the only reading that mattered was the one send today which "updated the account". I have trouble buying this for a number of reasons 

EDF's software is old fashioned.  It is being updated later this year but it is correct that they only use the one that generates the bill.

a) I've certainly been sending regular readings for this year. I don't understand why these aren't used to update the account as that's the whole point of taking readings.

Their current software doesn't work that way. The new software will.

b) I'd used the fact that the account was in credit to reduce the monthly direct debit, on the basis that I was clearly paying too much. As a result of EDF not updating the balance and basically providing false information, I've made a descision on the DD amount that could now end up with me going into debt.

EDF have not provided false information.  You misunderstood the information they supplied.   

The whole situation just stinks and I feel that I've had £1,000 taken from me with no justification at all.

The justification is that you used the energy and you forgot to deduct your use against the credit balance.  

Did you really assume that your balance had gone up by exactly the same amounts you had paid in each month and you were getting free energy? (i.e. no deductions)

Their current software was not designed to show balances in real time.  It is a fudge to see them through to the point they change software.

Robin9

As Frugal would say -  keep a wee spreadsheet.   Read those meters every month

Note that the App balance does not automatically update - it uses the credit/debit from the last bill plus the DD's but it does NOT include the cost of energy used.

Swop to Monthly Variable DD if you want accurate monthly bills  - that requires good control of your finances and the discipline of monthly reads

matt_drummer

The same issue we have been discussing many times before.

Misleading credit balances that aren't what they appear.

Of course, if you understand that you haven't been billed for months it's ok but it's not ok if you look at your account and think it's the true position.

They really should be made to bill monthly, and if they can't, they should make it plainly obvious that the balance is complete rubbish.

Alnat1

If you would prefer monthly bills, move to a company that does them.

I recommend Octopus for monthly bills that are easy to read and support staff you can easily contact if to have a query.

MattMattMattUK

Alnat1 said:

If you would prefer monthly bills, move to a company that does them.

I recommend Octopus for monthly bills that are easy to read and support staff you can easily contact if to have a query.

EDF will offer monthly bills if one is happy with variable Direct Debit. 

That being said I also think Octopus are the better bet. 

matt_drummer

MattMattMattUK said:

Alnat1 said:

If you would prefer monthly bills, move to a company that does them.

I recommend Octopus for monthly bills that are easy to read and support staff you can easily contact if to have a query.

EDF will offer monthly bills if one is happy with variable Direct Debit. 

That being said I also think Octopus are the better bet. 

This is what I don't understand about companies that bill six monthly.

They obviously can produce monthly bills.

Saying they can't is untrue.

If they can produce monthly bills, why is it dependent on the bill being settled in full?

I can only assume it is a choice they make, nothing is stopping them producing a bill each month, accepting a customers `fixed' monthly direct debit and adjusting the customer's balance accordingly.

For me it is completely unacceptable that they continue to provide their customers with very misleading information.

MattMattMattUK

matt_drummer said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Alnat1 said:

If you would prefer monthly bills, move to a company that does them.

I recommend Octopus for monthly bills that are easy to read and support staff you can easily contact if to have a query.

EDF will offer monthly bills if one is happy with variable Direct Debit. 

That being said I also think Octopus are the better bet. 

This is what I don't understand about companies that bill six monthly.

They obviously can produce monthly bills.

Saying they can't is untrue.

If they can produce monthly bills, why is it dependent on the bill being settled in full?

I can only assume it is a choice they make, nothing is stopping them producing a bill each month, accepting a customers `fixed' monthly direct debit and adjusting the customer's balance accordingly.

For me it is completely unacceptable that they continue to provide their customers with very misleading information.

As it currently stands their billing software cannot process it, that is the reason. If there is a debt it attempts to recover that over the next billing cycle, if that cycle is one month it wants payment in full because there is only one month for it to recover the debt in.

If/when their new billing software comes online at some point in the Q4 2023-Q4 2024 window that might change. 

dunstonh

This is what I don't understand about companies that bill six monthly.
They obviously can produce monthly bills.

Saying they can't is untrue.

If they can produce monthly bills, why is it dependent on the bill being settled in full?

You have to understand their software.   The functionality will vary and you find the modern software that many of the others use (and EDF are moving to) is suitable for todays needs.  The old software was coded and fudged on the fly and doesn't meet modern expectations.

if it wasn't for EDF having such low pricing on off-peak, I wouldn't choose to be with them because of their software.    On the other hand, I know my usage and that makes dealing with any supplier a lot easier.

For me it is completely unacceptable that they continue to provide their customers with very misleading information.

Except its not misleading if you read the information. It's "misleading" if you jump to the figure and ignore everything else.    It's a rubbish piece of software but we know that, they know that and thats why they are changing it.