EDF May direct debit not taken, anyone else?

Jack7777

Hi everyone. New to posting on this forum but hoping people can help as i am at the end of my tether!
I am with EDF (forcibly transferred here when my energy supplier went bust) and have our DD set up to pay the full balance every month. We have a smart meter. 

10 days ago we received a new bill, which said it superseded all other bills. Said our balance was £650 and that they would take a direct debit from us of £2652 on 20/06/23. 

All the previous bills have been deleted from our online account and all previous meter readings too. Fortunately we have personal records of the smart meter readings. 

For some reason they did not take a DD payment from us in May (there were sufficient funds to cover any payment due and our bank have confirmed they did not try and take any payment). 

Did anyone else have the same experience of EDF not taking a DD payment in May?
Both my wife and I have tried to resolve this with EDF, and although they agree that we owe them £650, and that our DD is set to clear our account in full each month they can not explain why they are going to take £2000 more than we owe them, and nor will they change the DD.
I don’t have £2652. And don’t know what to do. 

Hopefully i am not alone in this situation. 

Please comment.
Thanks. 

Gerry1

Submit a formal written complaint to EDF.  If the DD for the £2652 goes through, complain to the bank.  Under the DD Guarantee they have to make a full and immediate refund.

Robin9

[email protected]

Do not waste your time with Customer Services !

Even £650 is a big debt to have at this time of the year

dunstonh

10 days ago we received a new bill, which said it superseded all other bills. Said our balance was £650 and that they would take a direct debit from us of £2652 on 20/06/23. 

Normally, you would expect to be around zero in May as that is ballpark time that you switch from using up last years summer credit build up to beginning to build new summer credit for next winter.    So, £650 owing in early June indicates your monthly payments are insufficient.

Did anyone else have the same experience of EDF not taking a DD payment in May?

Ours went through as normal.    Yours may have been pulled if the are redoing the last bill.


As others have said above, you rarely get anything done with the service line. However, the complaints team tend to be much better.

Robin9

Jack7777 said:

Hi everyone. New to posting on this forum but hoping people can help as i am at the end of my tether!
I am with EDF (forcibly transferred here when my energy supplier went bust) and have our DD set up to pay the full balance every month. We have a smart meter. 

Is this a Monthly Variable DD where EDF require a monthly read from you otherwise it defaults to a (higher) figure ?

born_again

Gerry1 said:

Submit a formal written complaint to EDF.  If the DD for the £2652 goes through, complain to the bank.  Under the DD Guarantee they have to make a full and immediate refund.

Except that they have given the required notice period of the debit

> that they would take a direct debit from us of £2652 on 20/06/23. <

So the DD Guarantee does not come into play.

dealyboy

Hi @Jack7777 ... Welcome to the forum.

I also expected to have a DD in May, the 9th May, but didn't get my first bill until 30th May having switched starting supply on 28th March.

I am a 'whole of bill' smart meter customer and the bill was correct and my first DD taken on 13th June, but I have seen different information at different times on the account dashboard, with fixed DD info and the next DD estimated to be double.

I think their information supplied by e-mail and online is confused, probably caused by flaky software.

Edit: My first bill was for 50 days usage but my next DD online has been set for 7th July for 46 days usage (19th May to 4th July) at 2 1/2 times the first bill. I am ignoring this.

Gerry1

dunstonh said:

10 days ago we received a new bill, which said it superseded all other bills. Said our balance was £650 and that they would take a direct debit from us of £2652 on 20/06/23. 

Normally, you would expect to be around zero in May as that is ballpark time that you switch from using up last years summer credit build up to beginning to build new summer credit for next winter.    So, £650 owing in early June indicates your monthly payments are insufficient.

Nope.  The OP pays in full every month by MVDD.

Gerry1

born_again said:

Gerry1 said:

Submit a formal written complaint to EDF.  If the DD for the £2652 goes through, complain to the bank.  Under the DD Guarantee they have to make a full and immediate refund.

Except that they have given the required notice period of the debit

> that they would take a direct debit from us of £2652 on 20/06/23. <

So the DD Guarantee does not come into play.

Nope.  The DD Guarantee states:-

If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.

I've successfully used the DD Guarantee in this way in the past, probably when Symbio wanted to take an inflated amount.

born_again

Where is the error?

They have told the Op the amount they are taking.
If Op disagrees then take it up with EDF, before anything else. Without that EDF could go back to bank & OP would be redebited.

Jack7777

Robin9 said:

Jack7777 said:

Hi everyone. New to posting on this forum but hoping people can help as i am at the end of my tether!
I am with EDF (forcibly transferred here when my energy supplier went bust) and have our DD set up to pay the full balance every month. We have a smart meter. 

Is this a Monthly Variable DD where EDF require a monthly read from you otherwise it defaults to a (higher) figure ?

We have a smart meter so they get readings from us every 30 mins.