They’re hoarding my money

Rudmeister22

I’ve been with my energy company (Eon Next) for exactly a year and found that they had over £300 of my money in credit on the account. So with the car MoT coming up I decided to contact them to get my money back off them. 

All went well.

Until yesterday when I received an email from the energy company saying that my direct debit is too low and that they advise me to make a one of payment of around £170 followed by a compulsory adjustment of £50 raise in my direct debit monthly payments.

This is unbelievable to me as they’re basically attempting to recoup the £300 of credit back again when I need it. I’m meant to be on a fixed deal so how can they just increase it by £50 a month to well over £230 a month rather than £170 a month? Why is it beyond them to see how much I’ve spent over the year I’ve been with them which left me with £300 credit?

The lovely email was received on Saturday yesterday so I’ve been unable to challenge it as customer service is only open mon- fri. Please can any of you advise me if what they’re doing is acceptable and if I can challenge it?

many thanks

Daniel 

Robin9

Have you done your own calculations for the annual kWh  consumption -   are you perhaps using more than you did in the previous year ?

When does your fix run out ?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

your fixed deal is only for unit rates and daily standing charge, the more you use the more you pay.

What is state of your account just now, how much were you still in credit when you got your refund?

What is your annual consumption, and unit rates/st ch?

Ayr_Rage

Timing is critical, if you haven't had a bill for a while you may not be anywhere near £300 in credit.

When was your last bill using actual readings not estimates?

The only fix you could be on is for unit rates and standing charges, a fixed DD amount is not all you can eat energy, it is just set split into 12 to cover annual usage.

If you use more or less then the DD amount can be reset,

[Deleted User]

found that they had over £300 of my money in credit on the account.

Any credit/debit balance is only accurate for a single day with the caveat that it is must be based on actual meter readings. When were you last billed using actual meter readings?

Rudmeister22

Thanks for your advice everyone. 

I’m on a smart meter so the company get regular accurate meter readings each month. 

I’ve been with them an entire year so I thought they’d be able to know how much I use by now and bill me accurately each month without the need to leave me with £300 credit or to increase  my direct debit by over £50 a month. It seems like a madness to me like they won’t stop until they have £300 credit each year? 

CBN

The £300 credit at this point in the year will be building up to meet the costs of the winter months.  No credit = higher payments needed moving forward.

Robin9

@Rudmeister22   Just because your Smart was  Smart once doesn't mean it's Smart now. Can you read your meter (not the IHD)  and let us know what your actual annual consumption is please

theoretica

How did your power company handle the £400 from the government?  If they put it towards the bill, then on a fixed deal with constant use what you will need to pay next year will be higher than last year.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

if EON do it, you could go on to a variable direct debit and only pay for what you use, means low bills in summer and hefty bills over winter.

Swipe

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

if EON do it, you could go on to a variable direct debit and only pay for what you use, means low bills in summer and hefty bills over winter.

That's not gong to end well if they are raiding their energy credit to pay for an MoT.