EDF - using money from account credit

Lucia1980

Hello, so Im not used to this as always been on pay as you go, I pay direct debit each month and from September I had a credit of £502 but since then EDF having been taking money every other day from my credit for usage, is this right they should be doing this? ive only just checked my account but seen all these debits from my credit and now only have 84p and they havent put my DD up. 

QrizB

That's probably correct.

It sounds as though you are on a budget DD plan, where you pay the same amount each month. Each month some of this is used to pay your bill. Because you use less energy in the summer, and more in the winter, it's normal to go into the winter with a credit balance on your account equivalent to 2-3 monthly payments.

During the winter you use more energy and have higher monthly bills. These are likely to be larger than your DD payments. As a result your account balance will fall and may even become negative. This is entirely normal, and you will catch up again in the spring when the weather warms up.

Once or twice a year your supplier will check that your DD is correct, and that you're not building up too large a gredit or debit balance. If they need to, they will inform you that your DD is changing and will adjust it up or down.

dunstonh

 I pay direct debit each month and from September I had a credit of £502 but since then EDF having been taking money every other day from my credit for usage, is this right they should be doing this?

Are you on the old billing system (account numbers starts 67) or the new billing system (Account number starts A-)?

The old system couldn't handle ongoing energy use on the fly.    It would build up each monthly payment and then around 6 months, would use a reading supplied by you, your smart meter or an estimate, and then adjust the account to match that.

The new system can handle readings on the fly but it won't be doing so apart from beat the peak payments if you have a smart meter.

At the point of moving from the old system to the new system, there will be a re-alignment in dates for most people where they get the old bill reading, another reading to the new billing date (sometimes only a few days in it) and then monthly thereafter on the new date.

The online system should show the readings used that are linked to the adjustments in the account history tab.

Scot_39

The suppliers I have been with have only taken the usage monthly - so every other day seems a little strange - but the whole point of annualised (fixed monthly amount) direct debit is to smooth bills from low in summer and high in winter.  Essentially to ease budgeting for those on fixed incomes and/or tight budget margins (who might otherwise struggle to pay a large winter monthly or quarterly bill).

So credit going into winter built up by paying more in summer than usage (assuming it is a bill covering heating) - and credit going down in winter (again assuming covers heating) as use more energy than the monthly amount.

(My winter bills are 2-5 to 3 times summer - to cover heating - my mums used to be about 4x - she needed a faar warmer house due to age / health)

So right now I suspect any credit on bills / statements covering heating will be dropping quite quickly.

Many complain here of the opposite problem - that they increase the DD whilst in credit - so people have different views of the whole credit / debit cycle - and many therefore choose to pay by varaible direct debit.  But that means higher monthly bills to cover heating costs in winter.

Some here suggest April / May a good time to be neutral on balance - then build credit for 4-6 months - then use credit for 4-6 months etc. - but I suspect other utilities just run it on a 6 month or 12 month review basis from joining.

If it looks to the supplier you will not cover a full years usage - they will carry out a review - and adjust your DD amount accordingly.

Mine has been changing DD - up / down as required (if I haven't changed it myself) - if anything more regularly than usual - but my annual anniversary (Apr) now coincides with Ofgem cap change near enough - and many of the larger swings in Ofgem price cap anyway - traditionally it only happened once per year.

The main thing to keep on top of is the accuracy of the billing - that they are getting regular measurements and billing off of them - don't just assume because you have a smart meter (about 10% - domestic and light business use - are reportedly not reporting use to utilities) - or if not and have been providing manual readings - that they are using them.

If you don't like how much debt is accumulating - you can often log in or phone and pay extra as a one off - or have the direct debit amount increased. Before EPG - I used to do my own annual estimate at new cap rates - at time every 6 months - and adjust - ahead of my supplier doing so at some point.

Swipe

The only way to know it's correct is to check your bills. Look out for any estimated readings on your account and make sure they are not lower than any readings on your previous bills or smart meter reading submissions or you will be charged twice for usage. They tried that one with me during the billing system switch over and I had to call up and make them manually adjust the estimated readings to what they should have been on that date. It was easy in my case as I keep a spreadsheet of my meter readings.

Qyburn

Lucia1980 said:

Hello, so Im not used to this as always been on pay as you go, I pay direct debit each month and from September I had a credit of £502 but since then EDF having been taking money every other day from my credit for usage, is this right they should be doing this? ive only just checked my account but seen all these debits from my credit and now only have 84p and they havent put my DD up. 

What sort of meter do you have, and how are they getting meter readings? When you refer to credit are you looking at the meter or online at your account?

It doesn't sound normal for a normal credit account to be adjusted on almost a daily basis.  It almost sounds like a prepayment account with regular top up by DD, if such a thing exists.

t0rt0ise

Are you giving them readings every other day which is triggering a bill?

Lucia1980

Thank you all, I have a smart meter so EDF have automatic readings, they said it sends them readings every other day and then creates a bill hence the money is taken out of my credit but what I now find strange is now that all the credit has gone since 24th Jan, they have not billed me once, its a very strange set up!! I think I will just keep an eye on it.

Swipe

Lucia1980 said:

Thank you all, I have a smart meter so EDF have automatic readings, they said it sends them readings every other day and then creates a bill hence the money is taken out of my credit but what I now find strange is now that all the credit has gone since 24th Jan, they have not billed me once, its a very strange set up!! I think I will just keep an eye on it.

Look at your meter readings and make sure none are listed as estimated. It should have billed you by now if you are on the new  Kraken billing system. It definitely sounds like something is wrong if you've had no bill which is one of the tell tale signs.

dunstonh

Lucia1980 said:

Thank you all, I have a smart meter so EDF have automatic readings, they said it sends them readings every other day and then creates a bill hence the money is taken out of my credit but what I now find strange is now that all the credit has gone since 24th Jan, they have not billed me once, its a very strange set up!! I think I will just keep an eye on it.

As asked higher up, are you on the old billing system or the new one (account starting 67 or A-)?

The newer one generates a bill monthly and applies the debits to the credits monthly.   The older one is 6 monthly and doesnt apply the debits until the bill is generated.  The older one can give a false impression of what the credit balance is.  The newer one does not.