EDF energy bill after 1 year of not being with them

carlamarie7

Hi everyone I switched from
Edf to octopus last year.

I haven't had a single bit of correspondence since August 2024 from EDF UNTIL 22nd August 2025  I received an email with my energy bill? 

I read it as my new balance is £0

today I have received the letter (bottom pic) asking for payment? 

I am very worried this has come
out of the blue, I don't know if it's a scam, is this normal procedure please? Should I pay this? Many thanks  

MeteredOut

What is there to pay? its says the balance is 0.

It sounds like EDF didn't close your account correctly when you moved to Octopus, and so it was accruing usage, but they've now realised their mistake and written off that amount (that you did not owe).

Phone them (from a number you find on their website, not from the letter) if you want confirmation.

You should also ideally edit that picture to remove your account number, but perhaps less critical since its an old account

vic_sf49

Looks like a standard computer generated letter, that doesn't take into account the fact you don't have anything to pay.

I'd file the letter somewhere safe, and ignore it. 

pseudodox

The EDF computer is bored!

I got what I assume is an AI generated letter last week telling me they really do need a recent meter reading as they require one every month.  This is despite the readings taken on the first of every month without fail for the past 3 years being visible on my account.  They also advise that they would prefer to send me accurate bills, not estimates.  Again despite them sending such accurate bills each month for the past 3 years & taking payment for these.  They also suggest I upgrade to smart meters - despite them having installed SMs in April this year - and not only paid me £300 for accepting these but also paid me a substantial compensation payment because they made a pig's ear of setting the new meters up on my account.  I am still using up the credit.  They also suggest that sending in meter readings is boring and they want to save me having to get up off the sofa.  

I have sent them an email telling them not to waste people's time, as well as their own.  Perhaps OP should do the same asking how can a written off balance be a debt. 

carlamarie7

Thankyou for the replies 

Netexporter

I had something similar with Eon Next. I got a letter saying I owed for 1kWh, about a year after I joined Octopus, but that 20p (or whatever) was written off. As Eon and EDF both now use the Kraken system, I suspect it is some sort of automated housekeeping that cleans trivial amounts out of the system, so they don't accumulate.

Qyburn

It actually reads as if you were in credit, and they've written off the credit.  Did you receive that credit as a refund after you left?

Brie

Qyburn said:

It actually reads as if you were in credit, and they've written off the credit.  Did you receive that credit as a refund after you left?

It looks like the OP was in credit and then received 2 refunds (20/8/24 & 22/8/24) thus making it a debt for £428.46.  So that's the thing to check - did you receive 2 refunds when only 1 should have been processed?

MeteredOut

Qyburn said:

It actually reads as if you were in credit, and they've written off the credit.  Did you receive that credit as a refund after you left?

Good spot.

I read it as the OP being 428.46 in credit, was then refunded that amount twice (so then 428.46 in debit) and that was then written off, perhaps due to back-billing rules.

OP, can you confirm you received 2 x 428.46 payments into your bank?

budlish

I’ve had the exact same thing, letter and bill with the exact same dates on them as the OP. Wording the same too it says my bill is zero (checked the app too and that says there is no balance due). I left EDF for octopus in July 2024 having always been in credit with them. They did refund me twice which was clearly an error on their part but I haven’t heard anything from them in over a year. I appreciate it was an error but can they really back bill me for what it’s says is written off debt now?  My credit rating is good and I don’t want anything adverse appearing suddenly! 

QrizB

budlish said:

They did refund me twice which was clearly an error on their part but I haven’t heard anything from them in over a year. I appreciate it was an error but can they really back bill me for what it’s says is written off debt now?

Yes, they can demand it back. It's not back-billing.

They can take legaal steps (including court action, to recover the overpayment for six years from the date of their error (five years in Scotland).