EON - is it a requirement to use their budget app to pay a debit

mumtimes2

Hiya,

This is quite long, but with multiple issues, but the main issue is at the bottom as a TLDR.

Up until recently, our Direct Debits have been affordable. However, a debit balance started and began to build. The bill reassures me that we are still paying enough. Over time, the debit builds, but the DD remains the same. Until this weekend, when my monthly payment shoots up and I am being asked to pay over £500 extra a month. This is not affordable.

Firstly, I send a meter reading. A new bill comes in  and the DD remains £500 extra.

For context, we live in a tiny rented house with storage heaters. The hot water heater is rubbish and so we never have it on, haven’t done so for the last year. When I started digging into the bill, I discovered that the tariff I have been paying is not for Economy 7, even though I know, that was our original tariff. This is the first issue.

The second issue is that I sat down and worked out affordability and contacted them with a payment plan. The monthly payment I propose is reasonable and affordable. They are insisting I upload a budge onto an app. For complicated reasons I don’t want to do this. My question is, do I have to? I have never missed a payment and I am offering to pay off the debt. They are resisting me and say I have to do this before they refer me to the Affordability and Vulnerability team. But I want to pay and I know how much I can afford?

The third issue I have is that last year I asked for a smart meter and they prevaricated so much, I ended up giving up. I feel that a smart meter would have made it easier to track my usupage better and not end up in this mess.

I have emailed them, insisting they set up the payment plan, that I am certain in my budget and that this daily email nightmare is a waste of everybody’s time, when I am almost begging to pay off a flipping debt that they assured me was fine!

TLDR:

I would like to be certain that I don’t have to upload my personal circumstances onto an app in order to pay off their debt. That they will eventually set up a payment plan and I can sleep at night.

debitcardmayhem

How much was your diect debit before , and have you sent regular readings in?.

mumtimes2

Hiya,

it was £500 less and readings were semi regular. To be fair, their estimated readings weren’t too far out and their bills did show credits where their estimates were a bit high.

QrizB

mumtimes2 said:
it was £500 less and readings were semi regular. To be fair, their estimated readings weren’t too far out and their bills did show credits where their estimates were a bit high.

If the estimates "weren't too far out" does this mean you've been checking your bills regularly? When did you cease to have an E7 tariff, and when did you first notice?

mumtimes2 said:

I would like to be certain that I don’t have to upload my personal circumstances onto an app in order to pay off their debt. That they will eventually set up a payment plan and I can sleep at night.

How much do you owe?

Fundamentally, if you want a payment plan that's different to their calculated DD schedule, you'll need to demonstrate to them that you can't afford their calculated DD. That's what they need your Statement of Affairs for.

Scot_39

Have you tried going through a debt charity or perhaps even local council / citizens advice - to come up with your affordability estimate / plan ?

They are all likely going to need more than just your final estimate though.  So I'd expect to have to disclose some detail - if not to EON then to someone else to advise / negotiate on your behalf.

There used to be forms available on line to work out affordability figures ( I downloaded one around a decade ago when mum ended up 1 years bill in debt.  I wonder if there are any links in threads on the debt sections here like

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/debt-free-wannabe

EssexHebridean

You understand that asking them to agree a payment plan will very likely leave an arrangement to pay marker on your credit file? 

What level of debt are we talking about here? Is it actually worth trashing your credit file for a bare minimum of 6 years for?  What does your DD need to be set at simply to cover your use, and how has the debt arisen? 

mumtimes2

To answer a few questions the total amount of debt is around £4500. As the debt mounted I queried my regular DD and they said it was fine. Then suddenly without warning it went up by around £500.

They did offer me a payment plan, via email, which was a bit too high, I asked for six months extra to pay, thus reducing my payment. This is why I don’t understand the need to do the budget app. I know what I can afford!

I noticed the tariff had changed this weekend, I hadn’t realised it had changed. I have had contact with the over the years because whilst discussing the mounting debt, I asked for a smart meter to bring costs down! I have asked when the tariff changed, via email, and they have not responded to that.

i received an email from them saying that I can now speak directly to their affordability team, with having to do the app first, I don’t have a problem with this.

Does anyone think I have grounds for complaint as I have an Economy 7 meter, yet they switched my tariff to a regular one? My night rate is way higher than Economy 7 and I have been using my electricity on the basis that my night rate is cheaper. We have storage heaters, and they have essentially being operating at peak rate.

QrizB

Yes, I think a complaint is necessary regarding them switching you away from E7 without your request/consent.

Have you calculated how much extra this has cost you over the period?

You also need to get back onto E7 asap, if you haven't already.

mumtimes2

So I checked my old bills and the tariff name is the same but the costs change. At the beginning of the tariff I was paying a seperate heat, day and night rate. Then in Feb 2021, all three rates are charged to the day rate, but the tariff name has remained the same. Every single bill since Feb 2021 assures me I am on the cheapest rate so I didn’t look too closely at each seperate rate.

QrizB

Sure, but you should be able to work out, roughly, how much extra it's cost you.

Just as an example:

If you were on E7 at 15p/kWh off-peak and 35p/kWh peak, and they switched you to 25p/kWh flat rate; and then you used 2000kWh at cheap rate and 1000kWh at day rate.

On the E7 tariff you'd have paid £300 for the 2000kWh of "night" plus £350 for 1000kWh of day, total £650.

On the flat rate tariff you'd have paid £750.

So the extra cost would have been £100.

EssexHebridean

 An you confirm the name of the tariff too - although my suspicion is that it may turn out to be a standard variable, and it’s that you’ d been switched from being charged on an E7 basis to being charged with the two registers added together. What actual meter readings do you have to refer to?