E.on wants to double my monthly direct debit
Comments
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The word that I am disagreeing with in your 2 posts is your use of the word ‘misleading’. The DD Mandate that we all sign is for variable monthly payments. Provided the supplier gives appropriate notice, the payment can be varied. This is hardly misleading as the supplier hasn’t said that the DD payments are fixed. That said, I have long thought that the industry needs to come up with a new word to replace fixed when used in the context of a fixed tariff.
I do agree that late season switches can be a problem for suppliers (and consumers) as suppliers are now under increasing pressure from Ofgem not to allow consumers to accrue debt. To complicate matters further, a number of the new/smaller suppliers do not allow accounts to go into any debt at all. Some suppliers now charge higher DD amounts in the Winter, and then reduce them in Spring. However, irrespective of how much a monthly DD payment is, these are nothing more than payments made on account from which future charges are deducted. if I sign up for 10000kWhs of gas at a cost of £X, then I will only pay £X if I use 10000kWhs.
In fairness to E.oN - unlike most other suppliers that I have been with - they do allow consumers to adjust the monthly DD payment online if they believe the DD has been set too high/low once an actual meter reading has been given.0 -
Penn_Wooding wrote: ». And as for electricity, I've only got a small electric fire in the main room I use on a daily basis, I haven't even got central heating.
I appreciate you may have little option but your single bar fire of 1 kW is costing you (assuming 12hrs at day at 12p a unit) £1.50 a day ie £50 a month.
Do get someone to read your meters for you at least once once a month and either enter them on line or ring your supplier.Never pay on an estimated bill0 -
Whoosh again. Of course the DD can be varied. It's why it's varied and why it was initially set at an unsuitable amount that's the issue.The DD Mandate that we all sign is for variable monthly payments. Provided the supplier gives appropriate notice, the payment can be varied. This is hardly misleading as the supplier hasn!!!8217;t said that the DD payments are fixed.
Why are they a problem? The supplier must have a good idea of average relative usage across the seasons.That said, I have long thought that the industry needs to come up with a new word to replace fixed when used in the context of a fixed tariff.
I do agree that late season switches can be a problem for suppliers (and consumers) as suppliers are now under increasing pressure from Ofgem not to allow consumers to accrue debt.
If, say, someone switches in October, and the supplier wants the account to balance in April, it is clearly nonsense to set the initial monthly DD as estimated annual bill divided by 12. That will obviously result in a big debt in April.
So why do they do it? Why don't they set the initial DD to a higher amount to account for winter usage? They should know what a sensible factor is to use, as they'll know how much energy their average customer uses in winter months relative to summer.
Which they ignore. I use one who have such T&Cs. I joined in October. However, they set my initial DD to estimated annual bill /12 !! Perhaps they didn't realise winter was coming. Guess what? I'm in debt with them. Entirely their fault. They chose the inappropriate initial level of the DD. As I pointed out to them when they whinged about my account being in debt.To complicate matters further, a number of the new/smaller suppliers do not allow accounts to go into any debt at all. Some suppliers now charge higher DD amounts in the Winter, and then reduce them in Spring.0 -
Being a cynic I suspect the reason for this is they can advertise misleadingly low initial payments, eg join us and your DD will be (annual usage*tariff/12), whereas if they want account balance in spring they should be setting the initial DD at a much higher amount than this to account for higher winter usage.
Let’s leave it there. We are all entitled to an opinion but that doesn’t mean that we have to agree.0 -
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Penn_Wooding wrote: »It doesn't make clear whether I'm in credit or not. "It just says this includes your current balance of £676.77. If you have a credit balance, this could be less than how much we think you'll use"
Even so, doubling my direct monthly payment is in my opinion completely absurd. That's an extra £1600 a year.
I'll have to check and see what's going on. I'm disabled so it's very difficult for me to actually look at any readings. I know that we used extra heating, but I just cannot believe that we've used this much. And as for electricity, I've only got a small electric fire in the main room I use on a daily basis, I haven't even got central heating.
This is why I do not like Direct Debit system, because it is an open book credit agreement.
I prefer to pay what I owe when I owe it, ideally quarterly but I accept it will become monthly for everyone in the years ahead.
As others have said you have to look at your usage,
First of all using a single bar fire is madness
There are charities that will help disabled people in all aspects of need, from finance and budgeting to heating.
I would be asking this company what their policy is for vulnerable people.
I would cancel the direct debt and ask them to send you a bill for what is outstanding based on actual readings, not estimates or forecasts.
Meanwhile pay the money you would be paying to them by DD into a savings account from now on.
If you do owe £600+ then offer to pay what you can without going onto direct debit, maybe £300 down and the rest over the following three months.
The weather is warm now so there is no need for heater and respectfully, I think you should look at extra clothing and blankets when you are cold.
If there is something else using your energy, a fish tank, a faulty fridge or someone else tapped into your meter then deal with that.
Once you have paid this bill just put the money aside and pay quarterly, for the small discount they give you for DD it is not worth it.
When you balance is at zero consider changing supplier because the only way these people learn is if enough people leave.
You need to take responsibility for what you use, the energy company has to give you annual statement of real usage, look at that and ask on here if it is excessive.
I have central heating that I only use when cold, I have long hot showers every day and all the usual things, my utilities budget is £80 a month and I never use that much, in fact for gas and electricity I was spending about £570 but predicted after changing supplier to be under £400. So your usage seems excessive for two people but if you are using things like single bar fires then who knows what else you are using. Such things should be put on the scrap heap.
Start by reading your meters, post the readings here with the readings from your previous bills with times and dates.
The good people here will help you figure this out.0 -
Oops apologies - I even searched the thread and could only find that word in your post! Have editted previous.
You must agree to differ but on radio they said Energy companies are holding billions in excess and others on this site say they have £3000 from one customer.
So clearly there is something wrong with the energy company calculations generally.0 -
There is. They don't account for seasonal variation when setting the DD amount, and then act surprised when a customer is in debt in the spring!You must agree to differ but on radio they said Energy companies are holding billions in excess and others on this site say they have £3000 from one customer.
So clearly there is something wrong with the energy company calculations generally.0 -
Best time to move is end of spring, beginning of summer. That way, will you build up your credit in time for winter.0
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There is. They don't account for seasonal variation when setting the DD amount, and then act surprised when a customer is in debt in the spring!
There is no excuse for this, first of all they are all sharing the historic usage from every household going back many years.
Secondly it is not a difficult thing
Energy usage increases in Autumn and more so in Winter, then back down again in Spring and even lower in Summer.
Of course some households will use more than others but if you have the historic variance for that property will not vary to the point where they need to charge £1600 extra per year and double a direct debit.
In flat I used to live in we were able to prove readings were impossible because we asked for historic readings.
It was faulty eco 7 thing.
Of course they had a way to calculate to make the big corporation benefit the most.0
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