My energy provider won’t reduce my payments

[Comefromaway]

We moved house in March 2020 (great timing). The previous home owners were retired, they were at home all day plus had an adult son with SEN living with them. They kept the house very warm.

we al know what happened next. Lockdown happened, me, Dh, Dd and Ds were all working/studying from home. During the winter of 2020 the house was occupied a lot more than usual. Ds was on alternate weeks in college plus his Btec course meant he was home 2.5 days a week anyway. There were numerous closures. We kept the house warm and comfortable all winter.

In Sept 2021 my fixed rate expired and I went on a variable rate. I handed in meter readings. We were at home less that winter but still had numerous periods of isolation, Ds was at home 2 days per week using a multitude of electrical equipment he always forgot to turn off and in college 3 days per week In addition fil used to come up in the day and we’d have the hearing on quite a bit. Dd left home to go to Uni in London. Due to a p/t job she only came home for a few days at Christmas and 1 week in August.

In March 2022 we were offered a fixed rate, twice the cost of our previous fix but one of the rates Martin Lewis advised people to grab whilst it lasted. Our monthly direct debit was increased. At the start of September I turned our thermostat down one degree. Ds left home to go to Uni.

Last month we got our energy bill based on estimated readings. Our direct debit was increased. It was very high so I handed in proper readings. It turned out electricity was pretty accurate but they had massively over estimated gas. Our bill was re-issued and we are currently £1,500 in credit.

I worked out that if we use the exact same amount of gas and electricity as we did last year but at our current rate £250 per month will cover it. I applied to reduce our direct debit from £460 to that amount explaining our usage Taking note that we used to have 4 people at home now we have two and we totally work out if the house whereas we were working partly from home so I expect to use less especially as we’ve turned the thermostat down.

They have refused to reduce our payments. Our current rate is only available to those who pay by direct debit. We can’t get a refund of our credit until at least our next review in March.

Which provider are you with, I just had a refund of £30 because they were only allowed to keep £75. I think from what you’ve said here you have a justifiable case for taking it further to ombudsman.

EDF

I’d make a formal complaint and saying you’ll take it to offer if they don’t help, or ask you MP to write.

It’s your direct debit, not theirs. My view is they just want to keep the money in their account so they accrue interest and not you. Good info at CAB.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-bill/energy-supplier-has-increased-your-direct-debit/

I am on a fixed rate with EDF, only a small credit compared to you of nearly £200, but our monthly payments more than cover our usage so I asked for a refund of about half the credit which they did immediately. I messaged them via WhatsApp, might be worth a try?!

Have you complained? Eon refused to reduce ours, I set out based on previous usage they would have hundreds of pounds of our money by Christmas if they didn’t reduce the rate and asked for the decision to be escalated to someone more senior and they backed down and reduced it. Complain then ombudsman if no joy.

This is disgraceful. The same has happened with a relative who's with Bulb. She had to fight to get a big chunk back but eventually managed it. Think they insisted on holding on to £500. I suggest taking it further. Good luck.

There's some advice on here www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/#fight

You can insist on going on a variable rate where you pay what you use, you do have to provide monthly meter readings though. The credit gets used up first before you have to pay.

I filled in a form online stating how much I wished to pay and outlining the reason eg usage will go down based on fewer people and no longer working at home.

their website isn’t the easiest to find out who to write to. It states they only refund after the annual review which for us is March.

I'd cancel my direct debit and ask them to bill me for actual usage.

www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-you-are-owed-money-your-energy-bill

This may be useful?

They can keep credit if they can prove you're likely to use it.

So I'd work out how much you used last year, how much equal amount of use gas will cost you this period then how much the £1500 and your dd will make it by March.

If it's still over you can argue for the credit to be refunded.

Is there a way of doing it yourself?
Im with Eon Next and I can change the amount myself under 'manage my payments'.
They do set a recommended amount to pay and they have also changed it themselves as I'm currently in credit but not as much you.
Either that or get a full refund on the credit. They can't keep it.

This took about three seconds on Google

[email protected]

And here's their CEO

[email protected]

Are you just submitting readings every 6 months? Might be worth submitting more regularly, to provide further evidence your usage as dropped while you fight with them.

Any way of adjusting the DD online? Even just slightly??? I knew ours was too high when we moved in, but with monthly readings, and monthly small drops in DD, I'm getting close to what I think it needs to be (for reference, we've been here since July, and are £800 in credit......)

Put in a complaint and then take it to the ombudsman if they don't back down.

I've helped 3 clients do this in the last few weeks, in 2 cases they agreed to lower payments and I'm awaiting the outcome of the third.

COMPLAIN www.resolver.co.uk/freeadvice/companies/edf-energy-complaints/services?territory_id=1

www.edfenergy.com/for-home/help-centre/faq/i-want-refund-my-account-credit

Have you tried reclaiming the credit as an partial alternative?

You say the rate is only available if you pay by direct debit, but does that have to be a set monthly direct debit?
I've changed mine to actually usage direct debit, ie they take the bill amount by direct debit each month.
Might be an option, although you'll be paying higher amounts over the winter and won't get the reduction until next spring anyway.

i tried filling that in. Computer said no!

yes I know I’ve been very lax with meter readings. But they do have me up to date readings now. In future I will make the effort.

I'd cancel my direct debit and ask them to bill me for actual usage.

Why do people keep saying this? It appears in every single thread on this topic.

The OP explicitly stated her current rate is only available to customers who pay by direct debit. All energy suppliers charge more to customers who pay on receipt of a bill rather than by direct debit.

You can't just cancel a direct debit and expect to carry on paying the same rate per unit and standing charge. The OP needs to know how to communicate with a human to get her DD payments reduced.

Get a smart meter

And, Or

My bill is online, I can increase or decrease it myself as much as I wish to

“You recently made a request to change the amount of your Direct Debit. We are unable to make this change as it would mean that your monthly payments would go down, and we don’t want you to pay too little because then you’d have a balance to pay at the end of your payment anniversary review.”

no I wouldn’t. You’ve already got £1,500 of my money!

Mine is online too. There is a reduce or increase payments thing (that recommends I increase by 25%!) but when I fill in the reduce payments it says they will cinsuder my request then 3 days later I got the no email.

im going to formally complain.