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Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

EDF increased direct debit and I can't afford it

31 replies

Whiteminnowfish · 19/09/2022 22:32

Basically, they've increased my dd to £306 per month. There is NO way I can afford this.

I am currently single since February this year. There used to be 3 of us living here so massive difference in energy consumption.

I have changed all light bulbs to LEDs and hardly use heating and will be very frugal using heating and electricity.

My average electricity usage per day is 2kw.

My monthly bills over past few months have been around £45 per month.

I have been paying £140 per month as I have increased this to compensate for winter. I am currently £240 in credit.

How can they justify £306. I simply cannot afford this.

If I ring them tomorrow do you think they would reduce this for me?

OP posts:
JanglyBeads · 19/09/2022 22:34

Read Martin Lewis's advice on the moneysavingexpert website.

Boxin · 19/09/2022 22:40

You don’t have to pay by direct debit they are estimating your use.
You can give a meter reading and pay quarterly for what you have actually used.
They want all the extra sitting in their bank earning them interest!

Flackattack · 19/09/2022 22:43

Just say no - I had this. They will have notified you, just set it to the amount you can pay. Are you in debit or credit?

BCBird · 19/09/2022 22:45

I agre with the previous post. Call them.and switch to quarterly and put as much away as you can to cover your bill each month to avoid having an eye watering bill you cannot pay.

Original poster
Whiteminnowfish · 19/09/2022 22:46

Flackattack · 19/09/2022 22:43

Just say no - I had this. They will have notified you, just set it to the amount you can pay. Are you in debit or credit?

I am £240 in credit

OP posts:
Original poster
Whiteminnowfish · 19/09/2022 22:46

BCBird · 19/09/2022 22:45

I agre with the previous post. Call them.and switch to quarterly and put as much away as you can to cover your bill each month to avoid having an eye watering bill you cannot pay.

I am on quarterly bills

OP posts:
surlycurly · 19/09/2022 22:50

All I did was reduce my direct debit on the app. It's up make up by about £30 a month and not doubled as they wanted, and with the money the government is giving us in October, I expect any excess costs will be covered. Will I hell build up a huge excess for them to have in their bank account.

GreySeat · 19/09/2022 22:50

Just be careful following all the people who say just don’t pay it and pay for what you use. If their usage rates are correct, that maybe what you’ll be faced with x3 for a quarterly bill when it comes in.
maybe speak to them with your readings and say you don’t think you’ll be using that much and then hope the bill comes in as low as you expect.

Biscuitandacuppa · 19/09/2022 22:52

I’m with EDF and they only bill me 6 monthly. I am £350 in ‘credit’ but my last bill was May so I probably will have no credit left when my next bill comes in Nov. I’m a single parent in a small house and have also reduced energy usage. One of my biggest savings has been buying a Ninja Foodie as I no longer use my oven.

I have a smart meter and can see that I am using about £60 a month and my direct debit is £79. They have sent me my bill prediction for the tariff rise as £169 a year more than I am currently paying. Ring up and check the figures.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 19/09/2022 22:52

Direct debit cost is not your actual usage cost. Just call them and tell them you will pay each bill each month. Or lower your direct debit.

Heartofglass12345 · 19/09/2022 22:53

I'm with EDF and they tried to almost double my dd from £260 to £510 a month!
I spoke to them on the live chat on their website and asked if I could reduce my direct debit, the person I spoke to asked me how much I wanted to pay and changed it for me.
I would do that ASAP if I were you, there was no way I could afford the amount they wanted me to pay.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 19/09/2022 22:53

But I do think they base these DD projections on your usage based on previous month's/years.
So you may need to be savvy with your usage

Cynderella · 19/09/2022 23:35

Bear in mind you probably get a discount for paying by DD, so think twice before cancelling.

Start with calculating your annual usage - what you're using this week won't convince anyone. Although you may use less this year, calculate your annual usage from past readings. Then, if you're on standard variable rate, cost your energy use using 28p per unit for elec (off top of my head) and 34p from Oct 1. Get gas figures and do the same. Calculate standing charges and do the same.
Deduct your credit balance and divide by 12. Factor in the £400 reduction too - then you have a monthly payment; if you can afford it, this is realistically the least you can offer.

As you go through the winter, cutting back as you describe, you may be able to negotiate down. If you can't afford what they want, you can negotiate - I honestly don't know how companies are dealing with this, but I would start by talking to them and trying to work something out.

purpleme12 · 19/09/2022 23:37

If you're that much in credit you'll easily be able to lower your DD. Just lower the DD amount on the website or call then up to do it

JanglyBeads · 19/09/2022 23:44

YupMSE says don't stop paying by DD cos you get a discount just for being on it.

DoodlePug · 19/09/2022 23:44

Careful about the 'in credit' bit. Mine only bill me every 6 months so each month my 'credit' builds up then the bill arrives and I'm often a little in debt.

But anyway the new cap isn't much more than current prices. Go on the money saving expert website and use their calculator to work out what you should be paying then challenge them.

Mine have just doubled it, for no reason I can see. Kind of expect it to be recalculated in a few days, it often says random numbers then changes again.

purpleme12 · 19/09/2022 23:46

If she's increased her by Double already then it makes sense that she's in credit

SunshineAndSummer · 20/09/2022 00:12

Yes don't stress about it, I have done this multiple times with different energy suppliers.

They just increase your payments based on their predictions, however you can change your monthly payments by calling.

You seem to be aware of your usage etc by the looks of it. So you will know yourself when to make changes if you need to, I do this and I pay monthly.

Aretheyhavingalaugh · 20/09/2022 00:19

Yes, you can even speak to them via WhatsApp, that's what we did so don't worry. We have been paying £140 per month and we received a notification that our direct debit was being increased to £613 per month!!!!! My partner WhatsApped them, you can find the details on thier website and they usually respond within about 24 hours. We said that we could afford that etc and they asked us how much we wanted to pay per month, so we agreed £200 per month and they have changed our direct debit to that. Contact them with a reasonable amount to increase to and they'll sort it out. This also happened to us in April when we're paying £120 per month and they wanted £350 per month and they agreed to £140 so don't worry, you can sort it out. You'll just need your account number etc when WhatsApping them

nearly55 · 20/09/2022 07:34

EDF have tried to put my DD up to £306 this past week too, and I also can't afford it. It's a jump of nearly 150% and way more than the £200-210 that I had worked out it should be.

I have applied online for it to be reduced to £245 - this was the minimum figure that the calculator would accept - and this has been approved. But now I have realised that EDF used the proposed rates before the government action was applied - 2 days after I got the new DD figure they sent me a generic email with the new, lower rates. So I will be be going back to them and asking for it to be recalculated.

It may be worth you looking at the actual rates they used to get to the £306 and if they are the higher ones, challenge it too.

sheepdogdelight · 20/09/2022 07:52

You don't have to pay what they suggest, especially if you are in credit.

We had similar levels to you and our energy provider wanted to triple our direct debit. We politely refused and increased it by a small amount. In your case you may not even need to do that as it looks like your energy usage will dramatically change. We keep an eye on our weekly usage and will up it slightly again if it looks like we need to. We prefer this (for budgeting reasons) than just cancelling it and paying for what we use on a quarterly basis.

MenopauseSucks · 20/09/2022 07:58

I'm the opposite....
If I make an extra payment, despite them saying otherwise, they always lower my DD... How am I supposed to build up credit?
Now I stick any extra payments in a bank account & wait for the bill to come in.

GasPanic · 20/09/2022 12:48

Thing is they may be basing their DD calculation for this winter based on your last years winter use when there were 3x the people living in the house. In fact this is almost certain, because they will not have any better comparable period to base their figures on.

If this is correct and you explain your circumstances to them I am sure they will reduce somewhat.

You should be able to evidence this by your consumption since February to date compared with the same period last year.

bigbluebus · 20/09/2022 13:38

EDF are chancing their arm! I'm with them, pay monthly by Direct Debit and they bill me 6 monthly.
I only use electricity from them (heating is oil) and inspite of being on a fixed rate tarrif until end of March 23 and my DD is covering my current usage, they have put my DD up.
Do a calculation based on their pricing and the number of units you use and argue your case with them to put DD back down to a realistic level.

Lottie4 · 20/09/2022 14:51

£306 seems excessive to me, even if there were three people in the house. As a matter of interest what was last year's monthly DD?

We've got a monthly DD set up, and our supplier tells us how much we're in credit/debit each month, what we need to pay to remain on course (so you have an idea if you need to put it up or down) and the minimum amount we can pay. Have a look at your online account and see if you can adjust it on there to the minimum. If not, definitely contact them and explain your circumstances.

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