EDF increased direct debit and I can't afford it

[Whiteminnowfish]

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?

Have you called them to negotiate? If you are in credit you should not need to cover the full amount especially as estimated against a different level of use.

The so called discount for monthly dd just isn’t worth because of this scenario. Personally I’d cancel and then save the money myself and make sure I only pay actual quarterly. If you have smart meter it’s even easier as you can check what to put aside.

In your last post, you say you are on quarterly bills and yet your OP is about the size of your DD going up. I'm confused.

Transfer to a variable Direct Debit that takes the exact amount each quarter for the energy you have usedrather than a fixed estimated amount each month.

I've been with EDF for a year (since the took over from my previous supplier that went bust). They only raise bills every 6 months, and only review dd a couple of times a year. And with me they were out of sync - so their first dd review was a few weeks before my first bill from them. They'd based my initial dd on what I was paying my previous supplier. Now gas is about 4x what I was paying 12 months ago, and electricity over 2x.

I've just had my second bill and dd review and they've decided I'm in arrears (as I was fully expecting to be), and increased my dd from £95 to £299 a month. A fair chunk of that is to start repaying the arrears, so I'm guessing they won't let me reduce my dd.

I'm with EDF (didn't want to be, I was perfectly happy with NPower but they took over) and I have never had a direct debit set in place. I pay £30 standing order to them a week which (currently) pays way more than what I use and I'm well in credit. They keep asking for a direct debit but they are not getting one, the deal I'm on is basic, and didn't require a direct debit (yes I know you can get a bit of a discount if you have a D.D) I'll be happy to increase my S.O once I see what my bills will be like.