[retrotecchie]

@wayne123

What I suggest, is move from regular Fixed direct debit to pay bill by DD in full every month. That will then eat into any credit before they actually start taking any money from your bank. That way you only pay per month what you actually use. That said, just be prepared for a bit of a shock come April.

[wayne123]

I've just worked out on average during winter we us 10 kilowatt per day max which equates to around 90 per month max. Eon have set up a direct debit for 434 per month and I cannot change it. This is causing incredible stress considering one of us in household is recovering from a stroke and still not heard anything from them and impossible to get through to discuss this.

Just for the record below are copies of meter readings as for some strange reason it shows change of supply on the 28/5 77983 then it jumps back ,could this have anything to do with why the reading are so far out.

Meter reading history

Date	Type	Read
21/11/22	Manual	92666
01/10/22	Estimate	92313
30/09/22	Manual	92277
06/09/22	Manual	92184
22/08/22	Estimate	92520
11/05/22	Meter reader	91605
01/04/22	Estimate	91299
01/10/21	Estimate	89674
28/05/21	Change of supply	77983
05/05/21	Manual	88673
01/04/21	Estimate	86696
20/02/21	Estimate	84166
20/02/21	Estimate	84166
08/11/20	Estimate	83631
19/09/20	Estimate	83422
20/06/20	Estimate	83094
21/03/20	Estimate	82739
27/11/19	Estimate	82157
21/09/19	Estimate	81859
06/06/19	Estimate	81474

[meldrewreborn]

@wayne123

There is probably a simple explanation for this - if only we can get to it! Can we rule out that you do not have an economy 7 type meter - this will have 2 types of reading usually (but not always) labelled R1 and R2. One refers to night consumption and the other day consumption. The night rate is cheaper and typically used to charge night storage heaters. The presence of storage heaters will be a big clue that this is indeed the case. But it might not be. All the readings you have provided are consistent - except for the change of supply, which could be finger trouble - 88 instead of 77 would make more sense.

Posting a photo here of your meter and fuse box or boxes will help.

I'm thinking that E.On Next have your consumption going back over time at a much higher level than you have recorded or that historically the DD has been set too low and that there are arrears on the account. If there are arrears these will have been factored into the setting of the direct debit. If you want to pop me a PM with a photo of your bill/statement this would help a great deal, but i readily understand if you do not want to share that information.

[wayne123]

Date/Type	+in/-out	Balance
21 NOV 2022 Electricity	-£3.43	£399.93 In credit
20 NOV 2022 Electricity	-£139.94	£403.36 In credit
01 NOV 2022 HM Government Discount Energy Bills Support Scheme	+£66.00	£543.30 In credit
24 OCT 2022 Direct debit	+£367.23	£477.30 In credit
06 OCT 2022 HM Government Discount Energy Bills Support Scheme	+£66.00	£110.07 In credit
29 SEP 2022 Electricity	-£36.44	£44.07 In credit
23 SEP 2022 Direct debit	+£434.23	£80.51 In credit
05 SEP 2022 Electricity	+£86.11	-£353.72 In debit
23 AUG 2022 Direct debit	+£434.23	-£439.83 In debit
21 AUG 2022 Electricity	-£298.88	-£874.06 In debit
25 JUL 2022 Direct debit	+£434.23	-£575.18 In debit
23 JUN 2022 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£1,009.41 In debit
23 MAY 2022 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£1,042.41 In debit
10 MAY 2022 Electricity	-£102.36	-£1,075.41 In debit
25 APR 2022 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£973.05 In debit
31 MAR 2022 Electricity	-£373.44	-£1,006.05 In debit
23 MAR 2022 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£632.61 In debit
23 FEB 2022 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£665.61 In debit
24 JAN 2022 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£698.61 In debit
23 DEC 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£731.61 In debit
23 NOV 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£764.61 In debit
25 OCT 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£797.61 In debit
30 SEP 2021 Electricity	-£220.55	-£830.61 In debit
23 SEP 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£610.06 In debit
23 AUG 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£643.06 In debit
23 JUL 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£676.06 In debit
23 JUN 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£709.06 In debit
24 MAY 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£742.06 In debit
04 MAY 2021 Electricity	-£373.73	-£775.06 In debit
23 APR 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	-£401.33 In debit
31 MAR 2021 Electricity	-£545.63	-£434.33 In debit
23 MAR 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	£111.30 In credit
23 FEB 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	£78.30 In credit
25 JAN 2021 Direct debit	+£33.00	£45.30 In credit
23 DEC 2020 Direct debit	+£33.00	£12.30 In credit
23 NOV 2020 Direct debit	+£27.00	-£20.70 In debit
07 NOV 2020 Balance transfer	-£47.70	-£47.70

[wayne123]

This may help a you can see its all ok until around march 2021 then it takes a nose dive

[wayne123]

[meldrewreborn]

@wayne123

Ok so it looks like some larger bills in march , may and september 2021 and similarly in 2022 put the account into debit and the DD was adjusted to recover that.

However the account is now in credit - but you can see that large bills arrive after the winter period when most of us use heaps more energy.

Remember that prices went up substantially last winter 2022 and will be even higher (about double again) this winter.

Your DD should be about one twelfth of the annual forecast bill (see your bill/statement) at todays prices, after adjustment for any debit /credit on the account. Setting the DD will not take account of the government discounts, of which you've had 2 instalments , 4 more to come. Prices though will rise another 20% in April we're told so you need to factor that into your thoughts as well.

Sit down look at your forecast consumption and the prices, and work out the annual amount. Knock of your current credit and divide the total by 12. That is a reasonable direct debit, and no supplier could negate that.

If you send regular readings monthly, you will get a better handle on what you are using. Your account may swing into the red this winter but recover to a positive balance next autumn - this is entirely normal with fixed direct debits - the winter months under recover, the summer months over recover.

If you switch to variable DD on receipt of bill, your payments will be huge in the winter and lighter in the summer. Chose the method that suits you.

Energy is now hideously expensive and the only thing we can do to moderate our costs is to cut our consumption.

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by wayne123

Always been with Eon and at the moment just get paper bills by post.

My advice is register your account online and manage it that way, either with the app on a phone or by the online account. Submit monthly readings so they never end up estimating anything. Your DD of £33 was set way to low, allowing you to build up a huge debit in excess of 1000 pounds at one point. My guess is your DD should have been nearer £100 as of last year, so you have been underpaying for a long time.

If you still have your paper bills, look at them very carefully, backs of the bills too, as I'm sure that around the point they hiked your payments, they should have given you notice and possibly an explanation of how they figured it. They would have increased by an amount to reflect the historical underpayment, hiked last winter, again in April and October this year due to tariff increases, by an amount to claw back the debt, and a 'safety margin' to stop you getting into such debt again. To put it in context for you, my DD increased from £42 a month I was paying last August to a suggested £272 this October. That was without any historical debit balances but a credit in my account of over £300.

[retrotecchie]

@wayne123

By the way, your meter is so old it will be way out of certification by now. Not that I anticipate that having any effect on your usage...it's just a very old meter. This should have been noted by the meter reader and reported back. Doesn't always work though...

[wayne123]

@JoeSoap what does this entail then will the rates go up?