I better start by saying that this post is going to evolve. I want something to refer-to and link-to that advises how to request a credit refund. The four steps to requesting a refund come further down this post. But first... There is some debate around the figure of £500 and whether it's quicker and easier to get a refund if it's under this amount. I have been advised by members of the forum staff and have paraphrased as follows in order to help manage expectations…
''... there should not be any difference in the wait time if the request is over £500 and the credit should be with you within 10 working days of the refund being requested on the account. This is regardless of the amount, as long as you pay by Direct Debit and the DD is still in place. All refunds go through the same process, so they are requested and then approved and then go through a finance audit for a double check. There are a few extra checks with large balances over £1000 if the credit balance in question needs checking over, but if it's just a genuine over-payment and we have received up-to-date reads, your payment should be with you within 10 working days under normal circumstances. If no Direct Debit is in place then payment is by cheque which should be issued within 15 working days of the refund being requested on the account. The actual timings will be dependent on individual circumstances and current workload.'’
I chose the sum of £500 exactly, as I thought this was the maximum I could get without too much fuss with reference to submitting photos and involving accounting departments etc., but as you have read above, this should not be the case. On the subject of photos, I was advised...
''...we do prefer to ask for pictures of the meters with the current readings showing so that as the request goes through its checks there would be no reason to decline the refund. However, it's not essential that we have pictures unless there is a discrepancy with reads, so we wouldn't refuse a refund if you weren't able to get pics, as long as the reads you were giving follow on from previous reads.''
Here's a success story from @Cinders as posted further down the thread here ...
''I requested my Eon Next refund (£500) through email on the 3rd Nov and it was in my bank account on the 10th Nov. I didn't get asked for photos.... this time. As long as there is about 2 months worth of credit left in your account (at this time of year) you shouldn't have a problem getting your refunds back.''
Personally, I would recommend sending photos if you are able to as it means there is one less reason for a delay in the processing.
One further thing to bear in mind... Credit balances are there for a reason. A fixed DD is set so that you pay the same amount every month based on an estimate of your annual usage. It is quite normal to have a healthy balance of a couple of month's worth of DD as we approach the winter months as your monthly bills will likely exceed your monthly DD at that time of year. If you request a refund of what is seen as too much of your credit balance, then you can expect your monthly DD amount to rise in order to compensate or you will perhaps be offered a lesser amount so as to keep your DD as it is, so please be aware of this. As long as your meter readings are up-to-date then the credit balance is yours to claim, but if you take it all then your monthly DD will almost certainly rise.
Anyway the following is what I would advise to do as a start right now...
1. Take photos of your meters (Not the IHD as I initially did) showing the whole meter with its serial number and the current reading. It didn't matter that I had smart meters... photos were still requested. On gas meters you may have to press Button A or something to get the reading, like I did. On my electric meter I had to wait until it scrolled through various readings and info until it got to a reading that looked sensible compared to my previous submitted reading.
2. Draft an email to hi@eonnext.com entitled, 'Credit Refund Request From Account No. XXXXXXXX'.
3. In the email, state your name, address and account number and give your current readings. State how much of a refund you want and that you have attached photos of your meters.
4. Attach photos of your meters to the email and send.
For those unsure as to how to attach photos to emails, there are various ways listed on this thread...just keep reading. If you can find a way of uploading them to your PC then it's as easy as selecting 'Attachments' and choosing the photos from your files. I managed to do it all from my iPhone as detailed later in the thread.
This should be enough to set the wheels in motion and you should not have to do anything else but wait for the payment. I got a reply to my initial email in about 15 minutes which caught me by surprise as I was expecting to wait a couple of weeks.
Edit... I have now requested another refund and did everything in one go from my iPhone. Clever me 🙄😂 See here for details.
In conclusion… My refund request was accepted on Saturday 19th November so was probably received by the finance department on Monday 21st November. The £500 was in my bank on Monday 5th December so exactly 10 working days later. I’m happy with that 👍
''... there should not be any difference in the wait time if the request is over £500 and the credit should be with you within 10 working days of the refund being requested on the account. This is regardless of the amount, as long as you pay by Direct Debit and the DD is still in place. All refunds go through the same process, so they are requested and then approved and then go through a finance audit for a double check. There are a few extra checks with large balances over £1000 if the credit balance in question needs checking over, but if it's just a genuine over-payment and we have received up-to-date reads, your payment should be with you within 10 working days under normal circumstances. If no Direct Debit is in place then payment is by cheque which should be issued within 15 working days of the refund being requested on the account. The actual timings will be dependent on individual circumstances and current workload.'’
I chose the sum of £500 exactly, as I thought this was the maximum I could get without too much fuss with reference to submitting photos and involving accounting departments etc., but as you have read above, this should not be the case. On the subject of photos, I was advised...
''...we do prefer to ask for pictures of the meters with the current readings showing so that as the request goes through its checks there would be no reason to decline the refund. However, it's not essential that we have pictures unless there is a discrepancy with reads, so we wouldn't refuse a refund if you weren't able to get pics, as long as the reads you were giving follow on from previous reads.''
Here's a success story from @Cinders as posted further down the thread here ...
''I requested my Eon Next refund (£500) through email on the 3rd Nov and it was in my bank account on the 10th Nov. I didn't get asked for photos.... this time. As long as there is about 2 months worth of credit left in your account (at this time of year) you shouldn't have a problem getting your refunds back.''
Personally, I would recommend sending photos if you are able to as it means there is one less reason for a delay in the processing.
One further thing to bear in mind... Credit balances are there for a reason. A fixed DD is set so that you pay the same amount every month based on an estimate of your annual usage. It is quite normal to have a healthy balance of a couple of month's worth of DD as we approach the winter months as your monthly bills will likely exceed your monthly DD at that time of year. If you request a refund of what is seen as too much of your credit balance, then you can expect your monthly DD amount to rise in order to compensate or you will perhaps be offered a lesser amount so as to keep your DD as it is, so please be aware of this. As long as your meter readings are up-to-date then the credit balance is yours to claim, but if you take it all then your monthly DD will almost certainly rise.
Anyway the following is what I would advise to do as a start right now...
1. Take photos of your meters (Not the IHD as I initially did) showing the whole meter with its serial number and the current reading. It didn't matter that I had smart meters... photos were still requested. On gas meters you may have to press Button A or something to get the reading, like I did. On my electric meter I had to wait until it scrolled through various readings and info until it got to a reading that looked sensible compared to my previous submitted reading.
2. Draft an email to hi@eonnext.com entitled, 'Credit Refund Request From Account No. XXXXXXXX'.
3. In the email, state your name, address and account number and give your current readings. State how much of a refund you want and that you have attached photos of your meters.
4. Attach photos of your meters to the email and send.
For those unsure as to how to attach photos to emails, there are various ways listed on this thread...just keep reading. If you can find a way of uploading them to your PC then it's as easy as selecting 'Attachments' and choosing the photos from your files. I managed to do it all from my iPhone as detailed later in the thread.
This should be enough to set the wheels in motion and you should not have to do anything else but wait for the payment. I got a reply to my initial email in about 15 minutes which caught me by surprise as I was expecting to wait a couple of weeks.
Edit... I have now requested another refund and did everything in one go from my iPhone. Clever me 🙄😂 See here for details.
In conclusion… My refund request was accepted on Saturday 19th November so was probably received by the finance department on Monday 21st November. The £500 was in my bank on Monday 5th December so exactly 10 working days later. I’m happy with that 👍
Last edited by Anasa_EONNext; 07-11-23 at 19:32.
I'm an Eon Next dual fuel customer with no particular expertise but have some time on my hands that I am using to try and help out a bit.
