As the final £67 instalment from the from the HM Government Energy Bills Support Scheme was credited to our Eon.next account on 2nd March, does that mean from this later this month the Direct Debit reverts back to the pre-diescounted amount from the next payment? Or is it from April’s DD as we pay the DD on 28th of Month, so next payment is 28th March? I actually don’t want the DD to increase as we are currently £1727.49 in credit (after the meter reading submitted late Feb and billed at the end of Feb 23) and the credit balance has increased every month for the past 15 months. This is despite them returning £500 last month as well. Many thanks.
Your direct Debit is too high, but given the uncertainty about pricing from April onwards at the moment I'd hold off asking (demanding) it be reduced just yet.
The DD should be reasonable and generally that means your forecast annual consumption @ current pricing, less account balance, divided by 12. When you email them with "please justify Direct Debit level" in the title and your details in the main message, have in mind what the eventual figure should be. Ask them to set out in detail their calculation method rather than just them setting a new level.
Why not do it now? Because the pricing element is scheduled to change in April (up 20%) but its strongly rumoured that the government is going to announce an extension of the current pricing (so no price increase) and this uncertainty might muddy the waters.
Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
Your DD aside, the credit balance is considerable. I don’t know your monthly DD but I would have thought that about one month’s worth of DD would be sufficient credit as we head into spring. I’m not convinced they consider the credit balance when they set the DD amount.
You have some options here that can be some kind of combination of credit refund and lowering of DD. The post in the link below may be of some interest to you.
Yes, I agree about holding off a short while until the uncertaincy of the pricing post 1st April is confirmed one way or the other.
I did believe that energy companies should reconcile customer accounts every year to ensure the DD was correct and not building up excess debt or credit? Mine hasn't been reconciled for at least 18 months checking back.
That's great advice from @meldrewreborn 🌟 and smart to ensure that you have a remaining balance to see you through the upcoming price cap!
But that being said, you have built up a good amount of credit and thank you to @JoeSoap for linking his amazing refund document.
If you do have any more questions or need support with your payments / DD please let us know @PeterS 🙂
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there can be no doubt that debit balances are taken into account when setting a direct debit amount, and to be fair and reasonable any credit balance also has to be included.
I think everybody needs to keep a close eye on their balances every 6 months. Cases like this confirm that suppliers don’t adjust direct debits as often as they should when they are in credit.
Your DD aside, the credit balance is considerable. I don’t know your monthly DD but I would have thought that about one month’s worth of DD would be sufficient credit as we head into spring. I’m not convinced they consider the credit balance when they set the DD amount.
You have some options here that can be some kind of combination of credit refund and lowering of DD. The post in the link below may be of some interest to you.
I did try to get a larger credit refund last month, but they would only return £500 (which I reluctantly accepted).
They did want photographs of the meter readings to refund more than £500, however my meter is located on a side wall in a dark cupboard and the LCD screen does not light up. It is also an E7 meter and requires various presses of the meter buttons to fetch up both readings. Then the screen does time out and revert back to the default display after about 20 seconds.
My daughter did repeatedly try to take pictures of the readings using her smart phone. However without the flash on, it is too dark to photograph the results (even with a torch pointed at the meter as the light spread from the torch is too wide and weak to distinguish the numbers, or all you get is a reflection of the torch if taken close up. With the smartphone flash on, it totally bleaches out the numbers!
Yes, we can read the meter using a torch (to submit online readings monthly) but photographing the LCD displays are a different matter!
I am on the PSR and should have my meter read every three months by Eon.next (or their authorised contractor), but this has not occurred for over 18 months now.
So, I seem to be stuck trying to get more refunded until a meter reader does eventually call.
Just for context, we still have the E7 meter from when we had storage heaters. However or usage is still a 47% peak / 53% off peak usage over a whole year so it still works in my favour rather than going onto single rate.
As for the Direct Debit, it is set at their 'recommended amount' of £200 per month. This was automatically reduced to £133 during the six months of government refunds - albeit our maximum monthly usage over winter never exceeded £130 (we are all electric with an ASHP as no gas in our village). In effect the government £67 per month has just increased the credit balance further every month!
I did try to request a lower direct debit via their website, however when I try to reduce it, it tells me:
You can’t reduce your Direct Debit by more than 10%.
Hence the maximum it will reduce my DD is by currently £13 per month – hardly worth the bother!
Hence my further query about them annually reconciling my account as their website states (under the 'What happens if I am in credit or debit with you' tab'): https://www.eonnext.com/help/bills-and-payments
‘’We keep track of your payments and energy usage to ensure you’re not paying too much or too little and we aim to have your account balance at zero after 12 months. To give yourself peace of mind that you’re paying the right amount, it’s really important to provide meter readings every month’’.
My account doesn't seem to have been reconciled for a few years now, hence their ‘aim’ is well wide of the target. Nor do they appear to be keeping track of my payments and usage!
That's great advice from @meldrewreborn ������ and smart to ensure that you have a remaining balance to see you through the upcoming price cap!
But that being said, you have built up a good amount of credit and thank you to @JoeSoap for linking his amazing refund document.
If you do have any more questions or need support with your payments / DD please let us know @PeterS ������
Bearing in mind my response to Joe Soap (above), perhaps you could arrange for a meter reader to visit (as per PSR) please?
Given the amount of your normal DD, and normal monthly consumption, your credit balance is enormous. As @meldrewreborn says, the monthly DD would almost definitely take into account any debit balance but I still question whether a credit balance is considered. I can't believe Eon Next have kept so much of your money. The credit balance is yours to claim back but I understand that they would want more evidence of the meter reading other than a customer read one. It's shocking that they haven't read your meter for 18 months and I see above that you've requested it be read in order to get your account in order. It may be you will have to contact customer service in order to get this done rather than rely on the forum staff... but you never know. Good luck with it.
Given the additional detail you have provided, I think you have grounds for complaint. It’s in their licence conditions to get a meter reading at least annually. If they’ve not been coming has anybody else supplied a reading. The lack of proper readings is at the root of your issue - and possibly your reduced consumption.
while it’s fair to ask for updated readings before making a refund, demanding pictures is a bit rich when they’re supposed to be reading the meter regularly.
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