[Han_EONNext]

Happy Wednesday Community 👽 - how is everyone?

As an E.ON Next customer, you have lots of options on how to pay your energy bills. Direct Debit is a popular choice that could even save you money with lower energy bills.

But do we actually know what our other options are? 😕
What are the benefits to paying by Direct Debit?
How do we calculate your Direct Debit and the reasons behind why that may change? 🗓

We have a fantastic blog post which explains Direct Debits to a 👕 👉 How Direct Debits are calculated. So check that out for more detailed explanations.

There are two types of Direct Debit:

🐇

1. Fixed Direct Debit. In a fixed Direct Debit you arrange to pay a set amount each month, meaning your payments will stay the same throughout the year. Your Direct Debit payment amount will be based on an estimate of your total annual energy use split into equal monthly payments.
2. Variable Direct Debit. Instead of setting a fixed amount to pay each month you agree to pay a varying amount based on your energy use. If you set up a variable Direct Debit, you will pay for exactly what you use, and so your energy bills are likely to be higher in the winter and lower in the summer.

If you choose to set up a Direct Debit with us (and you can do it at any time!) we will agree on a date that your payment will be taken each month and an amount based on your usage. If you start using more energy, or you are on a tariff where your energy prices can vary, we will always contact you to let you know if there will be changes to your Direct Debit amount.

Can I manage my Direct Debit online?

Yes! You can view/track your Direct Debits online by logging into your account. You can set a new payment date and request to change the amount if you feel like you are paying too much / too little.

What are the benefits of paying by Direct Debit?

• Cheaper energy tariffs. Paying by Direct Debit is usually around 6% cheaper than other payment methods - this is because the operating costs are lower.
• Automatic billing.
• Spread the cost. We calculate your Direct Debit payments so you accumulate credit in the summer to help pay for your energy in the winter - meaning you won’t suddenly start paying more each month when your energy use goes up.
• Protection with the Direct Debit Guarantee.

How we calculate your fixed Direct Debit.

✅ We try to make sure your monthly fixed Direct Debit payments will cover the cost of your total energy use over the year.

✅ That means that in the summer you may be in credit and in winter you may be in debt – but overall your account should balance as close to £0 as possible at the end of each year.


Reasons your Direct Debit amount may change.

• You are on a variable Direct Debit.
  
• Payment Adequacy. This is a review to ensure your monthly payments are correct; if you are constantly using more energy than what you are paying for we will suggest you change it. This can also change if you are not accumulating enough credit to cover your winter costs.
• Your energy price has changed.

✨ If you need to contact us regarding your Direct Debit 👉Contact us!

✨ If you need help with the cost of rising bills 👉COL guide

✨ Want more information? 👉Direct Debits

[JoeSoap]

@Han_EONNext

When my last fixed tariff ended last year I was left with a credit balance of a few hundred pounds. When I switched to a new fixed tariff my new DD was calculated using only my estimated usage and new tariff rates. No account was taken of my credit balance at the start of the new contract. It would have been nice to have been offered a choice of the full credit refund or a reduction in the new DD amount having taken the credit balance into account.

I would guess that a lot of customers don't check the sums as much as others do and just leave the credit balance there presuming it had been taken into account.

I would advise anyone switching tariffs to check how the future DD calculations are arrived at so they can see that they have a choice as to whether to leave any credit balance where it is (as I did) or to claim it back and start from scratch to hopefully end the contract with a near-to-zero balance.

[meldrewreborn]

@JoeSoap

Your DD should have included your current balance at the time of taking out the new tarrif. If you can prove that it didn't then you should make a complaint.

Your advice to check DD computations is most certainly correct - it would of course help if the suppliers actually gave us the full computation...............

[JoeSoap]

@meldrewreborn

I have a three page printout of Changes to your Tariff dated 2/8/2022 for Next Online v17 starting at 12:00am 0n 6th Aug 2022...

Elec: Annual Usage 6277kWh
52.11p/kWh
37.92p/day

Gas: Annual Usage 22612kWh
12.87p/kWh
27.22p/day

Estimated Costs: Annual £6419.50
Monthly £534.96

Your current balance is £466.71 CR

As you can see (if you do the maths), they based my DD on my estimated annual usage and left my credit balance untouched. I dropped my DD by 10% online down to £482 and soon enough it dropped by £67 to £415 due to EBSS.

I don't know the rules around the setting of DDs and as I was comfortable with kicking off with a credit balance I wouldn't want to raise a complaint on principle alone. As you can see from the above I was fully informed of all the numbers in advance. I do think though that customers should at least be informed that their DD can be reduced by taking any credit balance into account.

I am switching again on 1st April but only have basic tariff info at present. I can already see though that once again my credit balance has not been taken into account when setting my new DD. Perhaps things will change when my new tariff actually kicks in at the new April rates. I won't hold my breath though.

[meldrewreborn]

@JoeSoap

There is advice on this here:

- Blogs - E.ON Next Community (eonnext.com)

It contains this statement:

"How we calculate your fixed Direct Debit.

Energy bills are calculated based on the amount of energy you use. To prevent you from getting unexpected bills at the end of the year, we try to make sure your monthly fixed Direct Debit payments will cover the cost of your total energy use over the year. That means that in the summer you may be in credit and in winter you may be in debt – but overall your account should balance as close to £0 as possible at the end of each year."

Note the last phrase - if somebody could explain how that would be achieved without including the current account balance in the computation I'll resign from the forum. You should make a complaint otherwise they'll keep on ripping people of who have credit balances.

[meldrewreborn]

@Han_EONNext

I went looking for help on all this. When I click on the help label at the top on the home page it takes me to business help - rather than domestic customer help. Can you report this please?

[JoeSoap]

@meldrewreborn

Thanks for that. I had already read that and in fact it says the same in the opening post. I really don't want to raise a complaint but perhaps @Han_EONNext can look into how credit balances should be handled at the start of a new contract against how they actually are handled and publish the findings on this thread.

[Han_EONNext]

@meldrewreborn I've had a look 👀 and I get what you mean about the business help page coming through. If you click on the home customers bit on the top right of the page it will take you to help for residential customers instead 😊.

[meldrewreborn]

@Han_EONNext

I see that now.

Do you think most forum members are domestic or business customers??

If the path were reversed so that the link took people through to domestic first, that would be better.

[Han_EONNext]

No I completely get it @meldrewreborn !! In terms of just the Community we do see a lot more domestic than business customers 🙂 but that is a link through the E.ON Next website as a whole. If you're looking at E.ON Next as a business SME customers make up a huuugeeeee percentage of customers around here! But I do see why it would be confusing to show business help first - I'll get it raised 😊