[despairingcustomer]

Target Balance according to EON is to be about in credit by a week's usage at the end of March.
Here's the tale so far:
31st March Credit £348, direct debit being charged at £264 / month
3rd May Credit £730! Direct debit reduced to £100 per month to use up the credit which was discussed and agreed with them over the phone.
...roll forward to...
20th July Credit £224, usage was £123 / month with £100 per month direct debit
Got an email today from supplier stating:
Even though you're in credit by £224.81, you're using an average of £175.28 more each month than your current Direct Debit (DD) payment covers, which means your account balance is £74.88 behind where we'd expect it to be at this time of year.
And they want me to make:
one off payment of £74.88 on a credit or debit card, and by changing your monthly DD to £275.28
This highlights that the supplier wants to me to have a balance of around £300 in the account. Which with 5.6Million customers is then about £1.5Bn of customer money in their bank account!

[retrotecchie]

@despairingcustomer

There is a simple solution if you don't agree with their calculation methods,

Switch to Variable DD where you pay your monthly bill in full every month. Work out your own average over a 12 month period, add 10% as a buffer and then pay that money every month into an interest earning account. Pay your monthly DD out of that account.

That way, you never pay a penny more than you are billed and any interest on your money is your money, not theirs.

[Mailman]

@despairingcustomer

It is very hard to determine the rights and wrongs of how Eon Next want to set the DD amounts as there is no mention in your initial post about kWh consumption. They may be right or very wrong in how they have arrived at the £ estimate for the next 12 months.

As a first step I'd suggest you do your own energy audit working out the most recent annualised advance of your kWh consumption (using accurate meter differences between 2 bills approx 1 year apart). If you don't have working smart meters or do not submit regular monthly meter reads yourself this may prove difficult. You may already know these kWh numbers but please forget about the £ figures to start with. Now compare this with the kWh EAU (Estimated Annual Usage) figures that you see on your most recent bill. These figures are what Eon Next (and most other suppliers) will be basing their DD amounts on. They may be reasonably accurate or they may be somewhat wide of your most recent annualised advance. If you wish to stay on a fixed amount DD (which is re-assessed every 6 months or maybe less) then you need to have a good handle on your kWh consumption especially if this at variance (15% higher) to the EAU numbers churned out by 'the industry' for your property. You might need to have a conversation with CS at Eon Next every 6 months or so to get a manual assessment of the DD amount set for the intermediate future as you did earlier this year?

Either that or do as myself and @retrotecchie (and others) do and provide accurate meter reads manually (or smart) and settle the bill via a Variable DD mandate some 16 or so days after the bill is raised. No interaction with CS needed re billing issues as some of us can testify to. 👍

[meldrewreborn]

@despairingcustomer

the notion that you credit should be at a particular figure is false. You direct debit should be estimated cost of 12 months consumption at current prices, plus or minus any credit/debit on the account and then divide by 12. Obviously energy companies like customers to be in credit but it’s not mandatory, and in general balances are much higher that really necessary. The best time to commence a fixed Direct Debit is in the autumn, because then accounts will usually be in debit during the peak winter months. Only returning to zero after 12 months.