Clearer comms needed on DD payment holidays & SVT details

  • Lampshade's Avatar
    Level 8
    Hi @Andy65 I don't know if that's what is meant to happen but it appears to be what's happening to me .... so I've resisted selecting the new tariff so far as I don't want to sign up for something that doesn't appear to be right ... but who knows?

    The "Payment on receipt of bill" element only came to my notice when I clicked on the "Full Tariff Info" tab where it states clearly, on the only tariff I'm being offered, that it will be Payment on receipt of bill ... I'm trying to get this clarified but still had no response at all from eon-next Customer Services

  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    It might well be a misunderstanding but it needs to be corrected. If @Lampshade checks their online account what tariffs are available to them? If the DD tariff is not available then it’s clear - but wrong. I am self reporting this post in an attempt to get the community team involved in helping members with obvious mistakes.

    edit crossed with reply above
    Last edited by meldrewreborn; 26-10-22 at 08:46.
    Current Eon Next and EDF customer, ex 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.
  • Lampshade's Avatar
    Level 8
    @JoeSoap @meldrewreborn

    At the DD rate and with the EPG/EBSS factored in, my monthly DD would be only about £54 - which is correct according to the new prices calculators ... and in the main body of my renewal email, the estimated annual amount quoted reflects this very well ... It seems correct and it says it's a direct debit rate. Of course, with the EPG/EBSS factored in, this would mean a DD of less than £1.00 - well less than zero ... but surely it could be set to zero for the next few months?

    When I click the MORE button to select the tarriff I get completely different details ... approx £81 per month ... yes I'm aware this is the old pre-EPG announcement prices - so what the cap would have been, not yet what it should be now - but when I click through further onto the Full Tariff Info tab, it clearly states that I'm being put onto a Payment on receipt of bill tariff, presumably because of the DD payment holiday for anyone whose new DD will be less than £1

    So, whilst with the EPG/EBSS factored in, my bill won't be £81 and might still be less than £1 with the EBSS payment paid by the government, if I am really being put onto a Payment on receipt of bill rate, I won't build up as much credit on my account as I would have with the DD rate. As we don't know what will happen after April and my income is limited, I want to be sure I'm charged the lower rate.

    But I don't know whether I should select the Payment on receipt tariff I'm being offered and will actually get the DD rate or not? I want eon-next customer services to speak to me but I don't know when or even if I will hear from them ... I need to get this sorted before the end of next week ... ooooof!
  • Lampshade's Avatar
    Level 8
    @JoeSoap<br>@meldrewreborn<br><br>At the DD rate and with the EPG/EBSS factored in, my monthly DD would be only about £54 - which is correct according to the new prices calculators ... and in the main body of my renewal email, the estimated annual amount quoted reflects this very well ... It seems correct and it says it's a direct debit rate. Of course, with the EPG/EBSS factored in, this would mean a DD of less than £1.00 - well less than zero ... but surely it could be set to zero for the next few months?<br><br>When I click the MORE button to select the tarriff I get completely different details ... approx £81 per month ... yes I'm aware this is the old pre-EPG announcement prices - so what the cap would have been, not yet what it should be now - but when I click through further onto the Full Tariff Info tab, it clearly states that I'm being put onto a Payment on receipt of bill tariff, presumably because of the DD payment holiday for anyone whose new DD will be less than £1&nbsp;<br><br>So, whilst with the EPG/EBSS factored in, my bill won't be £81 and might still be less than £1 with the EBSS payment paid by the government, if I am really being put onto a Payment on receipt of bill rate, I won't build up as much credit on my account as I would have with the DD rate. As we don't know what will happen after April and my income is limited, I want to be sure I'm charged the lower rate.<br><br>But I don't know whether I should select the Payment on receipt tariff I'm being offered and will actually get the DD rate or not? I want eon-next customer services to speak to me but I don't know when or even if I will hear from them ... I need to get this sorted before the end of next week ... ooooof!<br>
  • JoeSoap's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Lampshade

    Hopefully @meldrewreborn's self-reporting will get some attention and clarification.
    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.
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Lampshade

    With E.On Next there are no exit fees so leaving any tariff shouldn't be a problem, but there is no apparent reason for denying you access to DD prices, whether that be fixed DD or pay after receipt of bill. By reporting my own post (don't think this was the cause of the temporary glitch in accessing any of the forum though) I hoped to bring this to the attention of the "community team" so that they could actually do something to sort this nonsense out.

    The inability to rouse the "community team" has been a gripe of mine for some time, but no satisfactory solution has yet been implemented.
  • Lampshade's Avatar
    Level 8
    Hi @meldrewreborn - yes I also had probs accessing the forum earlier today - and then had to go out. Let's see if it works ok now!

    Yes maybe putting they are putting everyone whose bills after the EPG/EBSS payment will be lower than £1 onto a Payment on receipt of bill rate. I don't know - maybe it's just a mistake they've made with me or if it's a technicality / a way to get round the fact that the DD will be zero ... Maybe no-one else put on the DD payment holiday clicked through to the Full Tariff Info page and so never saw/don't realise that they're being put onto a Payment on receipt of bills scheme?

    Or maybe, as I said, this hasn't been the case for other customers and it's just a glitch/error with my account? I really don't know and I deeply wish to find out!

    I did see someone on another forum said she selected the only SV tariff she was offered and her DD seems to have carried on and just comes up as zero ... but I don't know if that will be the case for me. I do know that the last actual DD payment they took was in September ... as October's payment was covered by the EBSS. But I still don't know what to do from now on ... I want them to contact me!

    If I select the new tariff, will it actually put me onto a Payment on receipt of bills scheme as it appears would be the case - or would I, in practice, get the same rate as I would have on the DD scheme even though it says Payment on receipt of bill? I wish they would tell me!

    I didn't receive any detail on any of this in my renewal email - I think they should have contacted customers affected by this and explained in detail what was going to happen and how it will affect them - they need to give clarity and reassurances - they should have done that in the beginning and could have saved themselves so much of the burden now put on customer services agents! I know everything happened quickly but some quick thinking and personalised service could have saved them so much work and saved us so much uncertainty and anxiety ...
  • Lampshade's Avatar
    Level 8
    @JoeSoap @meldrewreborn

    And for anyone interested, I've found the paragraph about the DD payment holidays - it's Under the How do I get the £400 Energy Payment section of the page on the Energy Support Scheme, and it goes as follows:


    • Fixed Direct Debit customers will receive the money automatically as a deduction to their monthly Direct Debit. If a customer's EBSS payment takes their Direct Debit below £1 we may put them on a ‘payment holiday’, where we temporarily pause the Direct Debit.


    It sounds like they might do this with some affected customers but not all? Whaaat? So some maybe will retain DD status and get their DD set temporarily to zero and other will be shunted onto Payment on receipt of bill status??? I don't know - its a complete mystery!

    The following paragraph states:


    • Pay on receipt of bill customers and regular cash payment customers will see the money automatically applied as a credit to their energy accounts in the first week of each month. This will show as a credit in the payments section of their monthly bill.



    Which is what appears to have happened to me with my October payment (I think!) even before selecting the new SV tariff and I can see from my banking app that the last actual payment requested by eon-next was in September.
    I wish they had included this paragraph in my renewal email and also on the Full Tariff Info page, together with an explanation as to why ton the Full Tariff Info page my ew tariff payment method was showing up as Payment on receipt of bill rather than me being kept on a DD plan with the DD amount temporarily set to £0.00 - plus clarity and reassurances that being put on the DD payment holiday would NOT mean being charged the higher rates charged to Payment on receipt of bill customers.

    Whilst I am most grateful for the EBSS payments, I haven't been consulted with on any changes to my status - it's just being presented as a fait accompli - and I dearly need to know what's going on.
  • Lampshade's Avatar
    Level 8
    @meldrewreborn What does "reporting your own post" mean? How do you do that? Anyway, thank you! I don't seem to be getting their attention on my own ... ;_(
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Lampshade

    Other suppliers do not necessarily have the same terms and conditions on their tariffs. But with E.On next. you can pay by fix direct debit or variable direct debit - where the amount is decided after you bill is produced. Both have the same tariff prices. But for example, OVO don't have the second option- if you pay on receipt of bill you cannot get the DD tariff.

    I can see no reason why a TEMPORARY suspension of DD activity should then change your tariff to a non DD one. Still waiting for one of the community team to pick this up.