Check Your Energy Supplier Direct Debits!

[Spruance]

This morning I received my latest EoN eBill, which I was keen to scrutinise as this year we have had both cavity wall insulation and a new condensing boiler fitted thus saving on gas, and also electricity, since the new boiler means we don't use the immersion heater any more for casual water heating.

Overall, my gas usage has been reduced by 33% and electricity by 16%, but because I am on a different supply contract this year (Capped to 01.10.09) the actual cost is a modest 8% more than the equivalent quarter last year. Nonetheless, my account is still substantially in credit and so I was expecting a review of my Direct Debit (DD) payments.

What I was not expecting was to find that EoN are proposing to increase my monthly payments by a mind boggling sixty-eight per cent!

Needless to say that they have felt the sharp edge of my tongue this morning, as by my calculations I will still be in credit (on the current DD payments) come next February. They have reluctantly agreed to rescind the increase, which they were unable to justify when challenged.

This isn't the first time this has happened, and it has just got me thinking how many other people have their payments arbitrarily increased without justification?

So, if your DD payments have been increased unreasonably, challenge your supplier to justify the increase or insist that they leave well alone!

EoN have promised me a confirmatory letter within ten days, but if I don't get it, my next port of call will be The Mail On Sunday!

[MamIDdau]

I did recently because we got a bill stating we owed them £100 even though it was the summer and we'd had no heating on (everything else is electric). They said they'd had the meter reading but disregarded it because they thought it was wrong. So rather than contact us to ask what was going on, they just decided to send us our bill and tell us our DD was going to double...

I'm still not sure it's right now but I got rid of the original meter reading literally 3 days before the bill arrived.

[Spruance]

Just as a follow up, it seems that this policy of uplifting DD payments when customers are in credit is rife at the moment, and Peter Luff MP is pursuing energy regulator Ofgem to put a stop to it....

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7743272.stm

Although he is not my constituency MP, I have forwarded details of my recent experience to Mr Luff in the hope that it will assist with his campaign.

His website link is as follows for anyone who wishes to follow suit...

www.peterluff.org.uk/record.jsp?type=page&ID=4&contact=contact

[Ruthie]

I heard on the news today about a woman whose account was in credit and they wanted to raise her DD from £40 to £100 a month!!
No one wants our custom as we have no gas out here in the sticks. I'm so glad i still pay my bill quarterly. That way I only pay for what I use AND I get to use it before I pay for it!