E.ON - Energy Overview

[Harry Bloomfield]

My partner who dealt with these things, passed away at the end of June. I let the DD's from her account continue until 29th Sept, by which time I was advised by E.On that there was a shortfall of around £105, based upon actual readings I took on that same date - when I had the account transferred over to me and a DD with me. Its a dual fuel account E & G.

Due to her health issues, her consumption of both was quite a bit more than it has been since she passed away, but I agreed with them a DD of £80 pm, to let it pay the shortfall off.

She wasn't bothering to give them readings and they were not calling to make their own, hence the shortfall.

Now I am feeding readings in for each, on a weekly basis, so I can better see what is going on, but....

The online Energy Overview thingummy, seems to come out with completely daft figures and a daft figure for what my DD ought to be.

In July, August and September of around £52 per month for the combined E & G supplied. I'm paying £80, so that should quickly pay off my partners earlier shortfall - yet the web page is suggesting I will use £1,130.44 for the year, so need to up my DD to £130 pm.

Might the site's calculation be based upon several previous years of consumption, rather than what the consumption is now?

[bert]

In article , Harry Bloomfield writes

Maybe. I would check which tariff you are on and then shop around for a cheaper one. OVO are pretty good but there are others. First Energy are usually the cheapest but their Customer Service gets pretty awful reviews. Npower's billing system is chaotic.

[Robin]

I've never been with E.ON so cannot comment on their particular way of doing the sums. But all the suppliers I have been with predict your bill for the year based on a profile of how on average people use more more in winter than summer. So I'm not surprised ?52 a month in the summer leads them to predict a lot more than 12 x ?52 for the year. Taking that together with the fact that you had a shortfall I think ?80 a month is pretty reasonable. I'd let it run that way for a couple more months. After that you'll have a better idea of what you will use in the winter - assuming we actually do get some cold weather by Christmas.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Harry Bloomfield escribió:

It spreads the payments over the year, and winter is here, so you will be using more E&G.

The energy firms like users to build up large credit balances, because they then benefit from the interest on the money.

Tell them you want to leave the DD at £80, but put a bit aside so you can pay them in the spring if you've run up a debit over the cold months.

[Andy Burns]

e.on did seem to do that just like the rest of the bunch, until a couple of years ago, since when they adjust the direct debit during the year if it's getting out of kilter, if it doesn't reach a zero balance in the spring, they give a refund and start again with a suitable monthly amount for the next year ...

[Davey]

British Gas seem to like you to have a huge credit in your account, then re-evaluate it, send you a portion of it back to you, and then raise your payments even more. Either that, or they reduce the DD to a ludicrously low level, and you quickly run up a debit. What they can't seem to do, is to get it right, even with all the data at their disposal.

[tabbypurr]

DD creates so much bullshit. And they all try to take money they're not owe d.

NT

[alan_m]

British Gas had a PAYG DD system where they only took the amount per month based on your own meter reading. When I was with them, this system was on one of their cheaper tariffs.

I'm currently with Scottish Power and can adjust my own DD payments at any time. Again it can be based on my own meter readings which produces a new bill within minutes of my submitting the reading.

[PeterC]

EDF does it the wrong way round: I build up credit in the warmer weather, EDF then refunds that and also reduces the DD for the cooler months. I Spring, it then panics and increases the DD! After 3 years, EDF still says it doesn't have sufficient data to predict my useage (always within a range of 5% of mean), so I've given up and just let them play - it's not much anyway.

[Dave Liquorice]

Do you have those weekly readings or can get them back from the E.on site?

If so plug them into a spreadsheet along with your tariff information and debt. You can then make your own projection of use and what is sensible for the DD.

Until it gets cold and your gas consumption rises...

When is the aniversary of the account? That is when most companies try to get the account in balance. If the aniversary is only a couple of months away, together with a rise in consumption for winter, that could explain the rather large discrepancy.

That is another possibilty.

And if you haven't checked a couple of comparision sites it may well be worth your while.

[Huge]

This is because they are lying, thieving scum.

[Davey]

My E-on account when updated online can never produce a bill instantly. It promises to, and then fails. Every time.

[F]

Ovo pay 3%.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , F escribió:

So they bloody well should. They're in a minority though.