The Lemon Fool

I switched to EON last December from Sainsbury Energy after doing some comparison and finding EON considerable lower. I thought I gave a reasonable estimate of the amount of energy I would likely use over the year. I used my previous years actual consumption figures, but knowing that I would not be at home for much of the winter and therefore not running the central heating during the coldest months, I thought if anything I'd be over paying. So I was a bit dismayed to receive an email last week telling me that my monthly direct debit was going up by a whopping 45%, because apparently, I am no longer paying the right amount for the gas and electricity I'm using.

Is this due to low balling as per an earlier post? Is it me getting my estimates wrong? have they upped their prices and just not told me? or what? My current 1 year deal ends in December, I might go back to quarterly billing. Energy bills remain a mystery to me.

have a look at your consumption and work it out!

their computer is unlikely to have increased your DD for no reason!

I've used npower in the past, and every 3 months when they recalculated the direct debit it went up exponentially.

This was because they calculated the expected bill for the next 12 months and divided it by 12.
However as the year progressed, the calculation was based on:
Start: 12 months at fixed tariff
Q1: 9 months at fixed tariff, 3 months at "nobody in their right mind stays on this" standard tariff
Q2: 6 months at fixed tariff, 6 months at "nobody in their right mind stays on this" standard tariff
Q3: 3 months at fixed tariff, 9 months at "nobody in their right mind stays on this" standard tariff

They then did some juggling around and came up with an arbitrary figure which was much more than it should be.

Nobody could explain exactly how the figure was calculated, and the only way I could avoid the increase was by paying a lump sum onto the account.

In the end, it simply meant that I transferred from nPower as soon as the "move without penalty" date arrived, and nPower joined Scottishpower on my "never again" list.

PochiSoldi

I've been with SSE for some considerable time and am very happy with them although I know they've had some bad press.

I get quaterly bills, each one showing what my usage is expected to be over the next 12 months and my DD is amended accordingly.

Consequently, since having a new boiler fitted, my gas has gone from £47 to $20pm, and electric from £30+ to £24pm. If both accounts are in credit one is refunded without any input from me.

I probably would be able to get slightly lower costs, but the way I have been treated by them makes me more than reluctant to move.

I used to be with Eon and found them quite reasonable as far as monthly direct debits were concerned. There was an option on their website to amend the DD yourself, and on a couple of occasions I have phoned them and suggested a more realistic figure, which they were happy to oblige with.

So, armed with a figure (taking account of any swingeing price increases they might have announced!), I would certainly contact them.

Thanks all, you've taught me something there particularly pochisoldi's post. Turns out the calculation was based on estimated readings (eventhough I'd always provided actual readings when requested), so they've reduced it a bit, then I went onto my account and reduced it further myself (thanks staffordian), this should see me through to early December when I can switch again and I'll pay whatever I owe at the end. Mutantpoodle I take your point that the computer wouldn't have upped it for no reason but it just doesn't make any sense that it should go up when I've used less energy than last year which my estimates were based on.