Jeanne, a MoneyVox reader, received her new EDF schedule in May. Bad surprise, his monthly payment went from 177 euros to 344 euros. What to do in such a situation?
We too were very surprised when Jeanne told us her story. On May 18, this MoneyVox reader received an email from EDF informing her that “a new payment schedule [sa] electricity bill is available. (…) Your monthly payments will be deducted on the dates indicated on this schedule”. But when she discovered this new payment schedule, Jeanne “hallucinated. “It is expected that my monthly payments will increase from 177 euros to… 344 euros from June”.
And if Jeanne knows that the regulated tariff (TRV) of EDF increased by 15% in January, this increase does not explain why the electricity bill for her home has doubled. “I would like to believe that the winter was a bit cold in 2023, but not to the point of justifying such an increase”, Jeanne is surprised. Especially since the price per kilowatt hour only represents a third of the electricity bill, since the rest is notably made up of the subscription and taxes.
“In December 2022, EDF gave us back the money”
At EDF, the principle of monthly payment is as follows: energy consumption is estimated annually, then divided into equal monthly installments over 10 months. At the end of this period, you must regularize your situation. Clearly, either you pay the missing amount, or EDF reimburses you if you have paid too much.
The estimate of the amount withdrawn each month is established according to your consumption for the past year, except for the first year when EDF calculates your tariff on the basis of the specificities of your home (surface and age of your accommodation, heating and hot water equipment, electrical appliances and habits of use, etc.).
“In December 2022, EDF had returned the money to us at the time of the regularization of the invoice, because we had paid a little too much”, recalls besides Jeanne, who does not intend to accept this situation without doing anything.
“I called EDF to challenge this schedule”
“I called EDF to contest this schedule. The person on the telephone confirmed to me that it was about a proposal”, in spite of an email with the clumsy wording that the teleoperator recognized. As a result, “he himself offered me to stay at 177 euros, explains Jeanne. It gives the impression that EDF is taking advantage of the ambient discourse on the rise in energy prices to increase deadlines excessively in the hope that customers do not pick up their phones to dispute and redo a payment schedule. »
This winter, EDF had already sent its customers emails titled “Your electricity consumption has changed. Here is our advice. » to suggest a new monthly payment: “If we find that your monthly payment no longer corresponds to your actual consumption, we can alert you and offer you a new, more suitable monthly payment amount. If this suits you, you can modify your EDF monthly payment from your customer area. »
A modulation proposal that the customer is free to refuse or accept by sticking partially or totally to the amount suggested by EDF.
The incumbent supplier reminds on its website that the modulation can be carried out “once a year, by going directly to your Customer space under the heading My Invoice > Consult and manage the schedule > Modify the schedule”.