Energy Suppliers

hughtrimble · 20 Sep 2021 at 18:47

Can you cancel your direct debit before your final bill? Green imply that to refund you the credit on your account you need to keep the direct debit live. Is that actually correct?

I'd like my money out of Green ASAP as I've just a few days left before officially switching suppliers.

chrcoluk · 20 Sep 2021 at 18:49

hughtrimble said:
Can you cancel your direct debit before your final bill? Green imply that to refund you the credit on your account you need to keep the direct debit live. Is that actually correct?

I'd like my money out of Green ASAP as I've just a few days left before officially switching suppliers.

Depends how they do the refund, a DD can be used to send money both ways, no harm keeping it on longer as there is the DD guarantee to protect you.

MissChief · 20 Sep 2021 at 18:49

hughtrimble said:
Can you cancel your direct debit before your final bill? Green imply that to refund you the credit on your account you need to keep the direct debit live. Is that actually correct?

I'd like my money out of Green ASAP as I've just a few days left before officially switching suppliers.

They prefer you to keep the DD alive so if they owe you they can just transfer the money directly to you instead of sending a cheque. Of course if you owe them money they'll likely try and take it!

b0rn2sk8 · 20 Sep 2021 at 18:59

It took less than an hour when they did I’m sure you’ll be able to arrange for a mutually convenient hour to do it at some point.

ik9000 · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:09

on bulb fixed... any ideas what I should be doing right now as they're one of the ones reported as not being in a great place.

pastymuncher · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:23

I got the following email from Green today and it looks like they are trying to get a petition going in a attempt to oust Kwarteng. I wouldn't be surprised if they go under long before anything happens as a result of this.

Hello,

We have zero confidence in Kwasi Kwarteng continuing to act as the Business Secretary in the UK, due to the lack of support towards energy suppliers and their customers. In recent news, Kwarteng has had meetings with Ofgem and with large energy suppliers - neglecting smaller suppliers, with customers totalling in the millions and thousands of staff members.

Kwarteng said that small firms would be allowed to go bankrupt, with their customers auctioned off to the company prepared to offer them the cheapest rate (source). We believe that he is unfit for his current role and further action is needed to ensure that the energy market has adequate support.

Due to current wholesale costs and the actions of Kwarteng, customers are most likely to see a big increase in the cost of powering their homes in the coming months. Ofgem made Kwarteng aware of the ongoing pressure to energy suppliers on 26th March 2020.

Recent articles:
Four more small energy firms could go bust next week
‘I don’t think we’ll survive the winter’: a small energy supplier’s call for help
Gas prices: Are energy bills going up and what can I do?
U.K. Energy Firms Locked In Emergency Talks With Government
Ofgem Letter (March 2020)

Sign Petition

Regards,
The Team at Green

hughtrimble · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:28

chrcoluk said:
Depends how they do the refund, a DD can be used to send money both ways, no harm keeping it on longer as there is the DD guarantee to protect you.

MissChief said:
They prefer you to keep the DD alive so if they owe you they can just transfer the money directly to you instead of sending a cheque. Of course if you owe them money they'll likely try and take it!

Thank you both - I ask as they have ~£150 of mine, and the next DD of £50 is due the day after I officially switch. They won't have done the final checks before then, and given they're small I suspect they may go under. I realise the next company is supposed to take on the credit if the former closes, but they're both small so both may go!

ik9000 · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:39

bulb has about £100 of ours too. I hope they make it but it doesn't look great atm.

Relentless81 · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:54

I've got £250 credit with bulb at the moment, what is everyone doing who has a bulb account? Don't want to risk losing the money

b0rn2sk8 · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:58

The general consensus is to do nothing, you shouldn't lose money as balances get transferred to the new supplier if they go under.

pastymuncher said:
I got the following email from Green today and it looks like they are trying to get a petition going in a attempt to oust Kwarteng. I wouldn't be surprised if they go under long before anything happens as a result of this.

I got this, reading between the lines suggests they are not in a great place. You wouldn't send out this kind of message unless the proverbial was hitting the fan hard because of the risks of alienating your own customers. Funnily enough I started a switch away from them yesterday, just riding out the lower prices until they go up at the end of the month.

MissChief · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:58

Relentless81 said:
I've got £250 credit with bulb at the moment, what is everyone doing who has a bulb account? Don't want to risk losing the money

it should be protected and be transferred to your new supplier.

ik9000 · 20 Sep 2021 at 19:59

Relentless81 said:
I've got £250 credit with bulb at the moment, what is everyone doing who has a bulb account? Don't want to risk losing the money

Pass I have the same question. Apparently if the worst happens it will transfer anyway so meh... I'm more concerned re the tarriff and supplier we'd get lumped with. I have avoided certain companies on ethical grounds and it sounds like we'll have no say in who we get passed to.

Relentless81 · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:06

Wow really, anyone else not think this is all really strange has this even happened before!?

It doesn't look like there is anyone worth moving to so it's a case of sit back and wait to see who you get moved to and take whatever they want to charge you. It all seems very strange

b0rn2sk8 · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:14

These small energy companies go bust all the time, the only difference is the number of them going to the wall in a short period.

cheesyboy · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:14

Quite interesting that Good Energy rejected a 2nd hostile takeover offer from Ecotricity just last Friday. Will be intrigued to see how that works out for the shareholders in the coming weeks and months....

pastymuncher · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:16

I just started a switch from Green to Sainsbury's Energy (backed by Eon Next) on a 1 year fixed deal. It's a increase of £22 a month for me but is the cheapest and much less than many others were asking. I will have to have a smart meter installed but that's not a problem as I will have to sooner or later anyway. The prices are:-

Gas
3.802p per kwh
19.27p per day standing charge

Electricity
20.54p per kwh
20.54p per day standing charge

Electricity is a increase of 6p per kwh over my current tariff with Green but alternatives were asking 24p or more per kwh. At least the standing charges are reasonable as others were asking over 27p per day.

I get 6000 Nectar points as well.

ik9000 · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:19

Relentless81 said:
Wow really, anyone else not think this is all really strange has this even happened before!?

It doesn't look like there is anyone worth moving to so it's a case of sit back and wait to see who you get moved to and take whatever they want to charge you. It all seems very strange

tip of the iceberg. A lot of other commodities are regularly manipulated by investment banks etc even food prices. The rich corps are going to milk whatever resource they can. Then you have the strategic nation aspects like Russia holding the bulk of supply and not being too thrilled and accommodating etc. Don't think this will be the last. We have not taken energy security seriously and it's starting to come home to roost.

ik9000 · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:20

b0rn2sk8 said:
These small energy companies go bust all the time, the only difference is the number of them going to the wall in a short period.

Ofgem's letter to the gov in March stated not just small companies at risk with this. They reckon large ones could go too.

Jokester · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:29

ik9000 said:
tip of the iceberg. A lot of other commodities are regularly manipulated by investment banks etc even food prices. The rich corps are going to milk whatever resource they can. Then you have the strategic nation aspects like Russia holding the bulk of supply and not being too thrilled and accommodating etc. Don't think this will be the last. We have not taken energy security seriously and it's starting to come home to roost.

This.

The EU are now also panicing over their reliance on Russian gas, we then get our gas prices impacted by that as well since we import 50% of our gas now.

a1ex2001 · 20 Sep 2021 at 20:37

Zenduri said:
No chance, the backlash from consumer and consumer groups would be too much. It's going to be a gladiator tournament this winter for energy suppliers and i think there will be many who fall.

Why would the public object to a bailout we all shrugged off the saving of the banks which cost far more!