Energy Suppliers

BigBoy · 8 Oct 2020 at 07:13

Gixer said:
To me it doesn't work on a monthly basis though. If a supplier wants to alter my DD based on usage then fine set it up so I pay for what I use and actually promote that's how the DD will work, I've no issue with that and have available funds to do so. Hell I've the funds to pay for my years usage up front if they wanted it. The whole point of monthly payments to me is to take a years worth of usage, divide by 12 and pay that each month. I've provided evidence of what I use in a year and offered to pay a slightly higher rate than that even. Why do you need to be in debit? that just seems crazy to me. I'd much prefer my money to be in my account making me interest rather than my suppliers account.

By regulation the supplier cannot hold on to more money than is required to clear your account after 6 months. Any more than that and they have to give it back to you.

This was brought in back in 2016 to stop the public loosing out if a company.went under (this happened several times in a couple of years before 2016).

Energy firms were floating the available cash on th stock market and making huge profits on money that did not belong to them. Eon, Npower and SSE were all fined very heavily for this irrisponsible practice.

darael · 8 Oct 2020 at 08:52

Gixer said:
To me it doesn't work on a monthly basis though. If a supplier wants to alter my DD based on usage then fine set it up so I pay for what I use and actually promote that's how the DD will work, I've no issue with that and have available funds to do so. Hell I've the funds to pay for my years usage up front if they wanted it. The whole point of monthly payments to me is to take a years worth of usage, divide by 12 and pay that each month. I've provided evidence of what I use in a year and offered to pay a slightly higher rate than that even. Why do you need to be in debit? that just seems crazy to me. I'd much prefer my money to be in my account making me interest rather than my suppliers account.

It's all about taking payments that represent your usage without letting you fall into debt. The buffer you build up during summer will be quickly used up in winter, but sometimes people don't like to see their balance so much in credit.

Psycho Sonny · 8 Oct 2020 at 11:29

Jez said:
Just had an email from Outfoxthemarket taking my tariff from "great" to "extremely average indeed" to the point that i am going to be forced to switch, again.

Energy companies are so tiring

It's why I went with a fixed tariff rather than variable with outfox the market.

I don't like the idea of sudden hikes although it can also go down but I doubt it with everyone working from home.

[Darkend]Viper · 8 Oct 2020 at 11:31

Hi all,

Just after some advice, I'm currently with Tonik Energy who are ceasing to trade, and understand that I will be moved to a new supplier by ofgem. I've had problems with tonik since earlier this year and managed to speak to them 2 weeks ago as my supply address was wrong, and they couldn't take meter readings. Due to all this I built up nearly £1200 in credit. I spoke to a customer advisor who said that they would get the supply address updated and meter reads submitted that I gave them over the phone, and when I logged into my online account a couple of days ago this hadn't been sorted. Now I can't login to my online account and not sure if my supply address has been updated, or my balance has been updated.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and what the possible outcomes could be?

brightside229 · 8 Oct 2020 at 13:49

Im with Tonik energy and have not had any correspondence from them regarding them ceasing trading :s

edit*

Just tried to log in and just getting the message about them ceasing trading. How bad is that? Zero contact about this from them at all! Would never have known unless i saw your post lol. I think i am in credit by around £100

[Darkend]Viper · 8 Oct 2020 at 13:51

I never got any correspondence, just went to log in and was was met with the page saying they are ceasing trading. Just wondering how long all this is going to take to get sorted.

brightside229 · 8 Oct 2020 at 14:03

Not sure, but after a quick google sounds like it can be a bit of a headache and take some time for it all to be sorted, i suppose one good thing was i renewed my contract last month and got a free boiler service for doing so

Semple · 8 Oct 2020 at 14:04

I think you should be fine

What happens with the credit on my account?
If you have any credit on your account from the energy supplier that’s gone bust, Ofgem has a system in place to ensure that money gets back to you. The new supplier will honour any outstanding credit balances.

It may take a bit of time to reimburse this after the dust has settled.

Quoted from: https://lookaftermybills.com/blog/energy-supplier-has-gone-bust/#:~:text=If your Energy supplier has,of last resort (SoLR).

And direct from Ofgem:

Your new supplier will pay back the outstanding credit you may have.

Once we have appointed the new supplier, they will contact you to explain how this will work. Costs for energy you have used but have not yet been billed for will be deducted from your account balance.

Our advice is to take a meter reading and a note of your account balance if you know it, and to wait for them to get in touch with you.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/...net-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-out-business

the shadow · 8 Oct 2020 at 14:09

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/10/tonik-energy-ceases-trading---what-you-need-to-know/

Gixer · 8 Oct 2020 at 14:55

darael said:
It's all about taking payments that represent your usage without letting you fall into debt. The buffer you build up during summer will be quickly used up in winter, but sometimes people don't like to see their balance so much in credit.

Agreed, hence why I provided my actuals from last year and during that period I was having building work carried out which'll elevate usage.

I've a plan now. I'll just pay £85 until my meter readings start dropping from the suppliers guesstimate readings and then I'll request a refund and them to lower my DD. There's no point providing them any further evidence of my yearly usage, they've dug their heels in. I'll just prepare for the battle which'll be around late spring.

kinger8938 · 9 Oct 2020 at 16:45

Switched to Octopus from BG. They took over our supply on the 3rd.

What happens with BG now? Last time I checked I was £130 in credit but if I sign in to that account now, all traces of being an energy customer has gone?

I assume they send a final bill or something but I've heard nothing from them at all really.

Kainz · 9 Oct 2020 at 17:08

The last time I did that when I switched to Octopus, they (BG) sent me a cheque in the post for a good couple of hundred. This would have been 2018 iirc.

edit: quick clarification on BG

jpaul · 10 Oct 2020 at 07:47

unusual powercuts last night following storms - power came back on but, apparently at a lower voltage ... how does that happen ?

I had some older electrical appliances that were no longer working properly, and i thought had maybe been taken out by a surge,
so was adding up the cost, but, in retrospect, think these had older transformer based supplies, as opposed to switch mode ?

bimbleuk · 13 Oct 2020 at 07:52

Last couple of days for Octopus Week where they have doubled the joining reward to £100.

Agile tariff* especially good for people stuck at home as I save ~25% compared to the standard fixed rate. Standard offsets the peak demand by spreading the cost over the whole day which isn't the best model for those using energy all day.

*requires a smart meter so you can supply half hour usage info back to the supplier.

pastymuncher · 13 Oct 2020 at 11:09

As my EON deal is soon coming to a end I have started the switch to Green and their Sturgeon 12m fixed tariff which was coming out second cheapest for me. Their variable rate was cheapest for me but with Brexit rapidly approaching I wanted to fix just in case prices shoot up. The standing charges are higher at 18p per day each but EON was abnormally low at only 5.250p per day each. The unit rates are quite a bit cheaper at 2.801p per kWh for gas and 14.745p per kWh for electricity (EON was 3.278p per kWh gas and 16.338p per kWh electricity). They have excellent feedback on MSE's Cheap Energy Club forums and they have a rep on there who is always quick to respond to questions so it seems to be a worthwhile change for me. They say the switch will take around 17 days.

zom247 · 15 Oct 2020 at 14:02

My EON bill is also coming to an end shortly. After doing the usual comparison sites BG are coming up one of the cheapest for me this time round, however they state you have to have a smart meter fitted within 3 months or you'll be moved to another tariff. Looking at the other lowest quotes I got they also required you to have a smart meter. It's not something I'm keen on having fitted though or should I just bite the bullet and have one?

BigBoy · 15 Oct 2020 at 14:06

zom247 said:
My EON bill is also coming to an end shortly. After doing the usual comparison sites BG are coming up one of the cheapest for me this time round, however they state you have to have a smart meter fitted within 3 months or you'll be moved to another tariff. Looking at the other lowest quotes I got they also required you to have a smart meter. It's not something I'm keen on having fitted though or should I just bite the bullet and have one?

Why are you not keen? Have a read through the last few posts from me in this thread, smart metering is nothing to be afraid of.

zom247 · 15 Oct 2020 at 14:21

BigBoy said:
Why are you not keen? Have a read through the last few posts from me in this thread, smart metering is nothing to be afraid of.

Probably stems from all the problems people had with SMETS 1 meters and me being stubborn when someone tells me I have to have one fitted to get their deal

I'll have a read through your posts though. You still driving buses?

BigBoy · 15 Oct 2020 at 19:03

zom247 said:
Probably stems from all the problems people had with SMETS 1 meters and me being stubborn when someone tells me I have to have one fitted to get their deal

I'll have a read through your posts though. You still driving buses?

No mate been working for EDF for the last 5 years, went back to school and completely retrained back to my engineering roots!

zom247 · 16 Oct 2020 at 11:27

BigBoy said:
No mate been working for EDF for the last 5 years, went back to school and completely retrained back to my engineering roots!

Jeez, didn't realise it was that long ago that I sold some stuff to you (or did I buy it?) at the bus station in Chippers.

BG coming up the best for me at the moment on all the comparison sites and they have a year of boiler/plumbing cover with it as well. Got about 6 weeks before my current tariff ends though.