Are you waiting on a refund from a defunct energy supplier?

This Which? article points out that Npower and Scottish Power do now fare well for customer service: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/01/best-and-worst-energy-companies-for-2021-revealed/ I landed up with Scottish Power as a result of a collective switching scheme and was very disappointed.

Thankfully customers of energy suppliers that go bust are protected but they have no choice of which company they are moved to. Perhaps Ofgem, the regulator, should have a look at the performance of companies before deciding which company should benefit from customers of failed energy suppliers.

I’ve been with Scottish Power recently and found they were quite good.

Me too, Derek. They regularly review my usage and have just reduced my monthly direct debit by £0.90. (the last reduction was larger as my usage has been less than I predicted, but it shows they are paying attention).

I wonder how accurate these ratings really are. My bills from SP are accurate and, while they are given a 1* rating for value for money they came out as a very competitive 6th when I searched for my last deal. Admittedly that was through USwitch, and was not offered direct, but I’m happy.

My contract ends in April so I’ll be searching the market, but avoiding companies that seem to have an uncertain basis. I think there are too many energy suppliers, some who are opportunistic and without a good financial base on which to ride out the ups and downs, as we see from failures.

I think we are fortunate to be protected financially if and when a cheap supplier goes broke. Ofgem then look to other suppliers to take on the customers, and select one they feel appropriate. Otherwise how would the energy be paid for that continues to be used and where would refunds come from?

Whilst that initial choice necessarily rests with Ofgem it is incorrect to say that the customer has no choice. They are not locked into a contract and can arrange their own supplier once the formalities have been completed with the “emergency” supplier.

This is the current Which? information about energy providers: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/energy-companies/article/best-and-worst-energy-companies/which-energy-survey-results-ajqM43e6ycY8#best-and-worst-energy-companies That does not imply that everyone will have a bad experience with a poorly rated company.

I mentioned in another Conversation that it’s worth finding out about small companies before signing up to a contract with them. I looked at a couple of those mentioned as offering good deals in a recent Which? articles and the recent accounts of one of them showed a large deficit.

Ofgem is supposed to be looking at the viability of new entrants to the energy supply industry but I believe it should keep an eye on existing players too. Customers are protected but as Paul and others have found, there can be problems. Having a turnover of small companies that not run sustainably will mean that costs of dealing with failures are passed on to other users.

If I remember correctly when Ofgem undertook measures to assess the financial viability of energy companies it restricted it to new entrants. It was explained why it was not retrospective. I do not know how Ofgem would take action against an existing energy company unless it broke their rules. If it did raise a question about their financial viability that resulted in a loss of customers and revenue I expect it could be sued.

There is little incentive for customers to look up the financial standing of cheap energy companies if they simply want the best tariffs, knowing they are protected if, and when, their supplier goes bust.

I remember this too, but I am concerned about the costs of dealing with company failures and the fact that some consumers have considerable problems with the transition to new suppliers.

I will be considering switching supplier later in the year and will be looking at company accounts before committing myself to a contract for the next year or two.

I also was with Yorkshire Energy (a trading name of Daisy Energy supply Ltd.) & was moved to Scottish Power when Ofgem appointed S.P. as S.O.L.R. for the ex Yorkshire Energy customers.
I only found out about Y.E’s collapse when I received an email from S.P. late on 7/12/20 advising me of the situation & requesting meter readings be taken & uploaded within 7 days, plus bank details to confirm/set up a new DD with themselves. Photos of meters & readings were taken the same day & uploaded to S.P. the following morning, along with bank details, & receipt of these received from S.P.
Long story cut short: S.P. failed to deliver on promises made about timescales etc. & lost the data I had already provided.
Have since moved from S.P. on 27/01/21 & am awaiting final bill from S.P.
Final bill arrived 17/02/21 from Y.E. & was correct. Final bill from S.P. should arrive within 14 days.
As I also had not been informed by S.P. of the specific standing charges or unit rates applicable to my address/postcode on the ‘Exclusive Tariff’, thus not been given the opportunity to make an informed choice, I will contest the final bill if S.P. attempt to charge anything other than the same rates I was on with Y.E.
Suggest you search Ofgem for pdf file: & download for your records. Page 4 makes interesting reading.
Also suggest if you need to complain about final bill or take S.P. to task you should communicate through the ‘RESOLVER’ platform which is associated with the Money Saving Expert site. Its free & records all communications & timescales on your behalf, and gives you reminders when next step needed or when case can be escalated.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/licence-guide-information-consumers

Sorry but the original link above did not upload correctly in my 16.31 post.

Hi Stuart, that sound like a serious mistake.

If you have not done this already, I suggest that you check that SP actually have the correct meter serial numbers registered against your account.

When I moved to a new property 9 years ago, I soon discovered that may gas account was linked to my neighbours’ meter and vice versa.

I had 4 electricity meters registered on the central data base. Old ones had, presumably, not been taken off when a new one was installed. It caused a delay in changing to a new supplier but npower – the chosen one – sorted it out pretty quickly.

My main problem with Scottish Power was over a growing credit balance. They kept wanting to increase my monthly direct debit, even when I was well in credit. At least they would agree with me and take prompt action but I became fed-up phoning them because at the time I could not manage my online account. Maybe online management is now available but it was not when I was a customer. Some people get on fine with Scottish Power, as you can read above.

I am with Ovo at present and see that I’m £40.83 in debit thanks to cold weather and being stuck at home. I could change the direct debit or make a one-off payment by visiting the website but the debt will clear with time now that the weather is warmer. I’m not sure what the future will bring because Ovo has greatly increased in size.

I just wish I could pay for what I use, perhaps clearing the balance monthly as I do for my credit cards. Unfortunately, that is an expensive way of paying for energy.

I hope you get sorted out, Rob.

I received my credit refund cheque yesterday and can now delete all my emails of complaint to Tonik and the Ombudsman – when they were still accepting complaints – and my emails to the Administrator and the SOLR. I believe they used their three month long ‘billing system upgrade’ to hide their true financial situation. They continued to deduct direct debits but were not producing bills. Customers like me didn’t want to switch away as our accounts were not up to date.

This experience has made me think switching suppliers outside the ones I have had a good experience with is not a good idea when I could encounter another Tonik situation. My mental health has suffered in the past year and I’m not referring to the pandemic.

Hi Geoff – Well done getting the problem resolved. Did you decide to use Resolver or was this suggested by Scottish Power? Several people have mentioned Resolver in other Conversations.

The up side, Geoff70, is that you chose to deal with a company that went broke, holding your money. Often, as an unsecured creditor, that money would have been lost. But the Ofgem scheme not only kept continuity of your supply but provided the money you had “lost”.

Well, except that the figure is now said to be only 1/3 rd of that. And October will be when the figure is at it highest, as equal monthly payments will have built up a credit over the summer, when we use less energy, in preparation for larger use during the winter.

Do we want to have equal monthly payments? It seems to suit many peoples budgeting.

I would prefer to pay for what I have used each month, but that’s an expensive way of buying energy. I would not object to equal monthly payments if that was the cheapest way to buy energy.

I am happy with my present service where I can increase or decrease my direct debit online or make a one-off payment – in a few seconds.

I’m believe Ovo is not the only energy retailer that lets customers set their DD payments. I’m sure I can do that with my current two, E.On and So Energy.

Yes, I mentioned recently that e.on provides its customers with an app. The biggest and most costly development has been smart metering and that should enable many more people to benefit from cheap rate electricity without the need for Economy 7/10.

Beryl – Ofgem has a lot to do to deal with and hopefully prevent unfair treatment of customers. They still have to get on top of the problem of small companies operating unsustainably and then going bust. Perhaps we might see more medium sized companies in future.

Thanks Kevin. Octopus has impressed Which? for a few years and I know several people who are happy customers. I am rather concerned by their accounts at present.

Smart metering will only benefit off peak users if energy suppliers offer appropriate tariffs, such as hourly or half hourly. Cheap off peak electricity will be accompanied by significantly more expensive peak time, I expect. Users will need to examine the pattern of their usage to decide whether they are likely to benefit, just as they did with Economy 7 for example. As far as I remember you need to use at least half of your electricity during the night to offset the higher daytime cost and break even.

Consumers have paid a fortune towards the roll out of smart meters, which most of us did not want, at least at the cost involved. The benefit to the industry will be the load can be better balanced over a 24 hour period and hopefully consumers will benefit by being able to choose to use electricity when it is cheaper – not just overnight but at certain times of the day. Obviously there will be peak times of the day when electricity is more expensive. A smart tariff might not suit you unless you can be flexible.

With Economy 7/10 the cheap rate period(s) are published, and there is a cost of installing dual meters and a timer. With smart metering anyone with a suitable (SMETS2) smart meter should be able to try the system and switch back to a conventional electricity tariff if they are not happy. The main or only player at present is Octopus, with their Agile tariff, which is claimed to offer half hourly pricing. There is no exit charge if you do decide to move.

I don’t use much electricity but welcome smart metering in principle.

Immersion heaters now come with time switches that can be set for the allocated E7 duration,; the downside of this means you would need to set your washing machine or other appliances to switch on when you are asleep to benefit from cheap off peak tariffs to avoid higher daytime costs, something I would be reluctant to do until unattended white goods are guaranteed not to malfunction
during washing and drying cycles.

I am hoping that encouragement to use our washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers overnight will raise awareness of the need to manufacture machines that will contain a fire if it starts when we are in bed or out of the house. Until that happens the advice must remain to turn appliances off at night.

I’d like to see sprinklers in kitchens, and particularly in multi-occupation buildings. There are far more causes of kitchen fires than just these appliances.

Hmm. I have white goods in the kitchen, the utility room and the garage. I would settle for products that won’t set the place on fire if they develop a fault.

Perhaps we should get back to discussing defunct energy suppliers.

Our electricity bills do not vary much throughout the year and are not particularly concerning relative to the gas bills. I am usually marginally in credit on electricity. On the other hand the gas bills do rise and fall significantly across the year and, as Beryl says, a number of different factors affect the cost of heating; I am currently in deficit on the gas account but expect to be in credit before the Autumn.

Since we need the heating on during the daytime rather than overnight and the only significant electricity load we have after midnight is occasional use of the dishwasher I cannot see that some sort of tariff split would make any beneficial difference. Although . . . I suppose we could turn the heating off at 6:30 pm, go to bed at 7:00 pm and get up at 2:00 am in future, but then because the house gets colder in the small hours we would probably need more heating [starting at 1:00 am]. We could then do all the washing and ironing, dishwashing and cooking on the cheap rate.

Because gas is a storable commodity that can easily meet fluctuations in demand there is no off-peak price advantage and, as has been said by others, there is no point in using electricity to heat water where there is a gas supply.

Those who charge electric vehicles and do not have dual meters would benefit from smart metering. Those who do use storage heaters could boost them during the afternoon but avoid early evening, when the load on the grid is highest and electricity would cost more. For those of us with gas heating there is not much incentive to look at smart tariffs and at present there seems little choice for domestic use.

At present Octopus claims to pay their customers to use energy at certain times, which looks like a gimmick and maybe not a responsible one.

I am a so energy customer and you are correct, you do have control over your DD payment amounts.