atlantic gas & electric backdating price rizes

grant57 · 13 November 2008 at 7:36AM

Hi, I received a letter from Atlantic, for gas and electric combined telling me that prices had risen nearly 30% and 20% respectively and that it applied retrospectively. They had in effect backdated the rise over 2 months. I phoned them and the girl told me that she knew nothing about the retrospective price increase, but I should simply pay the bill anyway. I refused and asked to speak to a senior manager. She did know about the retrospective price rise and told me that they were within their rights to backdate rises for up to 65 days under their regulatory conditions. I informed her that I had both switched supplier and moved home and just wanted a final bill at the old rate and I would not pay for an increase that I had not been informed in advance of. I asked them to please take me to court as I would be very happy to defend myself there and that I will book an appointment with my MP to complain and contact Martin Lewis to ask him to start a campaign to end this practice and get consumers to reclaim the millions that they were in my opinion stealing from them. At this she could suddenly offered to settle my whole bill at the previous rate.

I suggest that all others do the same and refuse to pay increases from utilities that are backdated.
Martin, will you look into this with a view to starting a reclaim campaign and produce template letters etc?

Kind regards

Grant

DirectDebacle · 13 November 2008 at 10:56AM

You were lucky and shouldn't complain too much. Ofgem have made it one of their standard licence conditions that customers must be given 65 working days notice of price rises. The condition does not state that the notification must be before the price rise becomes effective. This condition applies to all the suppliers so whoever you switched to would have the same condition. You will find it somewhere in the terms and conditions you agreed to. It may not seem fair but those are the regulations.

The upside is if you do not agree to the price rise then as long as within 10 working days of receiving the notification you give your supplier notice you do not accept it and change supplier, then the price rise cannot be implemented. Up until the time you switched all your energy would be charged at the pre-increase price.

Atlantic have treated you more than fairly.

atlantic gas & electric backdating price rizes

Do you think utilities should be able to backdate price rises? 2 votes

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