Iresa Limited - New Energy Company?

macman · 12 April 2017 at 1:16PM

I suppose it's too much to hope that the now redundant Iresa 'sales team' might now be redeployed to 'customer services'.
Or is it just one man and a dog?

poppellerant · 12 April 2017 at 1:23PM

This is my response from Ofgem:

Thank you for your email.

You may be aware that Ofgem does not have a direct role in investigating or resolving individual consumer complaints. Should you require advice, you may wish to contact Citizens Advice consumer service. The Citizens Advice consumer service provides free, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues. They can also transfer calls to escalated contacts within the supplier.

For further information please visit their website https://www.adviceguide.org.uk or call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 040506. You can write to them at the following address: Citizens Advice consumer service, Second floor, Fairfax House, Merrion Street, Leeds LS2 8JU.

Whilst Ofgem does not have a direct role in handling individual disputes, we do have a role in enforcing consumer protection legislation. I have therefore retained a copy of your email for our files for market monitoring purposes.

Kind regards,

Hanane Chergui

System · 12 April 2017 at 1:39PM

poppellerant wrote: »

This is my response from Ofgem:

A standard response from Ofgem, but having exchanged a number of e-mails with Ms Chergui about the role and responsibilities of regulators, the bigger the file that Ofgem has on the matter the better. That said, Ofgem is, in my view - and by a margin, the weakest of the OF regulators when it comes to compliance monitoring and enforcement. I would like to be proved wrong.

System · 12 April 2017 at 2:05PM

Raxiel wrote: »

The multiplier is for the conversion from supplied volume (m³ or ft³) to billed energy (kWh). It is a normal part of any gas bill. It is explained, see the yellow box near the bottom of page 2.

.

Looking at back at old gas bills from a number of suppliers, I haven't found one that uses a multiplier as Iresa does. (That said, I accept that every conversion can be a multiplier in its simplest form)

My old gas bills all contain a statement such as this:

•3 units x 1.02264 (conversion factor) x 39.2 (calorific value) ÷ 3.6 (to get kilowatt hours) = 33 kWh•
We measure the gas you use in cubic metres, but like all suppliers we charge for gas in kilowatt hours. You can find the calculation we use to do
this below your readings - all gas suppliers use the same calculation.

Indeed, the Regulations make two very clear statements:

The CV used for consumer billing should be an average of the daily average values received from National Grid for the billing period. The use of a fixed CV, which some suppliers refer to as an ‘industry standard’, is not consistent with the Regulations.

And:

Requirement to truncate

Regulation 3 (2) is clear that when calculating CV “any amount of less than 0.1 megajoules per cubic metre shall be ignored.”

This means that for a given gas billing period, suppliers should truncate the average CV to one decimal place. Rounding average CV is not consistent with the Regulations, nor is calculating to more than one decimal place.

with a final statement of:

The Regulations provide important consumer protections by ensuring that all suppliers use the same methodology for calculating CV.

FWiW, my average daily supply CV since the 5th December 2016 is 39.483 which, for billing purposes, I read as 39.4. This is consistent with my previous gas bills from other suppliers.

youravinalarrrf · 12 April 2017 at 2:58PM

Hengus wrote: »

Iresa's tariffs have disappeared from CEC and its website is showing Not Taking New Orders.

I'm aware it's happened before but I can't honestly see this being a self imposed or voluntary move this time can you? Why would any company want to deliberately stop their own growth?

Hopefully Ofgem have finally had enough and taken action behind the scenes to stop it getting any worse.

If this is the case only when Iresa can prove they can provide adequate levels of customer service to their existing customers and fully comply with the terms and conditions of their Operators Licenses including having the ability to correctly bill their customers this restriction on taking on new customers will be lifted.

After giving this serious consideration my patience with having Iresa as my gas supplier has finally run out and after being a customer for only a couple of months!

Iresa have had more than enough time to sort out their billing issues which despite stating they had they clearly haven't. Even now I'm still not convinced that Iresa fully understand what is actually required.

Combine that with their absolutely appalling levels of customer service which have not only never got any better but have actually got considerably worse and the only sensible decision for me is to switch away.

When will I ever learn that cost most definitely isn't everything but I keep on making the same mistake in the hope that I'll strike it lucky!

I'm now seriously considering switching my gas back to Zog Energy Mercury 12 if only for the complete peace of mind I know it will provide. For my usage it's only an extra £10 per year which is very little to pay for the peace of mind but it does come with a £30 early exit fee penalty.

Raxiel · 12 April 2017 at 4:27PM

Hengus wrote: »

Looking at back at old gas bills from a number of suppliers, I haven't found one that uses a multiplier as Iresa does. (That said, I accept that every conversion can be a multiplier in its simplest form)...

True, I meant that multiplying the reading by CV*CF/3.6 is normal, but yes, Iresas way of conveying that information is certainly... unique

youravinalarrrf wrote: »

I'm now seriously considering switching my gas back to Zog Energy Mercury 12 if only for the complete peace of mind I know it will provide. For my usage it's only an extra £10 per year which is very little to pay for the peace of mind but it does come with a £30 early exit fee penalty.

I've mentioned before that I'm not too bothered about minor errors as long as they get sorted by the end of the contract, but the threshold for me to seriously consider a switch back to E.ON is £100 on the annual total based on my own projected usage. Their latest tariff was £120 more. If they can just close that gap...

FullForce · 12 April 2017 at 4:45PM

Malcolm_E wrote: »

I have found Iresa extremely poor at responding to emails when there is an issue.

Also, I have just received my first gas bill and they have applied what they call a 'multiplier' (unexplained) to the number of KWh I have been charged for, charging me for almost 11 times more gas than I've actually used. They have failed to reply to my email about it. Also, they make it hard to find a phone number, but when I did find a number and tried to phone to get the bill changed, I was in a queue of over 30 people, so had to ring off.

In addition, each time you send a reminder email to [EMAIL="home@iresa.co.uk"]home@iresa.co.uk[/EMAIL] , it starts a new email thread on your online account which makes the whole situation very confusing.

Thanks for the warning but...
Your gas meter does not record kWh.
It's the same for all suppliers. Check your previous bills. :cool:

FullForce · 12 April 2017 at 4:48PM

Hengus wrote: »

Iresa's tariffs have disappeared from CEC and its website is showing Not Taking New Orders.

MSE has been warning about the sustainability of the super cheap tariff.

They've probably pulled it. I think MSE said it was by far and away the cheapest tariff out there.

If you missed it, it sounds like you've probably missed out, sorry.

I'm sure they will have a revised tariff out soon, but with EDF having said they are increasing prices (on top of the price increase announced last month), I think the only way is up at present.

System · 12 April 2017 at 5:15PM

FullForce wrote: »

MSE has been warning about the sustainability of the super cheap tariff.

They've probably pulled it. I think MSE said it was by far and away the cheapest tariff out there.

If you missed it, it sounds like you've probably missed out, sorry.

I'm sure they will have a revised tariff out soon, but with EDF having said they are increasing prices (on top of the price increase announced last month), I think the only way is up at present.

Who knows? The bigger question is whether or not Iresa has forward purchased enough energy at an affordable price to sustain the customers already on supply until the end of their contracts? I very much hope that they have been able to do so. I have no wish to see any supplier go under: there are no winners if that happens.

FullForce · 12 April 2017 at 5:38PM

Hengus wrote: »

Who knows? The bigger question is whether or not Iresa has forward purchased enough energy at an affordable price to sustain the customers already on supply until the end of their contracts? I very much hope that they have been able to do so. I have no wish to see any supplier go under: there are no winners if that happens.

Ah, the speculation continues...

In the mean time, learn to make hay whilst the sun shines.

Btw, the sun has just gone in :cool:

Perhaps they have closed their books as the energy they have forward bought has now all been accounted for?
Now if they were continuing to sell at such cheap rates despite them knowing that, you may well have had a valid point. But they have stopped temporarily.

Or it may simply be they are not wishing to grow too quickly, need to get their systems in place properly before taking on additional customers who are flocking to them?
I remember Flow have done this in the past ... and they are still trading

Tesco Bank stopped taking on new current account holders because the mass influx of new customers rushing to snap up their offerings was too big for them to handle. No sign they are going bust. In fact, they have recently started taking on new customers again ... but a new ciustomer today will not get the same amazing deals those who got in early secured.

As I said, make hay whilst the sun shines. Miss it, miss out.

Btw, in my opinion, it was only their electricity that was a stonking good deal.
There are still gas suppliers out there offering better deals than the last Iresa tariff.

Or are you suggesting all those cheaper gas suppliers might all be going bust too???

Iresa Limited - New Energy Company?

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