Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

heather8

My supplier did a similar thing to me too, and I too hadn’t checked the wording of the contract carefully, but they did say I could cancel the contract, although the price I paid was less than you ended up paying, I was probably a bit lucky in that I had my last top up at the end of February. My contract said 37pp per litre I think I paid around 55ppl.

It pays to check out the names of the directors of the companies here in a Yorkshire, as they have same directors.  You can do this using company house website for free.

I too won’t be using Northern Energy, now thanks for sharing that.

kassy64

My contract with Flogas is 38ppl but originally 35ppl and terms of contract allowed them to up price by a max of 3ppl in 2nd year which they did. However I believe they upped the standing charge as well quoting exceptional circumstances 

mcmullank

Just reading these last couple of posts, it is apparent that people don't read their contracts sufficiently.  

There is plenty of examples on this thread of how unscrupulous these companies are and that when agreeing a fixed price to ensure that you have in writing that the price is fixed under all circumstances.  Where you receive a contract that allows the price to increase, ensure that you receive a response from the supplier stating that your fixed price takes precedence over clause x.xx and y.yy otherwise, refuse to sign the agreement.

For example on my last contract, I made sure that the person who took my verbal acceptance on the phone also agreed, in writing that

"clause 6.2 refers to the variable rate agreement, however I know it doesn’t specifically state this but the fixed rate option supersedes this clause"

kassy64

mcmullank said:

Just reading these last couple of posts, it is apparent that people don't read their contracts sufficiently.  

There is plenty of examples on this thread of how unscrupulous these companies are and that when agreeing a fixed price to ensure that you have in writing that the price is fixed under all circumstances.  Where you receive a contract that allows the price to increase, ensure that you receive a response from the supplier stating that your fixed price takes precedence over clause x.xx and y.yy otherwise, refuse to sign the agreement.

For example on my last contract, I made sure that the person who took my verbal acceptance on the phone also agreed, in writing that

"clause 6.2 refers to the variable rate agreement, however I know it doesn’t specifically state this but the fixed rate option supersedes this clause"

Re. Your comment above I knew exactly what the terms of my contract were thanks and accepted that a 3ppl rise in 2nd year was acceptable as I was getting a very decent rate at the time. The standing charge increase was minimal and was not in original contract. Email stated industry allowed them to up it in exceptional circumstances. Considering I’m still paying only 38ppl and will be until next year still reckon it was a very good deal. 

mcmullank

kassy64 said:

mcmullank said:

Just reading these last couple of posts, it is apparent that people don't read their contracts sufficiently.  

There is plenty of examples on this thread of how unscrupulous these companies are and that when agreeing a fixed price to ensure that you have in writing that the price is fixed under all circumstances.  Where you receive a contract that allows the price to increase, ensure that you receive a response from the supplier stating that your fixed price takes precedence over clause x.xx and y.yy otherwise, refuse to sign the agreement.

For example on my last contract, I made sure that the person who took my verbal acceptance on the phone also agreed, in writing that

"clause 6.2 refers to the variable rate agreement, however I know it doesn’t specifically state this but the fixed rate option supersedes this clause"

Re. Your comment above I knew exactly what the terms of my contract were thanks and accepted that a 3ppl rise in 2nd year was acceptable as I was getting a very decent rate at the time. The standing charge increase was minimal and was not in original contract. Email stated industry allowed them to up it in exceptional circumstances. Considering I’m still paying only 38ppl and will be until next year still reckon it was a very good deal. 

Our posts crossed, I wasn't referring to your post rather the two beforehand where the supplier increased the costs drastically on what the customer thought was a fixed price deal.

kassy64

👍 you are right however that even without a mention in the contract they still put up my standing charge minimally due to exceptional circumstances so even with contract they still have a way out quoting “industry” allowed it. I did query it but was reassured they could increase the charge due to delivery costs. I suppose I could have followed it up and pursued it legally but could have cost me a fortune I would never get back. Still, I will bear this in mind when my contract expires next year. Problem is down south we are somewhat limited to suppliers. I’m dreading renewing next year as price could be Sky high I do wonder if my current supplier would recontract me now but then I would lose the benefit of only paying 38p from now until end of Jan. 

callenbll

mcmullank said:

Just reading these last couple of posts, it is apparent that people don't read their contracts sufficiently.  

There is plenty of examples on this thread of how unscrupulous these companies are and that when agreeing a fixed price to ensure that you have in writing that the price is fixed under all circumstances.  Where you receive a contract that allows the price to increase, ensure that you receive a response from the supplier stating that your fixed price takes precedence over clause x.xx and y.yy otherwise, refuse to sign the agreement.

For example on my last contract, I made sure that the person who took my verbal acceptance on the phone also agreed, in writing that

"clause 6.2 refers to the variable rate agreement, however I know it doesn’t specifically state this but the fixed rate option supersedes this clause"

Yep, thanks for that Captain Hindsight . You learn from these things, but hopefully others learn from my mistake as well. It was a renewal with the same company, as their service had previously been good, and the price honoured. In the early part of the second contract, there was a temporary increase. This was communicated well (via a letter), the price was comparable to other deals people were getting, and the price went back to the contracted level after that.

However, it soon spiralled out of control, up to the 85ppl and absolutely no communication aside from the bill landing through the letterbox. This appears far more than what others have been paying. So, I wouldn't have minded a reasonable market price, or the opportunity to exit the contract and shop around, not just being completely held to ransom. I got a minor rebate (20ppl) on the last order, but still had months of paying over the odds. I don't want to see companies going out of business, and had I been given a fair price for both parties, then it's likely I would have renewed when the contract ends this autumn.

So, you're 100% correct, in terms of reading the small print. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a mishmash, of postal contracts and the final quote coming via email, without T&Cs attached. However, I still accept that I should have hunted them out. An expensive mistake, and hopefully others won't make the same.

Thanks

pinkteapot

Badger04 said:

Back on tanks. I wanted to check situation about safety with my underground tank. Rang flogas and they sent out an engineer to check. He did a full inspection and we agreed to put in posts to stop possibility of driving over tank. This is really important as underground tank covers will not take the weight of a car on them and you could have a serious uncontrollable release if the top of the tank broke.

Is your tank lid near your drive or a road then? 

We're in a 2019 new-build. Calor have supplied us since the house was built. We tried to switch to Flogas last year but they wouldn't accept us because the tank lid is in grass next to the drive. 

What sort of posts have you installed?

JerryW

mcmullank said:

Sorting_Hat said:

...

My tank is allegedly visually inspected every fill.  Either this is carried out by people not qualified to inspect the tank or the incumbent is fully aware of the tank non-compliance.

It is complete nonsense to have the current supplier filling the tank for 2 years and then when you want to switch for the new supplier to say "sorry, tank isn't compliant with UKLPG codes".  The tanks don't move and what this indicates is that your current supplier is filling an "illegal" tank.  A tank which they own and allegedly maintain. 

This inconsistency shows that the issue isn't really around safety but more likely commercial interests taking priority.

Too true.

However the current tank owner does have a legally enforceable duty to make the tank compliant, if it isn't ...

JerryW

Has anyone renewed a fixed contract lately? My 2 year fix at 29p/l ends at the end of this month and I doubt the price will be going down