Letter today increase 2 wk ago. Is it legal?

coletteacsk

I'm with Southern Electric for gas and elec. I knew an increase was coming but did not expect to recieve a letter only today telling me prices will go up from 25th August.(2 weeks ago!) :mad:

Is this legal? Surely you should be given notice?

alyson2208

i got a similar letter today from npower prices are effective as of 29th august

EnglishMohican

I got one as well. I plan to change supplier. If you tell Southern or nPower that you intend to change and then get on with it, they have to continue to supply you at the old prices until you do transfer. Its in the contract terms and conditions. There are time limits - but you could get 6 to 8 weeks of gas/electric at the old prices. But be careful - if you leave it more than a couple of days to start the process then you may miss out - timing is everything.

KimYeovil

No, they do not need to give you notice. You have to tell them within fourteen days of them informing you about the new prices. Unfortunately they can backdate the higher prices by up to three months (65 working days.) Post a registered letter to your supplier telling them you are not happy and reject the new contract. And quickly choose a new supplier.

Cardew

This long notice works to the consumer's advantage as you can now get gas/electricty at the old rate for several weeks if you decide to change supplier.

You would have to be stranded on a desert island not to know from media announcements that your company had increased prices; and you probably won't have mains gas and electricity on the island - and nobody is going to rescue you anyway!

JayMT

EnglishMohican wrote: »

I got one as well. I plan to change supplier. If you tell Southern or nPower that you intend to change and then get on with it, they have to continue to supply you at the old prices until you do transfer. Its in the contract terms and conditions. There are time limits - but you could get 6 to 8 weeks of gas/electric at the old prices. But be careful - if you leave it more than a couple of days to start the process then you may miss out - timing is everything.

How exactly does the timing work, and how strict are they?

I had a letter from npower which cleverly didn't specifiy the day of the month, only the month and year (Sep 08). A previously letter from them which was dated took five days to arrive.

So would they start the 10 working days from 1 Sep? Or the day I received it, on the 5th?

To complicate matters, I'm still in the middle of a transfer from Eon to npower, and I've received Eon's letter about their price increase yesterday. Their letter was also dated simply 'September 2008'.

Cardew

JayMT wrote: »

How exactly does the timing work, and how strict are they?

I had a letter from npower which cleverly didn't specifiy the day of the month, only the month and year (Sep 08). A previously letter from them which was dated took five days to arrive.

So would they start the 10 working days from 1 Sep? Or the day I received it, on the 5th?

To complicate matters, I'm still in the middle of a transfer from Eon to npower, and I've received Eon's letter about their price increase yesterday. Their letter was also dated simply 'September 2008'.

You have 14 days from receipt of the letter.(or dispatch?)I suspect if you write to them and demand that you are re-instated to your pre-increase tariff pending leaving the company, it won't be worth the bother for them to dispute timing.