Mis-sold? & resultant exit fee

PocketGuy

Hi
Hope this isn't covered elsewhere - couldn't find anything similar, but I can't believe we're alone in this...

We were on a capped deal with Scottish Power which was due to come to an end recently. Out of the blue, my wife received a call from British Gas offering their Price Protection 2011 deal and claiming a reduction (key point) in the monthly DD. We fell for it.

We rumbled British Gas and flipped back to Scottish Power on a pre-August increase Fix, but BG have hit us with a £100 exit fee(!) and are insisting that we "have to pay"! Surely if the sale was based on false or misleading information, they have no basis for this charge??

Anyone been through this? Any first-hand or authoritative help would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

There is an exit fee in the T & C of BG 2011.

What in precise terms was the false and misleading information were you given? The tariff details are normally pretty accurate.

If you make a claim in the Small Claims Court, BG will probably waive the fee rather than face the bad publicity.

Or contact the Regulator and explain your case.

However if you just refuse to pay, then the debt will no doubt be handed to a debt collection agency with all the hassle that involves.

Incisor

PocketGuy wrote: »

Hi
Hope this isn't covered elsewhere - couldn't find anything similar, but I can't believe we're alone in this...

We were on a capped deal with Scottish Power which was due to come to an end recently. Out of the blue, my wife received a call from British Gas offering their Price Protection 2011 deal and claiming a reduction (key point) in the monthly DD. We fell for it.

We rumbled British Gas and flipped back to Scottish Power on a pre-August increase Fix, but BG have hit us with a £100 exit fee(!) and are insisting that we "have to pay"! Surely if the sale was based on false or misleading information, they have no basis for this charge??

Anyone been through this? Any first-hand or authoritative help would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

As you were sold on the phone, the Distance Selling Regulations apply. So if you cancelled within the time limit [14 days?], there will be no penalty. [I think - you need to check it out]

PocketGuy

Thanks for the response.
The misleading information was the 'offer' of a reduction in what we naturally interpreted as monthly costs, ie the lower DD. On the basis that the tariffs with the BG Fix were higher than those we had at the time with SP, how can this not be interpreted as misleading (even if we were supplied the tariffs by BG)?

Yesterday, btw, I called the Energy Ombudsman, who said there may be a case, but I'm frankly amazed that there is no clear guidance or ruling on this.
My understanding from digging around is that exit fees are becoming increasingly common, and (with predicted falling prices) I'm struggling to see how this is now anything more than another method to pull in more quick profit.

Anyway, the Ombudsman suggested we contact BG's Head of Complaints and kick off the process from there. Let's see what happens...