Ofgem seeks views.

Gareth56

Got an email from Ofgem inviting my views on the 65 day notice period because I enquired as to why Ofgem (that bastion of consumer defence against energy companies) had allowed energy companies 65 days to notify customers of any price changes instead of the previous 10 days.

The letter is at:-
Ofgem

Personally I prefered the 10 day limit you may like to send Ofgem your opinion.

Cardew

Surely the 65 working day rule works in the consumer's favour?

If you decide to switch supplier you get up to 4 months at the pre-increase rate.

How would reducing it to 10 days help customers.?

Premier_2

I might be wrong, but I thought the original idea behind the 65 (working) day notice was to allow suppliers to include such notification within their next scheduled billing rather than pay the additional costs that an individual notice would incur - costs that ultimately the consumer pays for.

Consider also that the earlier you are informed, the earlier you need to make a decision on whether to accept the changes or switch supplier. Martin had a red light on switching for over 10 days when the first of the suppliers suggested a price change. There is still one of the major six to declare what price changes if any will occur.

Also the longer the notice period, the longer you can have a supply at pre-increased prices.

1carminestocky

T'would be a great idea if only any of the energy suppliers had computer systems in place that could actually bill at the old rate. As per usual with anything to do with OFGEM supposedly working in the consumer's interests, it's all smoke and mirrors, I'm afraid.

Gareth56

Cardew wrote: »

Surely the 65 working day rule works in the consumer's favour?

If you decide to switch supplier you get up to 4 months at the pre-increase rate.

How would reducing it to 10 days help customers.?

My reasoning was that, according to the (old) T & C's, was if the company didn't inform the customer in writing within 10 days of the price increase being implemented the company couldn't charge the customer the new prices. This was the situation before [useless] Ofgem, the energy companies friend, changed the rules in favour of the energy companies giving them 65 days to inform their customers of any rises in prices.