Gas & Electricity Roll on contract for business

bailey59

Hello, I was wondering if anyone can help me please. We are a small business that has Gas & Electricty with N Power. We didnt realise until it was too late that we are on a roll on contract with them and now we want to move suppliers N Power say we cant. We are really struggling financially and desperately need to reduce our overheads. The contract apparently came up for renewal in August this year. If we cant swap suppliers to a cheaper rate we may have to fold. We tried to send a back dated cancellation letter to N Power but they refused to accept this. Can anyone give me any advice please, can we get out of this contract at all?

KimYeovil

bailey59 wrote: »

can we get out of this contract at all?

No. I take it this is your first ever business? Did none of the consultants and advisers you saw when starting up not point out this elementary 101 detail?

Premier_2

bailey59 wrote: »

... If we cant swap suppliers to a cheaper rate we may have to fold. ...can we get out of this contract at all?

That's about the only way. :cool:

SMEWARRIOR

bailey59 wrote: »

Hello, I was wondering if anyone can help me please. We are a small business that has Gas & Electricty with N Power. We didnt realise until it was too late that we are on a roll on contract with them and now we want to move suppliers N Power say we cant. We are really struggling financially and desperately need to reduce our overheads. The contract apparently came up for renewal in August this year. If we cant swap suppliers to a cheaper rate we may have to fold. We tried to send a back dated cancellation letter to N Power but they refused to accept this. Can anyone give me any advice please, can we get out of this contract at all?

___________________________________________________________

Hi there,

Officially the energy companies say that this is because they 'assume' the customer is happy to renew at the prices on their new contract and once that period elapses it then can mean they have already invested in electricity in that area based on the assumption of having you for another year...which is why they won't let you go.

HOWEVER, if you are finding this extremely difficult I would urge you not to let this fold your business. So, although I am unsure of what NPowers policy is on this issue I assume they all take a similar stance....

1) You will no longer be in contract if you are no longer responsible for the supply of electricity at the property. This means, if YOU sign your business over to someone else, or register it in someone elses name..take a meter reading and call into NPower and notify them that there has been a COT (Change Of Tenancy). You can do this if you like, to inform them that you are leaving the property and it will no longer be your premises, give them a final meter reading and they will then cancel your contract.

BEWARE - they may require some sort of evidence of change like a new tenancy agreement with the landlord (shouldn't be too hard to get) or a new registration with Co.House etc.

BEWARE - as soon as they recieve notification/evidence of the COT and it is accepted the contract will be cancelled and the property will be charged on OUT OF CONTRACT rates - these will more than likely be published somewhere on the website- but they can be up to double.

So my advice would be to renegotiate with another supplier 4-6 weeks in advance of the COT being done so that you can be taken over in time. OR renegotiate NEW contract prices with NPOWER which will be added to your account that day.

DO NOT leave it too long on Out of contract rates because they are really high.

CALL NPOWER and ask them their process for a)selling the business to someone else (which is what you could say you are doing) b) moving etc etc to get as much info on their process as you can

DO NOT mention that you are handing this over to your wife/daughter etc etc. They don't need to know this.

This is the only way you can get out of the contract you are in.

Hope this helps.


SMEWARRIOR:A