Ending contract with Scottish Power - cancellation fee?

jaxkesa

I wonder if anyone can help me with this - I just got an email from SP saying my Discounted Energy Offer ended on 31st March. There is a new 'Discounted Energy April 2011' offer which I can sign up for but it says 'we may have to charge a cancellation fee if you choose to leave before this Offer ends'.

It then goes on to say 'You have the right to end your contract and have 20 working days from receipt of this letter to do so. If you do that, and the transfer of supplier process begins no later than 15 working days after you inform us, the new prices will not apply.'

I want to switch supplier so I can get a non Economy 7 meter installed for free (SP won't do it and I am paying more than I want at the moment). Does this mean I can use uSwitch or another site and choose a different supplier without SP charging me a cancellation fee?

The fee is what I want to avoid so I think I can avoid it if I switch now, but was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar position? I've looked at the terms on the website but can't see anything clear about how long this cancellation fee applies.

kjsmith7

If your E-Mail was sent 31st March and you have 20 working days, you need to telephone them and ask to be opted out of the roll off onto the new tariff, and moved to their standard tariff. That way, whilst you are moving to a new supplier, you'll be paying their standard rates but won't incur an exit penalty in the few short weeks (usually around 4-6 weeks) it takes to switch

TUS

I need to do this too. Any ideas what the "standard" tariff is called? Or is that a silly question?

Edit - you can do it online "Change my service" and then select "Online - Standard".

TUS

There was a link in the email about this where you could Opt Out. So I clicked it, confirmed to Opt out and got a confirmation mail stating I had opted out. But my online account still shows I'm on the capped tariff ... so I assume I have to opt out AND manually move to the standard tariff. Or will they move me to standard at the end of the stated period (14th May)?

keith1950

Hi, last time I opted out via email link it took several days to update in my online account. If it does'nt update within the 20 days give them a ring.

TUS

Cheers. Assume it's safe to crack on with starting a move to another supplier in the meantime?

keith1950

Yes, theres 14 days before they contact your old supplier and then up to 4 weeks after that before the switch. Have you looked at the cashbacks available through quidco and topcashback?

KimYeovil

kjsmith7 wrote: »

If your E-Mail was sent 31st March and you have 20 working days, you need to telephone them and ask to be opted out of the roll off onto the new tariff, and moved to their standard tariff. That way, whilst you are moving to a new supplier, you'll be paying their standard rates but won't incur an exit penalty in the few short weeks (usually around 4-6 weeks) it takes to switch

Surely this is a bad idea - this will result in paying for 7 to 8 weeks at the standard tariff instead of at the previous discounted tariff.

OP, you had 35 days from the date of the letter for the transfer process to commence (not be completed). Just apply to the new supplier to transfer and you will receive an extra couple of months at the original price. Apply to the new supplier and tell the current supplier you reject the new terms and want to remain on the original tariff until transfer (do not ask to be moved to the standard tariff.)

SwanJon

Kim, I'm not sure if the rule about price changes and time to switch counts for time limited tariffs coming to an end - theoretically the customer knew that the price would change on this day when they agreed to the tariff.
(If it does, I'm going to stretch out my 5 yr old prices as long as I can.

TUS

Well, despite some bad experiences of others on here, NPower are the cheapest on every comparison site for me, plus £90 cashback on quidco. So I'm going with them.

kjsmith7

KimYeovil wrote: »

Surely this is a bad idea - this will result in paying for 7 to 8 weeks at the standard tariff instead of at the previous discounted tariff.

Agree with SwanJon - Fixed Price tariffs have a set end date, with the option of rolling off onto another fixed price tariff or standard (and therefore, usually, to another company).

Although, if Kim is correct, that'd be the cheapest option. Phone them and find out.

In response to your comment about the OP paying 7-8 weeks at Standard rate, I meant to opt out of the roll off onto the new fixed rate. This means the OP and others will only move onto the Standard rate at the time the fixed rate ends, and if they're switching during this time will have very little time on Standard rate before moving. If the fixed rate is more expensive (e.g. a % premium), they'll save - not to mention saving on the exit penalty also.