first:utility Price Increase

digitaldiver

I received an Email today from first:direct notifying me of a price rise backdated to 1 July. the average annual bill quoted has risen by around 19%. I am on isave Dual Fuel Online Tariff having switched at the beginning of the year. Are they allowed to increase prices retrospectively?

KimYeovil

Yes, they can take up to 90 days to tell you. You can choose to reject the increase and switch to a different supplier if you like. In that case they will honour the original price until you switch. But you have to explicitly request this.

nbehl

Very unfair...they have doubled the standing charge per day on GAS. Also increased the Standing charge on Electricity. All those theories about saving money by less usage are out of the window...the double standing charge would simply increase your bill despite your less usage and the bill stands where it has always been...although you are using less now.

What happens to the penalty on Smart meters that I got installed ? If I move to another supplier leaving FU's 2-yr contract, they will charge me £100 for meters now.

Nem

aelitaman

nbehl wrote: »

Very unfair...they have doubled the standing charge per day on GAS. Also increased the Standing charge on Electricity. All those theories about saving money by less usage are out of the window...the double standing charge would simply increase your bill despite your less usage and the bill stands where it has always been...although you are using less now.

What happens to the penalty on Smart meters that I got installed ? If I move to another supplier leaving FU's 2-yr contract, they will charge me £100 for meters now.

Nem

I have posted the link on the other F.U thread about there being no 100GBP fee for leaving on the new tariff.

TrustMe

aelitaman wrote: »

I have posted the link on the other F.U thread about there being no 100GBP fee for leaving on the new tariff.

Just to make it clear to others the link you left on the other thread can be found at forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1310857&page=7 - you'll have to copy and paste as I'm not allowed to post links.

JNZY

Under clause 15.1(b) of the First Utility Ts & Cs you can cancel your current tariff, following a rate increase, by providing them with written notice to leave.
However, you must do this within 10 working days of receiving notice of the price increase. You must also ensure that you have registered with another supplier, as they then have a further 15 working days to notify First Utility that they wish to take over your supply.

If you adhere to these time scales the price increase will not then come into force - this is a supply licence term!

bardel

I too have had this retrospective notice.

Where does it say in the terms and conditions they have until 90 days after to notify this change. My terms say under clause 2.2 that they will provide 10 days notice prior to any change unless it is enforced by law or governing body without notice.

I've started communication with First Utility regarding this, they have so far responded and said that they have 65 days to notify me and that they have done so in less and not broken any terms and conditions.

Neither the 90 day or 65 day rule features in the t&c's I'm looking at?

With regards to leaving under clause 15.1 I have notified them that I may choose to execute this given the circumstances pending their response. However, I would like to know where I stand with regards to the discount which is accrued on the bill to date and applied on your annual anniversary (which for me isn't until next month). This conflicts potentially with the 10 days I have to give them notice?

Do you think this is a case for the energy ombudsman????

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

BarryHarveyUK

I'm on the iSave tariff and I've never had an email from them about a price increase in the first place although they have more than doubled the standing charge for my gas and increased the charge for the electric!
An interesting point for the legal eagles out there is that if you go to the website and get them to display the tariff for your area it shows a much lower rate than the ones on the bill!

deestrath

Hi i also got e-mail after switching to them 3 months ago. I decided to switch back to british gas. Got a call from First Utility who offered me their brand new tariff I save dual fuel V5 I am now paying less for my standing charge on electricity the same as I was before on my gas. they tried to double the standing charge and hope you will just stay Vote with your feet and they will bend over backwards to keep you!!

davidgmmafan

I thought it was 65 days but yes they can advise you after a price rise has occured. However I believe the reason for this was to keep costs down as they can then mostly notifiy it on the bill. For people who have online accounts though this doesn't apply and I see no reason why they couldn't give advance notice or at least do it at the time.

Depending when your discount is due you may still get it, it takes about 28 days to switch supplier so give the notice now and instruct another supplier if they don't have another suitable tariff you can go onto.

MONEYPENNY

deestrath wrote: »

Hi i also got e-mail after switching to them 3 months ago. I decided to switch back to british gas. Got a call from First Utility who offered me their brand new tariff I save dual fuel V5 I am now paying less for my standing charge on electricity the same as I was before on my gas. they tried to double the standing charge and hope you will just stay Vote with your feet and they will bend over backwards to keep you!!

I would love to know what are these new " I save dual fuel V5 tariffs " you mention are, as they are not published on F.U website.
What tariff where you previously on.
I thought V4 was there latest tariff.
Maybe you are a special case.