Switching... When Does the Cooling Off Period Start?

Speed

Hi Guys,

We recently used moneysupermarket to switch from Swalec to Scottish Power. The switch was started by Moneysupermarket on the 31/01/2011 and then we heard nothing until the 25/02/2011 when Scottish Power finally e-mailed us to confirm the switch and give us a site where we can see the process.


However we have spotted a better deal with British Gas, so we phoned up Scottish Power to cancel the switching process. Scottish Power are saying we cannot cancel which I personally think it just them trying to keep us as potential customers.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Kind Regards,

Mark

macman

What date are you due on supply with SP? The process normally take 4-5 weeks.

Speed

From what they've said the switch starts the 14th. So that is when they will be supplying us from.

stewie_griffin

The cooling off period is normally 14 days (although can be a minimum of 7) and starts when the quote is processed on the suppliers system. If you initiate the quote through a broker then it can take 1-2 days for it to be processed with the supplier.

A letter should be sent out at 'day 1' confirming the details of the quote but then you won't hear anything else until after the cooling off period has ended.

Speed

Hmm, well we never got any letter from them but it was a web tariff. It is a shame as the British Gas one is some £200+ cheaper a year.

park_gate

Speed wrote: »

Hmm, well we never got any letter from them but it was a web tariff. It is a shame as the British Gas one is some £200+ cheaper a year.

So why not switch, pay the cancellation fee of £60 then complain to the regulator?

Start of Rant ...

How can then justify the cancellation fee? We do all the work on-line filling in forms what do they do for their £60? Can we ask the regulator to look into this?

If they are justified then can I send them a bill for my time looking for a new supplier when they put their prices up? If it's good enough for them shouldn't it be good enough for us?

I'm coming to the conclusion this country is a rip off. I have a holiday home in Spain and the unit price per kWh is half the price I pay in the UK. The standing charge is also lower.

Is there any chance Martin could take of the Utility companies in the same way he took on the banks over unfair bank charges?

... End of Rant

Does anyone know if the price compare web sites include the penalties?

Terry

stewie_griffin

park_gate wrote: »

I'm coming to the conclusion this country is a rip off. I have a holiday home in Spain and the unit price per kWh is half the price I pay in the UK. The standing charge is also lower.

Can you post the unit prices you pay here and in Spain. We (here in the UK) actually have some of the cheapest energy prices in Europe. The figures on http://www.energy.eu/ would suggest Spanish prices are significantly higher than here. Also don't forget you pay 18% tax in Spain but only 5% here.

park_gate

Thanks for the correction.

I went back and looked at my Spanish bill and I took the "Potencia contratada" price as the unit price so I was wrong.

Using 1.16 Euros to the pound I calculate the following ...

UK EDF Saver v8 - 28.25p / day and 9.06p / kWh
Spain Iberdrola - 34p / day and 13.3p / kWh

If you want to check my calculation here is an extract from my bill ...

ENERGIA
Potencia contratada
5,75 kW x 2 d!as x 0,058225 Euro / kW d!a 0,67
5,75 kW x 28 d!as x 0,059564 Euro / kW d!a 9,59

Energ!a consumida
14,35 kWh x 0,123282 Euro / kWh 1,77
200,97 kWh x 0,130791 Euro / kWh 26,29

Impuesto sobre electricidad
4,864% s / 38,32 x 1,05113 1,96

TOTAL ENERGIA 40,28

SERVICIOS Y OTROS CONCEPTOS
Alquiler equipos de medida
1 mes x 0,57 Euro / mes 0,57

TOTAL SERVICIOS Y OTROS CONCEPTOS 0,57

Importe total 40,85
IVA 18% s / 40,85 7,35

TOTAL IMPORTE FACTURA 48,20