Cancellation Fee

eurmalian

OK, I'm seeing a lot of people on here posting that if you have a tariff with Scottish Power which charges a cancellation fee, you can leave without paying it because of the price increase. I have also seen people question this a few times and never seen it be answered. I've read through everything that seems relevant on their website, and all I can find is:

From their standard terms, sections 5.8 and 9.8: 'If you do not accept the increase or variation you are entitled to end the Agreement by giving us notice to end the Agreement, at any time prior to that increase or variation taking effect. If you give us that notice, the increase or variation will not take place.'

and from the details of the online deals: 'We may apply cancellation charges inclusive of VAT of £30.64 for electricity and £20.42 for gas if you switch to ScottishPower Direct October 2012 but then cancel your supply contract or switch to another tariff before 30th September 2012. These charges will be amended, if there is a change in the VAT rate at any time or times before 30st September 2012, by an amount equivalent to the applicable change in the VAT rate. These charges will not be applied if the supply contract is cancelled due to a home move.'

Neither of these say anything about the fee being waived in the case of prices going up.

I did try to look through the Ofgem website to see if there was anything on there making it an industry rule, but after about 10 minutes my brain started dribbling out of my ears and I gave up.

So, to save my poor liquified brain, can one of the people posting about this please show me or let me know where they're getting the information from?

p.s 'I read it on xxx thread on the MSE Forums' doesn't count, unless if was posted by the SP rep. I'm looking for something official.

Premier_2

See my post in this thread as to what I was informed when I called them today over this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3292350

(There's some confusion over whether the cancellation fee is the same as an early exit fee)

OnlyTrev

If you refer to your Scottish email detailing the increases you should see:

Quote***
If you don't think these prices are right for you, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your options with you. You are also free to end your agreement by changing your supplier*.
*If you notify us that you wish to cancel your agreement before 1st August 2011 and we receive a request for your supply from another supplier within 15 working days, we will not apply the price increase or the cancellation fee for your product.
***Unquote

They tried to tell me I would be charged the penalty, but when I pointed this out they said it had to be activated by Customer Services (which they say they have now done for me)
WE SHALL SEE!