MSE News: Escape energy lock-ins as prices soar

pixiecat

Just had phone call from BG about my email he said looked at this site and that the websaver does not fall under any of these categories
but I told him that on the forum people have had the fee waved so he is looking into it and getting a universal answer and trying to get my fee waved so fingers crossed that i an successful

grahamc2003

I'm on websaver 11 - my prices are rising by 35% day and 37% night.

I emailed bg a week ago to ask if a termination chanrge would apply. They replied with 'sorry you're leaving, please reconsider' etc and didn't even attempt to answer my question. I wrote back asking them to read my question and then answer it, which they then did and said 'yes, the £30 charge will apply if you leave'.

Rang them today, spoke to a very understanding lady who confirmed the charges would apply. I told her of my 35% increase, and it was the largest she'd heard, she even checked the rise and confirmed i for herself. I informed her I was leaving due to the price rise, and that the regulator has ruled exit charges shouldn't apply under my circumstances, and she agreed to look into it and ring me back. An hour later, she rang back saying I (or more correctly mse) am correct, and they'll be a form filled in to make sure I won't pay (she knew nothing about this till my phone call).

So i've now switched to scottish power's 2015 fix (actually its until 31 dec 2014), but the prices are more or less the same as the ws11 increased prices. I still have an over 30% increase to shell out, but at least it's fixed then for over 3 years, when I expect prices will be much higher than they are now.

Churchpolly

British Gas sent me an email saying I would have to pay the penalty charges for both gas and electricity when I told them I was transferring to EDF on a fixed price tariff :mad: but a little while later I received the email below saying they would waive the charges. :jThis has saved me £60 in penalty charges so I am very pleased indeed. It is only thanks to Martin's email that arrived this morning that I became aware that they had changed their stance on this and I emailed them about it. This is the second email I received :-

"Thanks for the email you sent yesterday about your gas and electricity accounts

I'm very sorry that you were advised in the previous email we sent you that you would have to pay the cancellation charges if you move off your WebSaver 11 tariff before 31 May 2011.

I have investigated this further and customers on all variable tariffs will not have to pay their cancellation fee between 8th July and 18th August if they wish to transfer on to our new Price Promise March 2013 or move to another supplier due to our price increase.



If you want to discuss your accounts further, please call us on 0800 048 0101* and we will be happy to help.

Once again, I am sorry for any confusion caused

Please contact us should you need any help in the future and thank you for contacting British Gas. "

I immediately emailed them and asked they make a note on my records that I have transferred to another supplier in the time frame given in order for the penalty charges to be waived.

Well Done Martin and the Team - you have done it again! :T
thanks alot,
Churchpolly

Consumerist

Churchpolly wrote: »

I'm very sorry that you were advised in the previous email we sent you that you would have to pay the cancellation charges if you move off your WebSaver 11 tariff before 31 May 2011.

I'm sure that must be a typo.

But well done.

mjmal51

pixiecat wrote: »

Thanks for your answer, I have rung twice now, first time the person spoke to his supervisor and had this web page up to look at but they both declined, I have since rung in again and was told no way they would cancel fees so I have put in a complaint and quoted this web page again and fingers crossed they will let me out, the annoying thing is I only have till 1st October 2011 till my tariff ends so its not like they will be loosing loads if I leave unlike yourself who had another 6+months left.

Exactly the same as you, Websaver 8 until 1st Oct. Did get an e mail from them last week (from India?) in reply to my cancellation suggesting I move to Websaver 8!!! and exit fees would be applied if I cancel.
E mailed them again this afternoon with MSE Ofgem advice link and will see what happens.
Don't think they read e mails properly from previous replies.

Good to see other MSErs now getting positive results

persecuted-citizen

lektr0n wrote: »

I was arguing this with British Gas yesterday pointing out standard conditions of the gas/electricity supply licence 24.3 which state...

Termination Fees

24.3 The licensee may include a term in a Domestic Supply Contract requiring a Domestic Customer to pay a Termination Fee to end that contract except in any of the following circumstances:

(a) the contract is of an indefinite length;

(b) without prejudice to sub-paragraph (a), the contract allows for both a fixed term period and a period of indefinite length and it is brought to an end during the period of indefinite length; or

(c) the licensee gives Notice of a unilateral variation of a term of the contract in accordance with paragraph 3 of standard condition 23 (Notification of Domestic Supply Contract terms) and paragraph 5 of that condition binds the licensee.


And 23.3...

23.3 If, in accordance with the terms of a Domestic Supply Contract with a Domestic Customer, the licensee unilaterally varies a term of the contract:

(a) to increase the Charges for the Supply of Gas to a Domestic Premises; or

(b) in any other way that is to the significant disadvantage of the customer


It states clearly they can't charge a termination fee if the contract is ended because of a price rise. Where the author of this article gets 'loophole' from I'm not sure.

Needless to say British Gas backed down once it was put to their legal department.

RESULT :beer:
With thanks to Lektr0n for the very good advise above :T

This is for all who are on the BG Websaver 11 tariff and who are told they have to pay the termination fee because it was not a standard tariff but a discounted tariff on a variable rate.

I am with BG on their Websaver 11 tariff (Currently changing over to a better and fixed deal with EDF) and when I rang to tell BG that I would not accept their impending price increase, and will be leaving their contract because I am changing suppliers, they immediately told me that I would have to pay cancellation fees.
I argued that they cannot charge the termination fees because I was leaving due to their price rise, and the regulator has ruled that exit charges don't apply in this case. He strongly disagreed, stating over and over that in the Websaver 11 conditions it says they can vary the price.
So I then started quoting the above conditions of the gas/electricity licence, and although he was not backing down easily without a fight, I could tell he was weakening. After about ten minutes I simply said "I am not going to pay it because you are wrong. And I will be reporting what you have told me to OFGEN".
The argument immediately stopped and I was asked if I could be put on hold for while he spoke to his manager. After about five minutes he came back with the answer " I'm sorry Mr xxxx but you are correct, we cannot charge a termination fee. Thank you for pointing this out to us etc ..... but we were not aware of this etc ....as a result of your information a memo has been sent to all of the department informing them of this etc ..... So sorry licky licky etc etc " !!

So Websaver 11 tariff can be exitted without paying termination fees, but be prepared for a fight!:j

Consumerist

persecuted-citizen wrote: »

This is for all who are on the BG Websaver 11 tariff and who are told they have to pay the termination fee because it was not a standard tariff but a discounted tariff on a variable rate.

I would just point out that, if you read the original article, Ofgem have said that exit charges are payable on tariffs such as the WebSaver 11 but BG has decided to waive them on this occasion.

grahamc2003

Consumerist wrote: »

I would just point out that, if you read the original article, Ofgem have said that exit charges are payable on tariffs such as the WebSaver 11 but BG has decided to waive them on this occasion.

aiui, they cannot charge an exit fee on ws11 without breaching the ofgem ruling.

ws11 is not a fixed discount from standard tariff, and neither is it fixed, which aiui, are the two criteria where a leaving fee can be charged. You only have to inform them that you are leaving due to the price rise, and they have no basis on which to charge a leaving fee (even though the supply agreement for ws11 states they can).

Consumerist

grahamc2003 wrote: »

ws11 is not a fixed discount from standard tariff . . .

Sorry, I thought it was at a 6% discount from standard tariff but I could be wrong.

Edit

British Gas Websaver 11 at a glance
Here are the main features of the british gas websaver 11 tariff that you can sign up for :

• A fixed 6% discount from their main standard tariff
• This means an average £135 discount for dual fuel customers
• Now available with nectar points in conjunction with sainsburys and other providers
• Manage all your account and bills online
• Available only with a fixed monthly direct debit option
• Other options and discount available such as energyextra 50 which allows for one off repairs to your home gas central heating system as well as plumbing and drains
• Websaver is a variable rate tariff so if British Gas increase their prices so these prices increase – but you still receive the same 6% discount for the duration of the contract
• Some exit penalties apply if you move away from this tariff during the contract period

arjar

I have had repeated problems with Scottish Power trying to enforce an exit payment. Different employees gave different answers. I'm still waiting to see whether they try it on - despite this quote from the footnotes of an EMail informing me of the price rise in June.

"*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. If you have an outstanding debt, we may object to your supply leaving us, but we will give you time to pay the debt and leave us without incurring the increased prices."

I've had to quote this at them three times, and still they prevaricated. A good reason never to return to them.