Setting a Date to Change Supply

Elrond_2

I am currently in a fixed rate until the 31st August. I want to change suppliers from September 1st 2012. I contacted EDF who have a cooling off period of 12 days (Good idea - no problem) and will then change supply within 21 days (Very good). This is fine to ensure a quick change of suppliers but I do not want to change in this time period.
I wanted to arrange the change for after the 1st September to avoid a penalty payment to my current supplier.
EDF told me thay could not do this and implied that no other energy supplier would do this either.
What have other members found?

withabix

You are better off waiting until 31st August.

You won't lose that much in the extra month.

victor2

Start the switch before the end of your current contract but within the cooling off period, as most suppliers will not do anything to start the switch until the cooling off period has passed. Check with the new supplier that they won't do anything before that time is up though. Yes, you'll probably have about a month on the standard tariff, but the additional cost won't be that much.

Terrylw1

Whilst it takes 21 days to switch, your switch date will be set earlier than this since the 21 day policy includes all the admin time for what happens after your switch is accepted.

So, once your cooling off period expires, the supplier has to set a date by sending a future date to the distributor who passes this to your current supplier. The new supplier has to allow for an objection window which is normally 5 working days.

You also have to factor in the waiting time for the staff to work your registration to produce that future date.

Setting it for the 1st is possible providing there is enough time for the cooling off period plus the admin time to send the future date to the distributor. They are allowed to send that for the next working day.

So, they may just be wary that their processes are not quick enough to do it.

Check your t&c's with your current provider since some have a clause whereby if they are notified X days before contract end date, they will continue your contract rates up to the switch date. This way, the new supplier would have more time as they only need to send the future date, but they could set the future date later but no further than 28 days in the future.

macman

You cannot set a specific switch date-the process typically takes 3-4 weeks.

Terrylw1

macman wrote: »

You cannot set a specific switch date-the process typically takes 3-4 weeks.

The supplier has to and its before the quoted end date of a switch process.

The timeframe now is 21 days from the day after the cooling off period ends. That's 21 days to do it all. There are a many parts of this process that cannot start until the switch is agreed by receiving no objection and equally until the date has passed the agent handling the reading data canyon complete their process as something could change.

It can be done and customers do ask for a date after the expiry of a current contract. Getting it on the date of the contract ending is just harder because you are one of many customers on a list yo work through by someone who is just told "send a registration data flow on all these accounts with 5 working days notice after the day you work them".

SnowMan

This issue crops up time and time again so I raised the issue with Consumer Focus back in June. They refused to deal with it saying it was an individual complaint (which it wasn't) but referred me to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service who were much more helpful.

Their general advice to deal with this was:

1. Arrange the switch to a new supplier (e.g. through a comparison site) within 30 days of the end of your existing contract so in your case any time from 2nd August (I calculate).

2. Contact the new supplier (in writing) without delay after you have initiated the switch and tell them that you are switching from a fixed term contract that ends on 31st August and please, so you don't suffer early exit fees, don't switch you before then (note you can't specify a date when you want the switch to happen only that the switch should not happen on or before 31st August).

3. The new company MUST act on that instruction not to switch on or before 31st August (the new company can't say 'we can't action that we will switch you when we switch you and if that is too early, tough'). If they don't and switch you earlier on 28th August (say) then raise a complaint with the new company, take it through their complaints procedure, and if that fails after 8 weeks take it to the Energy Ombudsman. Your complaint will succeed. If you don't follow step 2 above your complaint MAY fail.

4. If the switch actually happens say on 4th September then the old company MUST automatically charge you at the old rates assuming they are cheaper i.e charge you at the pre 31st August fixed term contract rates between 1st September and 4th September (rather than their standard rates even if their contract says that at the end of the fixed term you will be switched to a more costly standard tarriff). You don't need to request this they should do this automatically. If the new company don't do this (and I suspect from experience they don't in many or even most cases), raise a complaint with the old company take it through their complaint procedures and then if this fails after 8 weeks contact the Energy Ombudsman. The Energy Ombudsman will decide in your favour were it to get that far.


An optional step at the beginning would be to contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service (08454 040506 choose the energy option) and confirm the steps above should work.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has contacted the Citizens Advice Consumer Service and got a similar or different answer.

victor2

SnowMan wrote: »

4. If the switch actually happens say on 4th September then the old company MUST automatically charge you at the old rates assuming they are cheaper i.e charge you at the pre 31st August fixed term contract rates between 1st September and 4th September (rather than their standard rates even if their contract says that at the end of the fixed term you will be switched to a more costly standard tarriff). You don't need to request this they should do this automatically. If the new company don't do this (and I suspect from experience they don't in many or even most cases), raise a complaint with the old company take it through their complaint procedures and then if this fails after 8 weeks contact the Energy Ombudsman. The Energy Ombudsman will decide in your favour were it to get that far.

That's interesting and something I can't really see happening. Certainly didn't when I last switched and don't expect it to when my current tariff ends in September, when I'll probably say goodbye to EDF. Suppose it won't hurt to complain after though and give them a bit of the grief they've given me back. Like the idea already.

Elrond_2

Thanks Snowman for you detailed and useful reply. :beer:
I will be following up your method.
Some more thoughts.
How many individual complaints to Consumer Focus does it take not to be an individual complaint? I will do my bit as well.
Why does this have to be so complicated for energy providers to operate like this? It is possible to agree a longer date to switch utilities when moving house. Is this really any different?
I welcome the fact that switching providers has a cooling off period and be completed within a required time scale, however, there must be many people who know a change is coming and use their available time to plan and instuct this change outside the industry time frame.
Is it just an unwanted biproduct of good consumer legislation for quick changing?
Is it a way to stop customers setting up a potentially better deal for the future even though the deal has a limited time or for a limited number of customers.

SnowMan

victor2 wrote: »

That's interesting and something I can't really see happening. Certainly didn't when I last switched and don't expect it to when my current tariff ends in September, when I'll probably say goodbye to EDF. Suppose it won't hurt to complain after though and give them a bit of the grief they've given me back. Like the idea already.

When I last switched in December from an SSE tarriff that ended on 31st December 2011, I noticed that I was being switched to a standard tarriff that was 20% more expensive for the period from 1st January to when I was actually switched which was mid January.

I said I thought this was unreasonable to SSE. SSE refused to budge. I asked to put in a complaint. They passed me to another operative who immediately agreed to keep me at the old 20% tarriff rate until the switch date. They said they were doing this for goodwill reasons.

What the Citizens Advice Consumer Advice Service said (and that really surprised me too when they said that) is that SSE were actually REQUIRED to charge me at the old rate.

I don't know under what regulation or license condition that is based on or even if that stands up to scutiny ( I doubt any of the utility suppliers would say such a requirement exists if you rang them up). However the Citizens Advice Consumer Service volunteered that info, I didn't even initially ask about that part of things.

SnowMan

Elrond wrote: »

Thanks Snowman for you detailed and useful reply. :beer:
I will be following up your method.
Some more thoughts.
How many individual complaints to Consumer Focus does it take not to be an individual complaint? I will do my bit as well.
Why does this have to be so complicated for energy providers to operate like this? It is possible to agree a longer date to switch utilities when moving house. Is this really any different?
I welcome the fact that switching providers has a cooling off period and be completed within a required time scale, however, there must be many people who know a change is coming and use their available time to plan and instuct this change outside the industry time frame.
Is it just an unwanted biproduct of good consumer legislation for quick changing?
Is it a way to stop customers setting up a potentially better deal for the future even though the deal has a limited time or for a limited number of customers.

Thanks.

I would be definitely interested to hear if you call the Citizens Advice Consumer Service helpline number 08454 040506 number if you get the same info as me, especially some of the fine detail, the general concept of the plan is definitely sound, although getting the old tarriff in step 4 above isn't going to be easy.

I am sure the suppliers price into their fixed tarriffs an expectation that they will be able to make some extra profit because consumers in practice can't/don't switch on the day after their tarriff ends and spend a bit of time on an expensive standard tarriff at the end.