Condition 23, Scottish Power and Exit Fees

theGrinch

My current supplier is Scottish Power and the tariff Online Energy Saver 15 which matures on 30th November 2012.

I have been with Scottish Power for 4-years. It is a good tariff and continues to be very competitive, however, when it ends I move to their standard tariff with is some 20% higher.

Yesterday, Scottish Power announced a price rise which takes effect from December 3.

I am keen to move to a "fixed price" deal to cover winters 2012/13 and 2013/14 asap. I was under the impression that such a switch can take up to 6-weeks - which takes me the end of November and my current tariff. How long does it now take to change over suppliers and can I indicate a date from which I wish to start with a new supplier albeit longer than it takes to switch for example, 1 December? Ideally, I went to end my current deal on 30th November and move to a fix supplier on 1 December.

Scottish Power have advised that if I leave before the end of the term I will be liable for cancellation fees of £30.64 for Electricity and £20.42 for Gas.

In this case, is it possible for me to quote Ofgem's Supply Licence Condition 23 and avoid the cancellation fees to assist a move away before the end of the term? Anyone done something similar?

I understand that this is such an esoteric condition, that many sales reps within utility companies have no clue about it and most wont check before demanding cancellation fees so it can be a long process.

chanz4

no as they told you when it was due up, and you entered into freely

Terrylw1

Yes, a price rise is a unilateral change as it is made whilst you are already in your contract. So, you can use the timescales indicated in that to make a change but remember there is a requirement for the customer to leave within X so bare that in mind with my later statement on switch dates.

Unilateral change doesn't apply where your contract ends and you revert to another rate at indicated at the time you accepted the contract.

A switch takes 5 weeks now as its a maximum of 14 days of cooling off period + 21 days to be compliant with Standard Licence Condition (14A) but that SLC also states that you can waive this target by requesting it occurs after a contract end date to avoid any exit fees. This may make your switch a bit longer but the important thing to remember is that its the switch date that matters, not the time to switch as the date is established at the start of the process but its always future dated.

chanz4

apply to switch 14 days before