Moved to new house

steve-L

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Well the way your preferred wish list would work if you were allowed it, would be that no 'deemed contract'' would conveniently mean no bill for those 7-8 weeks.

- smashin'

Erm... why?
Why don't they stop the contract (given the person with whom the contract is with is no longer legally in possession of the house)

The answer is because they would have to send someone round to switch it off and because they don't want to because they get an automatic customer.

That automatic customer has then to spend time and effort in switching from them and they know most won't.....

What the OP is asking is why is this the case?
Obviously Gas has some different issues.... but its the same for electricity..... there is no reason switching cannot take place in 1 day.... and be prearranged.

Why not read the meter as part of the conveyance.... (as should be done anyway) and prior to buying the house have the opportunity to elect your supplier from the second you move in and the meters are read? Any use after that point is with your pre-chosen supplier.

- take that up with the Ombudsman, its largely to do with protecting you and I, it's called the 'cooling off period'

Again I disagree, this is more to do with protecting the suppliers.

It is presented as a 'cooling off period' because people get pressured into switching.....
However, that only matters BECAUSE it takes so long to switch....and the regulator lacks balls and teeth.

Say your Gran gets pressured into switching then what should happen is you make a complaint... the bill gets given to the old company on the old tariff and Gran pays what she would have paid, meanwhile the company responsible get fined a 6 figure sum for taking advantage of Gran.

If too many of the complaints happen then the directors of the company get custodial sentences and banned from ever working in the industry again after they get out.

I think you'd find that if the CEO's of these companies actually spent time in prison they would ensure that pressure selling to vulnerable people didn't happen!

Richie-from-the-Boro

steve-L,

- the landlord is never going to leave himself at risk for the interim periods, I wouldn't, why should he, its not his contract

- of course they get an automatic customer, your alternative is to send a man round and add the £50 cost to the old / new tenant

- I agree "there is no reason switching cannot take place in 1 day" but in that model there is no protection [cooling off]

- ditto "reading the meter as part of the conveyance", thousands of people have been switched against their will and without their knowledge

- my "Gran gets pressured into switching" just leads to a 26 week limbo, and serves no useful purpose

- no one in reality is going to "be fined a 6 figure sum", no CEO's are going to go to prison for a custodial sentence of any sort

steve-L, you are entitled to disagree, I agree the current system is messy but your suggestions do nothing to improve the current custom & practice. They do however add further costs, more complexity and unnecessary changes in the law.

clocKwize

Brainwave - When going in to a "deemed contract" maybe they should put people on their best tariff, instead of their incredibly uncompetitive standard tariff. That'd be more of an incentive to say "meh, these guys'll do" and stick with them, rather than jumping ship as soon as possible.

amiehall

The problem is that often the competitive fixes come with exit fees. I know that last time I moved, the only plan better than standard for the existing supplier was a long fix - unsuitable considering the length of my tenancy.