Have I switched too soon?

SnowMan

Wywth wrote: »

I would urge you against this.

You agreed to pay by DD and must continue to do so until the end of the contract. Failure to do so may result in the supplier putting you onto a non-DD tariff (which is probably more expensive) or even you losing out on the annual DD discount nPower pays (which is quite considerable)

I'm guessing that overlandrover has recently passed the anniversary qualifying point for the direct debit discount, and so thought there was no issue of the loss of direct debit discount because he/she wouldn't get any for the period from the anniversary to the switch away date.

However as you rightly say the tarriff requirement is that payment is by direct debit. The go fix 8 info says quite clearly 'payments must be made by monthly Direct Debit'

So cancelling the direct debit doesn't look a good idea as overlandrover is invalidating the tarriff effectively.

I would suggest that overlandrover takes up Adam's offer of looking into it should he/she need help resolving this.

overlandrover

Thank you, Adam at npower

I've tried to log onto your website again today, but see it is still down for maintenance. I will email you directly soon.


As for the other comments above:
I had not planned to cancel my direct debit until after 3 February, as they said it would be several weeks before they settle my account.

However I did also think to myself that cancelling the DD would invalidate some contract I have with NPower, so I shall leave it in place for now.

But, as mentioned above, I would be very disappointed if I got stung with an exit fee just days before 3 Feb due to unexpected efficiency of the transfer process.

Many thanks
overlandrover

pooch

overlandrover wrote: »

... I would be very disappointed if I got stung with an exit fee just days before 3 Feb due to unexpected efficiency of the transfer process.

Many thanks
overlandrover

I would prepare yourself to be disappointed :cool:

As an Npower customer, I would be disappointed to hear that nPower were not making you pay the agreed fee for breaking your contract with them ... and so instead were passing that cost onto all their other loyal customers.

SnowMan

pooch wrote: »

I would prepare yourself to be disappointed :cool:

As an Npower customer, I would be disappointed to hear that nPower were not making you pay the agreed fee for breaking your contract with them ... and so instead were passing that cost onto all their other loyal customers.

Nonsense.

The point is that the customer can't control the switch date and can't leave right at the end of the tariff they signed up to.

If it were possible to leave exactly on 3rd February then of course if they left early then they should pay the exit fee but that is not the case here.

So the customer faces the risk of switching too early and incurring the termination fees or switching too late and spending time on an expensive follow on tarriff, simply because the customer can't control the switch date

The customer signed up to the comparison site cost based on the go fix 8 tarriff. Expecting to just get the go fix 8 tarriff at the go fix 8 cost broadly to 3rd February (the tarriff end date) is all overlandrover is asking for and is completely reasonable. Only a slightly quicker than expected switch has scuppered this, and caused the switch to happen a few days before the tarriff end date.

No reasonable person can argue that the exit fee shouldn't be waived. There is a simple and fair solution to all this, and that is that Npower should waive the exit penalties here.

johnny_storm

When I tried to leave npower they kept refusing the switch, so I wouldnt worry about it. Chances are you wont be changing this time lol

grahamc2003

SnowMan wrote: »

No reasonable person can argue that the exit fee shouldn't be waived. There is a simple and fair solution to all this, and that is that Npower should waive the exit penalties here.

You seem to forget the op entered into a contract and then didn't stick to his obligations for whatever reason. Remember, Npower supplied him at a preferential rate for his commitment to stay a minimum period.

Depends on whether you think contracts are worth anything. I'm sure you would pretty quickly change your opinion should it have been Npower who broke the contract.

The notional losses to the op for a couple of weeks with Npower after the minimum period are a matter of a couple of quid, yet the loss from a switch before the minimum period end is relatively very large. Makes sense only to initiate the switch when there is no possibility of not fulfilling the minimum period.

SnowMan

grahamc2003 wrote: »

You seem to forget the op entered into a contract and then didn't stick to his obligations for whatever reason. Remember, Npower supplied him at a preferential rate for his commitment to stay a minimum period.

Depends on whether you think contracts are worth anything. I'm sure you would pretty quickly change your opinion should it have been Npower who broke the contract.

The notional losses to the op for a couple of weeks with Npower after the minimum period are a matter of a couple of quid, yet the loss from a switch before the minimum period end is relatively very large. Makes sense only to initiate the switch when there is no possibility of not fulfilling the minimum period.

What you in turn forget is the imbalance in the contract terms.

The contract sets out the price to pay to 3rd February but then does not allow the customer to leave on 3rd February but forces them to be subject to a higher unknown charge after 3rd February.

The 'breaking' of the contract term is because of this imbalance not because either party have chosen to break a balanced contract term.

My opinion about Npower breaking a term would be the same as for the customer breaking a term if the contract was balanced - however it clearly isn't balanced here for the reason stated.

Fortunately there is protection for customers from imbalanced contracts such as the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts legislation/regulations.

I agree that it is best to play it safe by not trying to switch too early but that's not the point. The issue here is someone who has been caught out when they reasonably thought it was safe to switch.

grahamc2003

SnowMan wrote: »

What you in turn forget is the imbalance in the contract terms.

No, I didn't 'forget' that, because I don't see an imbalance.

If the op did see an imbalance, then he had the choice not to sign up to the contract.

Given he did, if he still considers the terms unfair, then I suppose he can apply through the courts to recognise the unfair terms, and therefore compensate him for any losses. But since I think there is no question of any unfair terms from what has been posted on this thread, then I can't see any court judging it so.

In order to save a very small amount of cash, the op may a very poor call, with a highly disadvantageous risk/reward profile.

If anyone signs up to a minimum period in exchange for some sort of tangible benefit (i.e. cheaper services during that period), then the single thing you have to ensure to avoid penalties is that you fulfill the minimum period - not nearly fulfill it and then complain that it's unfair. That isn't too onerous.

I trust you will be advising anyone considering a fixed term contract not to take advantage of the overall cheaper rates offered because all such contracts entail a minimum period and are therefore 'unfair'.

SnowMan

grahamc2003 wrote: »

No, I didn't 'forget' that, because I don't see an imbalance.

If the op did see an imbalance, then he had the choice not to sign up to the contract.

Given he did, if he still considers the terms unfair, then I suppose he can apply through the courts to recognise the unfair terms, and therefore compensate him for any losses. But since I think there is no question of any unfair terms from what has been posted on this thread, then I can't see any court judging it so.

In order to save a very small amount of cash, the op may a very poor call, with a highly disadvantageous risk/reward profile.

If anyone signs up to a minimum period in exchange for some sort of tangible benefit (i.e. cheaper services during that period), then the single thing you have to ensure to avoid penalties is that you fulfill the minimum period - not nearly fulfill it and then complain that it's unfair. That isn't too onerous.

I trust you will be advising anyone considering a fixed term contract not to take advantage of the overall cheaper rates offered because all such contracts entail a minimum period and are therefore 'unfair'.

You can't see the imbalance because your mind is not open to it. I've already explained the imbalance. All the customer wants to do is to be supplied for the full fixed term at the price agreed (as shown on the comparison site). They are not looking to leave the contract early, however what the customer doesn't want to do is to be forced onto an unknown more expensive tarriff for a period after the end of the fixed term tarriff. There is no way for the customer to achieve both and taht is what is unfair.

All the little £10s that Npower make out of customers being on a more expensive tarriff after the end of the fixed tarriff because they can't switch add up.

Minimum terms are not unfair for fixed term contracts of the same term (so you are just getting silly by suggesting that I might think they were). As I have already said it is the inability to be able to move away right at the end of the fixed term which is unfair.

I was told categorically on a completely separate isssue that I personally would fail if I took a claim on an unfair contract term. When the case went to the Financial Ombudsman Service they decided it was a clear breach of the unfair contract terms legislation.

I am not sure whether it would fail or not fail if this case was put to a court, I'm not a solicitor. For the amounts involved very few would want to take it to a court. If it happened to me I would certainly take the matter to the Energy Ombudsman, but of course that may well fail.

If the system isn't changed so that customers can specify an earliest switch date on implementing their switch (not more than say 1 month in advance) then companies have to show a bit of fairness in waiving exit penalties if a switch inadvertently happens a few days before the end of a contract.

overlandrover

Calm down everybody!

OK, so I switched too soon, thinking it would take 5 or 6 weeks like every other transfer has in past.

Instead this transfer has taken only three weeks and I've been caught out.
I don't know if EDF are too efficient doing the change, or if it is a cynical ploy by nPower to rush it through so they can invoke their "early termination clause". Shame on them if that's the case.

I have sent my details to Andrew, the nPower representative, and I await the outcome.


Simply put, if I get stung for the fee I'll put this down to experience, walk away, and never do business with nPower again.

If they decide not to enforce the fee, I will obviously consider them more favourably. If they have a more competitive tariff in future then I will do business with them again.