MSE News: More SSE customers could claim mis-selling cash

Former_MSE_Helen

"SSE customers who signed up on their doorstep or by phone could have a mis-selling claim, says Trading Standards..."

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More SSE customers could claim mis-selling cash



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Wywth

If over a million people can claim, and SSE have only set aside £5m to pay the compensation, I'm sure everyone can do the sums themselves as to what the average compensation claim is likely to be

The average payout so far is about £65.

That being the case, future payouts should be expected to be even less than the average you have just calculated

...this figure appears incredibly low given it has already written to more than 970,000 existing and former customers, including all those sold to on the doorstep since October 2009

Just because the supplier have written to that amount of customers potentially affected, it does not mean they all are, or more importantly have the basis of a valid claim.
(SSE would be cheapest for some customers)

nicki_moo

If I have already contacted Scottish Power and had my appeal 'rejected' by both SP and the ombudsman approximately 18 months ago is it now worth appealing again?

mazziem

Hi

I'm with airtricity - a company that covers Northern Ireland . Their head company is SSE?

Would I stand to get any compensation ? Does any one know how it works

As to be fair I was mugged off in that I was told I could set up and pay a fixed monthly direct debit, but would be billed every 2 months as opposed to 3 months with my current supplier power NI.

After getting home and switching it became apparent that was a compete lie and I would have to pay my bill in full every 2 months. As like many others I budget each month the only thing they suggested was on the 1st month after my bill I pay a set amount then the following month the bill produced and then the full amount left over taken.

For the difference in the unit rate I would never have switched over if I knew this.

So ... After my little rant... Does anyone know if the SSE compensation extends to its subsidiary companies in Northern Ireland?

tripletrouble

nicki_moo wrote: »

If I have already contacted Scottish Power and had my appeal 'rejected' by both SP and the ombudsman approximately 18 months ago is it now worth appealing again?

Scottish Power are not the same as SSE. However, OFGEM are still waiting to announce the results of their investigation into mis-selling by Scottish Power. I suggest you wait and see what OFGEM say and then decide if you want to go back and try and claim again. It is free to do so.

tripletrouble

Wywth wrote: »

If over a million people can claim, and SSE have only set aside £5m to pay the compensation, I'm sure everyone can do the sums themselves as to what the average compensation claim is likely to be


That being the case, future payouts should be expected to be even less than the average you have just calculated


Just because the supplier have written to that amount of customers potentially affected, it does not mean they all are, or more importantly have the basis of a valid claim.
(SSE would be cheapest for some customers)

You are right - there will be some customers who will actually be better off after switching to SSE and they will not have a claim. But there were some statistics from OFGEM a couple of years ago that suggested something like 40% of customers who switch on the doorstep actually end up worse off.
What about SSE also paying compensation to the rival company that the customer who was misled actually switched from - there's a thought.

Scottish_Power

nicki_moo wrote: »

If I have already contacted Scottish Power and had my appeal 'rejected' by both SP and the ombudsman approximately 18 months ago is it now worth appealing again?

Just to point out that if the Ombudsman has already made a decision on a case they would not re-investigate. I hope that helps. David

a1oatesy

When i moved into my property i was already with SSE for Electricity but British Gas for Gas, i then contacted SSE to switch my gas and have dual fuel as i was told it was a good offer. I then had to wait until January 2010 to have a meter installed and was switched over, would i be eligible to seek a claim? (Especially since the offer i originally signed up for never came about!)

natsplatnat

Have just registered my complaint with SSE (I was a Southern Electric customer for dual fuel). My complaint is that the door-step sellers beat my existing monthly payment for the first six months and then my payment went from £45 to £112 a month!! I did query this at the time and was told that the £45 was obviously not enough to cover the amount of gas/electricity I was using! Being financially naive / uneducated at the time I just accepted this. The funny thing is that I am only paying £57 a month (duel fuel) with my existing provider!!
Go figure!

I-LOV-MONEY

My problem is I cannot remember how I started with SSE. It could be that was the company already in situ when I moved in almost 13 years ago! Is there an easy way of finding out?

PalmersBlue

a1oatesy wrote: »

When i moved into my property i was already with SSE for Electricity but British Gas for Gas, i then contacted SSE to switch my gas and have dual fuel as i was told it was a good offer. I then had to wait until January 2010 to have a meter installed and was switched over, would i be eligible to seek a claim? (Especially since the offer i originally signed up for never came about!)

Have just received £50 from SSE. I moved into house that had existing SSE gas/elec contracts. I carried them on whilst house was empty having building work done and then spoke to SSE about switching when I moved in. I'd been in elec only flat before and was bit naive about dual fuel costs etc. SSE convinced me to stay but I got a much better fixed rate deal about 18 months down the line.

When I initially spoke to SSE re misselling they wanted to reject my claim on the basis they hadn't 'sold' me anyhting as they hadn't convinced me to switch from another supplier. I argued that convincing me (i.e. lying to me) not to leave them was exactly the same as falsely enticing me to switch. SSE chap said it was 'poor customer service but not misselling' and offered me £20 for poor customer service. I asked for £50 or I'd take it to the ombudsman. He checked it with his boss and cheque arrived 48 hours later (incredibly quick).

Impression I got was that they are desperate to put this behind them and try and rebuild their battered reputation, therefore, don't be fobbed off. They are obviously sensitive and seem more likely to slightly overpay compensation (but don't get greedy...only claim what is genuine) rather than risk more bad PR with hundreds of legitimate claims being taken to the ombudsman.