opus energy charging too much VAT

welshblackhorse

morning everyone ,
Ive had an electricity supply with Opus energy since April 2011 . It is a small business tarrif . As I live at the same address approximately 50% of this is domestic use .At first I hadnt noticed that they were charging me 20% VAT ,when I did I asked for a VAT declaration form it took months and many phone calls to get this form and when I sent it in they said it was the wrong form ,even though they had e mailed it to me. I filled in another form and sent it back last month and this month I see that they have charged me 5% AND 20% on the same *********bill. Today I plan to kick a** but before I do I would like to know a few things if I anyone knows the answers.
Firstly , am I entitled to demand all the over paid VAT since April 2011 and if so and they give me the runaround what are my options. Also ,I am not VAT registered as I trade below the VAT threshold so I cannot re claim via the usual route.
Thanks all.

JasonLVC

It is not down to Opus to determine the VAT rate of individual properties.

If you have selected a business tarrif, then Opus will sensibly assume this is a business address and so charge you VAT at the standard rate of VAT.

If you are now saying you live and work at the same address and only have one meter, then it should be possible to apportion the electricity usage between business and residential. You have stated you believe this to be 50%.

Many small businesses will meet the 'De Minimis' requirements which qualify the business to be billed entirely at 5% VAT. The requirements are that they use less than an average of 33 kWh per day (1,000 kWh per month) of electricity.

If you are using less than 33kwh per day then you can ask for the entire bill to be at 5%.

Until then, Opus are charging you VAT at 5% on 50% of the domestic element and 20% VAT on the 50% business element, they have to split it like that as the law says they must charge 20% VAT on business use electricity and 5% for domestic, as you have a premises which is both business and domestic, Opus have to split the VAT out separate.

Most utility providers will allow you to submit a back claim for overpaid VAT, going back 4 years, so within your time frame, but you would normally have to write in showing the costs incurred and the wrong VAT charged and then ask for a refund, then it should happen.

Your refund will not be for all the VAT you ever paid. Half your bills were correctly charged at 20% as they were business use, so you should be looking at getting back the difference between 5% and 20% VAT (15%) on the VAT charged relating to your domestic part of the bill.

Make it easy for them and they'll process it quickly, just ringing the helpline and demanding a refund is unlikely to work.

memento82

Hi, I know a business that was put into a contract with Opus energy through an energy broker called EnergiSave Online.

It's owned by Janet Thornton and she also owns Inspired Energy based in Kirkham.

It seems their only sales tactic is to hound and abuse customers until they sign with Opus Energy so I don't think any of it is Opus' fault - just the broker.

You can read more here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4901283

Equidivine

Hi everyone I too have had the same issues where they claimed to be another company and illegally duped me into joining their crook company.

In one day I had about 100 calls from sales, I had to call police and still they rang from local numbers and different numbers. They are exceptionally rude and lie! 2 years I have been fighting them and now they cut off my electric even though I have proof I was ill in hospital after childbirth and that I can't pay my bills without the shop being open. They have charged excess amounts of money due to them over charging. The bill they want from me is over £3000 which they refuse to turn on my electric unless I pay full bill. They charged over £600 to disconnect the supply and want to add another £400 on top of bill to reconnect. They have never taken a meter reading and Iv never received a bill yet they have this magic £3000 bill? This company needs to be stopped in the way they trick clients into signing up. They still don't have my correct name yet signed me up? How is this possible?

There are over 140 same reviews about misleading clients by fake phone calls and claiming to be another energy firm and aggressive behaviour. I tried to cancel with my cooling off period and they blank refused me.

Ofgem want to investigate this company so I need as much evidence as possible.

Please visit following links and leave your feedback!

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reviewcentre.com/reviews249511