Credit on account

asdash

My mum has had an account with first utility for the last year. She is still with and has moved onto a new fixed contract. However the is over £500 and credit, she has asked first utility for a refund, however they have told her that they can't do that and that if she wants a refund, she will have to come off the fixed price tariff and go onto the variable.

She only went onto the new fixed tariff in the last few days - is there a cooling off period if she wants to cancel and go elsewhere ? As there is normally a penalty if she cancels early.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

Andrea

Nada666

At this time of year her credit should not be much more than one or one-and-a-half instalments. So she should certainly be entitled to (probably) £350 back.

However you also have to look at what her payments have been set to and compare them with her historical annual usage - has she had £30 or £42 knocked off her monthly instalments?

As to cooling off periods - will not apply to switching tariffs whilst staying with the same supplier. If there are penalty charges they will be levied if you switch.

So what you have to check is - what is the predicted annual usage? Using that usage with the new tariff how does that compare? If her instalments have not been reduced then there certainly are grounds for complaint. But if they are smaller than they would be would a £32 per month smaller instalment for a whole year be better than a lump sum refund of £360?