Electricity Company Issue

mrsingh

Hi all,

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who may have had a similar "tactic" employed with them by one of the big energy firms and wonder if what has happened to me is allowed….

In april this year I opened a small shop, and contacted the previous tenants electricity supplier to let them know the change of ownership and give a meter reading. I was told that the meter was disconnected and they could not reconnect it until an engineer had been in to check the meter over - this was despite me explaining that this could not be the case as I actually had electricity in the property so it could not have been disconnected…

I waited for an engineer to arrive but there was no visit at all. I realise I could have chased this up but with the opening of the business and various teething problems my concentration was elsewhere. Approx 3 months later I received a phone call from the electricity company saying that they realised no-one had been in touch and that they no longer needed to send someone out as long as I signed a new contract with them there and then on the phone. I explained that I was not prepared to do this as I wanted to have a chance to compare their rates with other suppliers, after all once I was in a contract I would be stuck with it for a fixed period so obviously owed to my business to find the best deal.

Over the next week or so I managed to find other suppliers but after calling them for a quote no-one was able to actually give me any rates as they required a valid "MPAN" number which was not listed on a national database called ECOEF (from what I understand every meter in the country is listed on the database and suppliers are required to keep it up-to-date). Without a valid number no-one could help so I could get any other rates with which to compare the original suppliers rates. When I contacted them to do so they explained that they will do so and I would be able to then get some rates from other suppliers but each time I was told by new suppliers that they hadn't updated it. This continued for a few weeks with the supplier contacting me to offer new rates and see if I was able to sign up over the phone on numerous occasions which I refused.

Fast forward to last week when I received a "welcome letter" from the supplier in question stating my new contract will start in OCT - I was shocked and absolutely livid with this…. I had not agreed by writing or otherwise to agree to any contract so how can they just begin a contract of service with me?

My questions are; A) has anyone else experienced this? Is this allowed - a contract can be started by a company without the agreement of the purchaser? & C) what are my options (if any)?

I'm assuming I can complain to the energy ombudsman but I'm not sure if they also act for businesses - I think they are just consumer orientated but would appreciate clarification if anyone is aware.

Apologies for the lengthy nature of this post!

Game_Over

mrsingh wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who may have had a similar "tactic" employed with them by one of the big energy firms and wonder if what has happened to me is allowed….

In april this year I opened a small shop, and contacted the previous tenants electricity supplier to let them know the change of ownership and give a meter reading. I was told that the meter was disconnected and they could not reconnect it until an engineer had been in to check the meter over - this was despite me explaining that this could not be the case as I actually had electricity in the property so it could not have been disconnected…

I waited for an engineer to arrive but there was no visit at all. I realise I could have chased this up but with the opening of the business and various teething problems my concentration was elsewhere. Approx 3 months later I received a phone call from the electricity company saying that they realised no-one had been in touch and that they no longer needed to send someone out as long as I signed a new contract with them there and then on the phone. I explained that I was not prepared to do this as I wanted to have a chance to compare their rates with other suppliers, after all once I was in a contract I would be stuck with it for a fixed period so obviously owed to my business to find the best deal.

Over the next week or so I managed to find other suppliers but after calling them for a quote no-one was able to actually give me any rates as they required a valid "MPAN" number which was not listed on a national database called ECOEF (from what I understand every meter in the country is listed on the database and suppliers are required to keep it up-to-date). Without a valid number no-one could help so I could get any other rates with which to compare the original suppliers rates. When I contacted them to do so they explained that they will do so and I would be able to then get some rates from other suppliers but each time I was told by new suppliers that they hadn't updated it. This continued for a few weeks with the supplier contacting me to offer new rates and see if I was able to sign up over the phone on numerous occasions which I refused.

Fast forward to last week when I received a "welcome letter" from the supplier in question stating my new contract will start in OCT - I was shocked and absolutely livid with this…. I had not agreed by writing or otherwise to agree to any contract so how can they just begin a contract of service with me?

My questions are; A) has anyone else experienced this? Is this allowed - a contract can be started by a company without the agreement of the purchaser? & C) what are my options (if any)?

I'm assuming I can complain to the energy ombudsman but I'm not sure if they also act for businesses - I think they are just consumer orientated but would appreciate clarification if anyone is aware.

Apologies for the lengthy nature of this post!

When you take over a premises with a live energy supply and start using that energy, you are in what is termed a 'deemed contract' with that supplier.

All perfectly legal and above board.

You should note that deemed tariffs, particularly business ones, are usually much more expensive than otherwise negotiated and agreed ones.

Also, unlike a residential customer, a supplier can disconnect you if you don't wish them to supply you any more ... especially if you have not arranged for another supplier to take over that live supply.

Other than a deemed contract I referred to above, you cannot be party to a contract you have not agreed to.

Depending on the size of your business, the ombudsman may eventually be available to you; they will consider complaints from what they term a micro-business (more details on their website)
But in any event, the ombudsman will not act for you until you have exhausted the supplier's own complaint's procedure. That means filing an official complaint and waiting at least 8 weeks for the supplier to investigate and resolve, or otherwise be provided with a deadlock letter by the supplier.

mrsingh

Game_Over wrote: »

When you take over a premises with a live energy supply and start using that energy, you are in what is termed a 'deemed contract' with that supplier.

All perfectly legal and above board.

You should note that deemed tariffs, particularly business ones, are usually much more expensive than otherwise negotiated and agreed ones.

Also, unlike a residential customer, a supplier can disconnect you if you don't wish them to supply you any more ... especially if you have not arranged for another supplier to take over that live supply.

Other than a deemed contract I referred to above, you cannot be party to a contract you have not agreed to.

Depending on the size of your business, the ombudsman may eventually be available to you; they will consider complaints from what they term a micro-business (more details on their website)
But in any event, the ombudsman will not act for you until you have exhausted the supplier's own complaint's procedure. That means filing an official complaint and waiting at least 8 weeks for the supplier to investigate and resolve, or otherwise be provided with a deadlock letter by the supplier.

This partly the issue - when I took over the premises, according to the supplier the supply was disconnected, even though I had electricity in the property. I just wanted them to provide me with the opportunity to seek out the best deal - surely that is my right. By withholding the MPAN number required to get other they effectively are denying me the opportunity to do so - i'm effectively a captive customer and wether this is for a business or private individual this can't be right?!?

Savvy_Sue

Have they sent any bills so far? The MPAN would be on that, I believe.

Aquamania

mrsingh wrote: »

This partly the issue - when I took over the premises, according to the supplier the supply was disconnected, even though I had electricity in the property. I just wanted them to provide me with the opportunity to seek out the best deal - surely that is my right. By withholding the MPAN number required to get other they effectively are denying me the opportunity to do so - i'm effectively a captive customer and wether this is for a business or private individual this can't be right?!?

The supplier thought you were disconnected, hence no meter and no MPAN. They were not deliberately withholding it from you.

Obviously they made a simple mistake as you were accessing electricity.

If you had approached any other supplier that was even remotely interested in supplying you, I'm sure they could have found the MPAN for the supply you were using.

If not, you could have contacted the DNO who would have told you the MPAN relating to the supply address.

But as you said, your concentration was elsewhere, which is presumably why, after 3 months, you are still with the same supplier on their expensive deemed tariff.