Switching supplier at a student house - less than 12 months rental left?

Jelly_man

Hi all, I've signed up to the cheap energy club and it looks like my housemates and I could be saving about £24/month on bills. However, we've only got a 12 month rental (until June 2015) on this place and aren't guaranteed to renew for a second year. Would this present an issue for energy companies if we were to switch?

EDF seems to have no exit fees, but does that only cover switching supplier rather than stopping supply altogether?

As a side note, my rental agreement states I agree "not to change any service providers eg. gas, electric, water" ... "any time taken by our agency or the landlord to change services back to the original supplier will be charged at £25 per hour to the deposit"

I contacted my landlord asking if indeed changing providers was an issue, and he said "you can change provider if you like."
Does that text that I received from him free me from that clause in the signed agreement? He seems like a chilled out landlord in general.

Cheers for any clarification.

footyguy

Jelly_man wrote: »

Hi all, I've signed up to the cheap energy club and it looks like my housemates and I could be saving about £24/month on bills. However, we've only got a 12 month rental (until June 2015) on this place and aren't guaranteed to renew for a second year. Would this present an issue for energy companies if we were to switch?

Won't be a problem for any energy supplier

Jelly_man wrote: »

EDF seems to have no exit fees, but does that only cover switching supplier rather than stopping supply altogether?

No supplier will charge you (as a residential customer) for ending your contract early because you move.

Jelly_man wrote: »

As a side note, my rental agreement states I agree "not to change any service providers eg. gas, electric, water" ... "any time taken by our agency or the landlord to change services back to the original supplier will be charged at £25 per hour to the deposit"

Would be interesting to see them try. I would suggest that is an unfair term. Anyway, as switching takes a matter of seconds, it'll be peanuts

If you choose a supplier with no early exit charge (like EDF you suggested) then to save any hassle, just switch the supply back before you leave.

Jelly_man wrote: »

I contacted my landlord asking if indeed changing providers was an issue, and he said "you can change provider if you like."
Does that text that I received from him free me from that clause in the signed agreement? He seems like a chilled out landlord in general.

Cheers for any clarification.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. But it's probably an unenforcible term anyway.

I'm sure your University Housing Officer will assist you in case of any dispute.

dogshome

At a guess, I'd say that your present supplier is Spark, who are well known for paying a bung to Letting Agents to have Spark written into lease agreements as the supplier.

Your particular LA seems more greedy than most and this 'Change supplier back' penalty clause flies in the face of your absolute right as the bill payer to change supplier.

However, it is a condition of the lease agreement that you have signed, so best bet is to get the landlord to put his permission for you to change supplier, in writing

Jelly_man

Thanks very much for the thorough answers!

Our current provider is SSE, who are lovely and have been very good to us as far as customer service, so I don't think its an agreement between them and the letting agent.

I'll chat with the landlord when he next visits and see if he'd put it down in writing.

dogshome

Interesting that your supplier is SSE, are they actually named in the lease as your supplier ?

I ask because in the Autumn of 2011, there were posts from tenants who's lease contained a 'Spark' type tie-in clause, written in in favour of SSE.
I know Ofgem were made aware of this and must have had a quiete word with SSE as they stopped doing it.

Chances are that the lease for your flat was originally drawn up in 2011, and every tenant since, (except you), has been too scared of the LA's penalty charges to challange it

Jelly_man

SSE aren't named. Our landlord is usually a private landlord, but uses agencies to advertise to students because it gives better exposure. My guess is we signed a contract written by the letting agent with terms that aren't necessarily agreed by either the landlord or tenant.

macman

You should simply have struck that clause out of the tenancy agreement. Why would your LL want to change suppliers back anyway? He/she is only responsible for charges between tenants.
Your utility account, your choice of supplier.