Switching Energy Suppliers

1socrates1

Hi,

I have switched from British Gas to Green Star for my gas and electricity. I was sent a confirmation email from Green Star on 26 June that the new agreement will start 24 July. I am worried that I have not yet heard anything from British Gas and wonder if the onus is on me to contact them to get the final bill. I usually pay British Gas by receipt of online bill every quarter and am wondering if they are aware of me switching. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Hammer_Time

It's up to the new provider to contact them, however you could phone BG for an update.

System

Absolutely no need to contact BG. There will be no final bill until some weeks after the 24th July. You may get a letter or e-mail from BG suggesting that you are making a big mistake by leaving.

Three things to do/not to do:

1. Take actual meter meter readings on the day of the switch. Pass these to your new supplier and, if you want, to BG. Keep a record of these readings.

2. Do not cancel your DD with BG until you have been told that the switch has gone through. A cancelled DD can often result in a default and a reversion to the standard tariff.

3. Check the meter readings on the opening bill and closing bill to make sure that they are the same. They do not have to be the same as the ones that you gave to the new supplier as they go through a 3rd party adjustment process.

1socrates1

Hengus wrote: »

Absolutely no need to contact BG. There will be no final bill until some weeks after the 24th July. You may get a letter or e-mail from BG suggesting that you are making a big mistake by leaving.

Three things to do/not to do:

1. Take actual meter meter readings on the day of the switch. Pass these to your new supplier and, if you want, to BG. Keep a record of these readings.

2. Do not cancel your DD with BG until you have been told that the switch has gone through. A cancelled DD can often result in a default and a reversion to the standard tariff.

3. Check the meter readings on the opening bill and closing bill to make sure that they are the same. They do not have to be the same as the ones that you gave to the new supplier as they go through a 3rd party adjustment process.

Thanks,

I do not currently pay BG by direct debit, they send me an email every quarter and I log on and submit reading and pay that way.

So I will wait for it all to unfold and deal with it one step at a time. This is my first switch with an energy supplier so am expecting some bumps in the road.

System

Not quite. Your new supplier will pass the meter readings that you give them to a 3rd party for adjudication. All companies do this as some customers have been known to 'fiddle' their closing meter readings. the readings are then passed to the 'old' supplier - in your case, BG. They have the right to dispute the readings based on the past consumption figures that they hold. There is then an 'Agreed Disputes Process. It can take some weeks for the administrative process to be completed so a call to BG will not hasten the final bill.

1socrates1

I looked at my online account yesterday with green star energy and only my electricity was showing up on the account. I phoned to query this and the lady said it was an automated system which dealt with my initial request to switch to them and the gas component has been rejected for the switch over from British Gas because they had not been given enough notice period. This to me seems implausible because I was dual fuel with BG so surely if the time period was enough for electricity it would be fine for gas. She said she put in a request for transfer of gas and this should be done by 28 July. At the moment it seems I have one energy supplied by one provider and another energy supplied with another. Feel really let down. Has this happened to anyone else? It just seems as if when I completed the initial request through comparethemarket that green star only partially read the instruction and only requested the electricity to be transferred to them from BG. I hope this gets rectified.

macman

Very common-it's rare for both supplies to switch simultaneously.