Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

2010

SaintAlf said:

Can I set the amount for the DD with the bank?  Avro now make it difficult to do that through themselves

No, your Avro contract states you will pay by monthly variable DD.

The way prices are forecast to go up, and suppliers pulling their best deals, it would be quite ironic if SVR with a price cap from 1st Oct of £1,277 a year, turns out to be the best deal.

Telegraph_Sam

The bank just needs confirmation that the customer has been unable to agree terms etc with the supplier for the reclaim to proceed.. I have done this myself. How reclaiming  a D/D when the overall account remains in credit is a grey area which if disputed would require proper legal clarification. One interpretation would be equivalent to saying that the supplier has the right to debit the customer's account regardless of the circumstances. I would find this difficult to believe if it came to court.
[As you say reclaiming a D/D doesn't get the remaining credit balance back, just avoids the amount at stake getting larger]

Aylesbury_Duck

My switch to Avro is about to complete, I've just supplied meter readings and they've taken the first payment.  No panic here, I'll deal with the consequences should they go under and see what the landscape looks like.  No point people panicking and jumping to another supplier until all this shakes out, you could end up in a worse position.

wrongplanet

SaintAlf said:

Can I set the amount for the DD with the bank?  Avro now make it difficult to do that through themselves

No, or rather not that I'm aware of, hence the need to notify you in advance of any change and other safeguards in the Direct Debit Guarantee. If it was a Standing Order you could as the amount paid set by the payer.

2010

Telegraph_Sam said:

The bank just needs confirmation that the customer has been unable to agree terms etc with the supplier for the reclaim to proceed.. I have done this myself. How reclaiming  a D/D when the overall account remains in credit is a grey area which if disputed would require proper legal clarification. One interpretation would be equivalent to saying that the supplier has the right to debit the customer's account regardless of the circumstances. I would find this difficult to believe if it came to court.
[As you say reclaiming a D/D doesn't get the remaining credit balance back, just avoids the amount at stake getting larger]

So every month you reclaim the DD back from the bank until your credit goes down to what you regard as an acceptable level.
I can really see the banks doing that.
At the same time you`re breaking your contract with the supplier.
SAM------------get real.

Telegraph_Sam

Please (re-) read my last para. Reclaiming is only damage limitation. You will find that the banks don't want to get involved in the nitty gtitty of the disagreement.
I don't know what grounds you have for asserting that a reclaim when in credit breaks the contract whilst the D/D agreement itself remains in place. I myself can't "prove" that in law it doesn't, can you prove that it does??  But as I said I have done this in the past and there wasn't much of a reaction from the supplier presumably because they knew they were on dodgy ground legally.
What alternative(s) are you suggesting?

Consumerist

The problem, I think, lies in the direct-debit agreement.

You give authority for the bank to pay the recipient any amount at any time providing you are given an agreed amount of notice.

Legally speaking, it seems to me, that you are at the mercy of the recipient with your only one recourse being to cancel the direct debit if you cannot agree the dates and amounts involved.

2010

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/19/majority-of-uk-small-energy-suppliers-could-be-left-to-collapse-this-winter

The majority of the UK’s small energy suppliers could be left to collapse this winter, the Guardian understands, as the government’s crisis talks focus on protecting households rather than bailing out struggling companies.



The Guardian understands the government would rather put in place arrangements to protect the millions of homes that may be left without a supplier this winter than prop up poorly financed companies which are likely to fail.

2010

Telegraph_Sam said:

Please (re-) read my last para. Reclaiming is only damage limitation. You will find that the banks don't want to get involved in the nitty gtitty of the disagreement.
I don't know what grounds you have for asserting that a reclaim when in credit breaks the contract whilst the D/D agreement itself remains in place. I myself can't "prove" that in law it doesn't, can you prove that it does??  But as I said I have done this in the past and there wasn't much of a reaction from the supplier presumably because they knew they were on dodgy ground legally.
What alternative(s) are you suggesting?

You`re not even with Avro so you can`t read the T&C of the contract you have signed with them.

It`s common sense you use less energy during the summer and have built up a credit ready for the winter when you use more energy.
What that credit should be is easy to work out if you put in monthly readings and keep a record of your annual use.
£XXX may seem a lot to be in credit right now but come the winter with higher usage it may not even cover what`s required.
Twice last winter I had to make one off payments to Avro because I had run into debit with higher bills despite having a healthly credit pre-winter.

polymaff

For the record, there appear to be about 80 small providers.

https://www.theenergyshop.com/energy-suppliers