Warning - First Utility now charging for tariff switching

The_Reaper

MarkBargain wrote: »

I used to change companies regularly, but have stuck with First Utility for three years as they allowed switching when new tariffs came out. However, this time I emailed them and it turns out they would have charged me £60 exit fees for changing to First Fixed March 2017 v2 Direct Debit ebill (it was not clear when changing, perhaps in the T&Cs but as I was never charged in the past I did not look at these). They have agreed to put me back to my last tariff to avoid the charges.

They wrote...

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Please accept my apologies for this issue and for any confusion caused. Recently, our policy surrounding termination fees when changing tariffs has been updated. This is due to a number of customers switching tariffs within their fixed term contract. Our new policy states that if a customer switches fro ma short term tariff to what First Utility consider to be another short term tariff, which is a tariff that lasts approximately one year, there will be a termination fee. This is also the case if a customer chooses to leave First Utility more than 49 days towards the end of their fixed contract. However, if a customer switches from a short term tariff to a medium or long term tariff, this will be free of charge, as they are upgrading their tariff from a short term to a longer contract.[/FONT]

I am in the same boat and have now been put back to my old tariff.

Time to switch, which is a shame as I was happy to stay when the allowed easy transfers on to the new cheaper tariffs.

System

The_Reaper wrote: »

I am in the same boat and have now been put back to my old tariff.

Time to switch, which is a shame as I was happy to stay when the allowed easy transfers on to the new cheaper tariffs.

If you are within 49 days of the end of your current fixed term contract, then FU cannot charge exit fees. This is covered in their Supplier's Licence.

The_Reaper

Hengus wrote: »

If you are within 49 days of the end of your current fixed term contract, then FU cannot charge exit fees. This is covered in their Supplier's Licence.

I was nowhere near 49 days. It was over a year.

Previously they have always allowed transfering to other FU tariffs without penalty. This has now changed.

KDH_2

However this is still not clear on their website.
If I go into the tarifff change page I am only given a warning if I start going into the process of changing to the variable tariff. I am currently on a short (1 year tariff) and am not given a warning if I look at another short tariff.
Roll on Dec 13th 2016 when I am 49 days off finishing my Jan 2017 tariff..........I can then move (possibly to another FU tariff).
The way prices are droppping it may be the case that a 2 year contract( with no fee) becomes increasingly atrractive?!

The_Reaper

KDH wrote: »

However this is still not clear on their website.
If I go into the tarifff change page I am only given a warning if I start going into the process of changing to the variable tariff. I am currently on a short (1 year tariff) and am not given a warning if I look at another short tariff.
Roll on Dec 13th 2016 when I am 49 days off finishing my Jan 2017 tariff..........I can then move (possibly to another FU tariff).
The way prices are droppping it may be the case that a 2 year contract( with no fee) becomes increasingly atrractive?!

Im just going to switch, probably with the next collective switch. The cashback and lower rate more than pay for the exit fees from FU.

rickya23

Have just been stung by this. Fixed further on 13 Jan. Received email today stating £60 was being charged to my account due to the switch. Rang up to ask what was going on. Asked to cancel fees but they said I was out of the 14 day cooling off period and that I had agreed to the terms and conditions online. Will ring again to complain - see if the fees are waived.

The_Reaper

rickya23 wrote: »

Have just been stung by this. Fixed further on 13 Jan. Received email today stating £60 was being charged to my account due to the switch. Rang up to ask what was going on. Asked to cancel fees but they said I was out of the 14 day cooling off period and that I had agreed to the terms and conditions online. Will ring again to complain - see if the fees are waived.

Good luck with this. I hope this thread will warn others.

The_Reaper

Bump! Dont get stung by this.

wavelets

The_Reaper wrote: »

Bump! Dont get stung by this.

It was only minutes earlier being discussed in this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5404834

Beawake

Hi
I've been with F U for a couple of years now and I too have found their tariffs very pleasing.
I too also found out they tried to charge me for switching tariff from December 2016 to March 2017 but also advised I could change back within 14 days ,which I have done.
I find this a bit sad as it's clear the energy prices have taken FAR TOO LONG to be lowered and are finally falling drastically, and now they are getting stricter on us continually switching for our benefit.
I was however informed IF you want to change to a tariff for two or three years ahead they won't charge you the £60.
Now I find this a bit strange as how are we to know how much they will be then. It's clear now they won't cost more, so in effect you are gambling that they won't be lowered further. To stop us gaining the other way we've now been restricted to WHEN we can change if on the sensibler one year fixed plan.
Whatever way you look at it. They are still making a mint from US.First untility is still one of the better deals ,so I would hesitate to jump over to another as their deals seem better,only to be changed a month or so after.
The bit that annoyed me the most was the lack of clear info about this BEFORE.Now that is unforgiveable.