Electricity4business???

jumpingjack751

Hi.

I have received a call this morning from a company called electricity4business.

They are substantially cheaper than my current supplier powergen & from what they tell me I could save about £220 per year! (My last bill was £880 which has gone up by £300 per quarter!!!:mad: )

BUT, as with all these "cold" calls alarm bells are ringing as to how "genuine" this company is.

Can anyone tell me if they have heard of this company & if so are they any good? Also they want to cap the prices for 3 years. Is this a good idea?

Any info greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

Ken68

They are listed on the energywatchdog site, Jack. Doesn't mean they 'pass' but some check must have been made.
Run by former Powergen Finance Director.

jumpingjack751

Thanks Ken, I will take a look. Another couple of things have cropped up since I last posted which I could do with some help on if anyone has any ideas.

Firstly - Business electricity? On this site I cant seem to find any threads that relate to this. I have tried using comparison sites but they seem to be dedicated just to home use. Our premises is part business/part house but we get charged totally business rate? Anyone know how to find out more on business electricity suppliers?

Also I have just spoke to Powergen to see if they could match what I have been quoted. Firstly, no they can't or won't & didnt seem interested in coming to any arrangement. Secondly they claim that we have a contract with them until June 2008???? We have signed nothing but they say they would have sent a letter sometime in June. When I suggested that if they could not match what I have been offered I will be changing supplier they said I could not do this.

They claim that this letter is legally binding & we are tied with them until 2008. Can they do this?

Just to give you an idea of the comparison that I have had from B4Ecompared to Powergen -

Powergen day Units - 11.96 B4E - 7.9
" night " - 5.44 B4E - 4.1

I think you can see why i want to swop:mad:

Ken68

Something wrong there Jack....cheaper than domestic rates. Is there a standing charge ?

jumpingjack751

Ken68 wrote: »

Something wrong there Jack....cheaper than domestic rates. Is there a standing charge ?

Mmmmn not sure Ken. Will find out more. Do you know any business comparison sites? Also are Powergen able to tie me into a "contract" until next year even though i havent signed anything or agreed to anything?
Thanks
Jack

Cardew

There have been a few posts on this site about business tariffs, including someone else who complained his utility company told him he had a binding contract(of which he was unaware) A search should find it.

Tripled, who works for a Utility company, is the expert on these matters, he usually comes on this site late at night, and I am sure he will advise.

However from what I have read business tariffs have none of the safeguards that us gullible domestic consumers enjoy!

jumpingjack751

Many thanks Cardew. Hopefully Tripled will see the post & give me some advice.

Ken - there is a standing charge 41p per day. Powergen are charging 39p per day at present. Even with the extra there, B4E overal charges would still be cheaper long term.

Ken68

If you break what Powergen consider a contract they might not help the transfer to E4B.

MoneyMiser

Hi Guys,

Try this site for comparrisons on your bussiness supply.

www.energi-advice.co.uk

Not got anymore details but there is a freephone number so it won't cost you to find out what they do

jumpingjack751

Thanks MoneyMiser will check that out.

Ken - Can powergen claim to have a contract with you then? We havent signed anything thats for sure but they claim to have sent a letter in June (which we didnt get) telling us we will be with them until july 2008. Surely if you didnt sign an agreement then they can't hold you to anything, can they? Or am I being very naive here? Powergen were charging me £180 per month last year & now I am paying £306 per month & nothing has changed.

Thanks
Jack

Terrylw1

Hi Jack,

Most customers are signed up verbally thesedays which is considered a legally binding contract. They would have then sent you out a welcome pack which you could have cancelled after receiving if you didn't want to carry on with the sign up.

There are lots of price freeze until 2008 deals out there. If they have made a mistake and believe that contract is binding, they are wrong. However, you need to rule this factor out first.

They can't do this on domestic, but I'm not sure on the business front as I've seen lots of 3-5 year deals over the years which were locked deals. These were however large users.

Also, be careful if you use more than 34 units per day as it will affect your VAT. Some companies will attempt to handle your billing slightly different so it's worth asking when you change.