20% or 5% VAT on Electricity

dogshome

WOW 25p Day Kwh & nigh10p Night Kwh + a chunky Standing Charge !

Say Hello to the bizarre worldof Business Supply Energy Contracts, where a fair price has nothing to do with it and it's all about getting as much cash out of the customer as possible.

These contracts are set up by 'negotiation' beween the supplier & customer.
The supplier offers a price which the customer accepts and are for a fixed term, which usually run for between one and three years.
Towards the end of the contract the supplier contacts the customer to negotiate a new contract, useing the threat that if a new contact isn't signed the custmer will be charged 'Out of Contract' prices, which are off the roof.
So the BIG questions are:
1)Where is the contract paperwork that n'power should have issued when changeing the supply from Domestic to Business
2)How many times during this Business Supply period, did n'power contact your father to renegotiate the contract?

footyguy

Jboy24 wrote: »

Hi all and thanks for the input. The farm business hasn't actually been active as such since 1998. We leased the land out and the buildings. The house is purely domestic and doesnt form an integral part of the farm business. Yes we have council tax bills showing the status of the house. Whats really confusing is if I go further back they were charging the VAT correctly???!
I just worked out the difference in VAT and it looks to be about £1000 a year. (yes its a big house, old and electric heated on a tariff that hasnt been changed since MEB was around).

+1 for "Something not quite adding up here"

footyguy

Jboy24 wrote: »

You would hope it didnt add up but I am correct. I said about £1000 its actually on average around £830. They were charging nearly 25p/kwh day and just shy of 10p/kwh night and three times the new contracted standard charge that I have agreed with SP. Plus of course they are incorrectly charging the environmental charge applied to business onto our home.
I called Uswitch and have saved my parents £2793.00 a year based on last years usage. The guy I spoke to at Uswitch said its the biggest reduction in cost for a home he had seen in 4 years !!!
I think this borderlines on fraud / morally irresponsible on the energy supplier.

I don't agree. The account holder would have agreed these prices, or at worst failed to agree any prices an so will be being charged at the suppliers default tariff.

Either way, it is a business tariff, and so unless the account holder has advised the supplier to the contrary (providing any proof as required) then it would be perfectly reasonable to apply VAT at the business rate of 20%.

If the property really is being used only (or even mainly) for domestic purposes, the acxcount holder needs to get off the current business tariff (abiding to any agreed terms) and get themself on a suitable domestic tariff. But that assumes reasonable domestic consumption too as some domestic suppliers do limit what is acceptable.

If, as you say, you have tried to switch the account yourself, then this actually could ironically be "borderlines on fraud / morally irresponsible" .

You cannot switch supplier until you have a supplier ... and you didn't have a supplier; your father did.

Jboy24

got some more information coming on this with your exact points being raised (dogshome) !