MSE News: GB Energy goes bust, 160,000 customers affected

Cacran

I switched to GB energy a couple of months ago. I had been happy with my previous supplier OVO but was offered a better deal. After looking at some of their feedback, I was unhappy.
They only took one payment from my direct debit, next is due to come out on 1st Dec. I have done a transfer back to Ovo. Hope it goes smoothly. I cancelled the direct debit to GB Energy.

sd99

fredandwilma wrote: »

The moral of the story - with other smaller companies possibly going under this winter, make sure you do your research on the company first, before switching?

You'd think ofgem would do this...

castle96

Cancelled my DD and got the 4/11 payment reversed. Santander. Still owe me £50.
I wonder what scope there is for 'fiddling' with meter reads when the new lot take over ? How would we gain an 'advantage/£ here ??

Someone on here said they got TWO DD payments reversed. I thought you could only do the last ONE ?/ YES/NO ??

castle96

with santander it "depends on circumstances" ! I got 4/10 back as well,, but there is "no limit". Worth trying for N x mths x £s if you have a large credit. Todays gas/elec I am using ... wonder who I will pay for this !

Matt_EA

Wow… this news was unexpected. Thankfully we switched to the MSE British Gas deal last month, and after numerous attempts to call GB Energy Supply I finally got through last week and they refunded my credit balance on 23/11. Talk about skin of our teeth. Sorry to hear about this trouble for others just before Christmas.

sillygoose

What is ironic is that Ofgem wanted lots of these small companies to encourage switching and a free market to bring consumer bills down - but if they go bust it could end up with a levy across the industry resulting in higher bills possibly..

j73

I've credit with GB Energy but not sure how much! Also can't check my usage as website gone! Didn't keep anything written down..What a cockup by me!! ������

Leon_W

It was me who got two payments back.

I'm in credit but I don't know by how much . First Direct could see my last two DD's were higher than previously (i'd asked to increase them) and just asked are those both wrong ? I just went along with it and said yes.

I know I'll have to settle eventually but the £200 is now in my account and not theirs. You just know it'll be aggro trying to get credit back.

charlie53_2

I've just had a quick look through Ofgem's SoLR guidance. It seems we will all eventually be billed at the SoLR's rate (whatever that may be) from the date GB closed.

As I don't have a credit balance at risk it presumably makes sense for me to switch away to a new supplier as soon as possible. Do we know if we can still initiate a switch or will it fail?

I would much rather switch now than wait however long it takes Ofgem to sort this plus another couple of weeks to switch away from the SoLR all the while being charged at their higher rate.

EDIT: Here's the relevant part:

Transfer to a SoLR
4.4. It is for the SoLR (and its shipper), in conjunction with other industry parties (e.g. network operators), to decide the best way to transfer customers to its portfolio. Nevertheless, the SoLR has a deemed contract with each of the failed suppliers customers and is therefore able to charge them for the gas or electricity they use prior to actual transfer to the SoLR. When determining the amount of gas or electricity a customer has used, a SoLR must act on a reasonable basis, taking into account available consumption data for the premises in question and other relevant factors.

eande

charlie53 wrote: »

As I don't have a credit balance at risk it presumably makes sense for me to switch away to a new supplier as soon as possible. Do we know if we can still initiate a switch or will it fail?

I would much rather switch now than wait however long it takes Ofgem to sort this plus another couple of weeks to switch away from the SoLR all the while being charged at their higher rate.

I'd like to know this too (but suspect it's unanswerable at present).