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

macladd

My gut feeling is to switch now, I know we are being told not to but here's why I think we should...

OFGEM said yesterday they will appoint a new supplier in 2 to 14 days. There is a 14 day cooling off period when requesting a switch, so a switch will not even start until the SoLR has been announced and the festive period may delay the switch further so we would officially have been taken over by the SoLR before the switch completed, thus protecting the credit balance.

We are now sitting ducks, the energy companies know there will be 160,000 customers wanting new deals very soon, how long do you think the last remaining deals will be available! My bet is they will mostly all be pulled around the time OFGEM announce the SoLR!

What do you folks think?

Gizmo247

Chris75 wrote: »

If the move fails I haven't lost anything.

Alternatively, if the switch goes through then any money owned will no longer be covered by OfGEN's assurance (whatever that is worth) and you will be treated as any other creditor to an insolvent company and probably get nothing. Hobson's choice unfortunately :-(

abbeyscruffy

I cancelled my d/d yesterday morning. I also switched to a new deal online yesterday afternoon.

I rang the supplier later to confirm that they had no issues with my switch from GB Energy. They confirmed no problems whatsoever.

I now have a new, nearly 2 year deal with the new supplier albeit at £7 per month greater cost. I had been on the GB crystal account since 21/10/16 & had paid 2 d/ds of £29 each. My usage cost to 27/11 was approx. £44. I start my new supply on 19/12 & pay my 1st d/d on 20/12.

I feel happy that all is sorted & I can hopefully forget about this now. :j

Silveryfox

As of yesterday some suppliers had submitted bids to Ofgen for GB Energy's customer base and business. As a new member I'm not allowed to post links, however a Google search on "Big energy suppliers eye bankrupt provider's 160,000 customers" should give you it as first hit.

slpj

Can anyone please tell me what the energy tariffs are for GB Energy?

I'm on Premium energy Saver.

When I joined them in August 2016, they were : ---
gas 2.783/unit and 21.36 daily s/charge
Elec 10.028/unit and 21.368 daily s/charge.

I've had no communications from GB energy since August 2016, either by post or email. I haven't been asked for meter readings or been sent a bill or statement of account.

I wasn't even aware of the increases until the news that they went bust. I now know there have been increases in the tariffs, but I've never been informed how much they are.

Can someone tell me how much the increases were? And also, tell me if you are receiving emails from GB energy telling you ANYTHING at all?

Thanks.

matelodave

I think most people would be happier if there was a plan rather the this is what we "hope", "expect" etc. etc. situation at the moment.

There are too many maybe's for any of us to feel comfortable that anyone actually knows what they are doing. If we all felt confident that there was a process that had been agreed then their would be the anxiety that is being exhibited on this thread.

I can see it making everyone very wary in the future but hopefully it will motivate those who've allowed big credits to build to take a bit more control of their finances and monitor their consumption and billing.

OneLeggedPig

Silveryfox wrote: »

As of yesterday some suppliers had submitted bids to Ofgen for GB Energy's customer base and business. As a new member I'm not allowed to post links, however a Google search on "Big energy suppliers eye bankrupt provider's 160,000 customers" should give you it as first hit.

OFGEM must NOT let Npower get the deal, after the scandals of their customer service and constant errors. It's complete cheek that they are even bidding.

System

abbeyscruffy wrote: »

I cancelled my d/d yesterday morning. I also switched to a new deal online yesterday afternoon.

I rang the supplier later to confirm that they had no issues with my switch from GB Energy. They conformed no problems whatsoever.

I now have a new, nearly 2 year deal with the new supplier albeit at £7 per month greater cost. I had been on the GB crystal account since 21/10/16 & had paid 2 d/ds of £29 each. My usage cost to 27/11 was approx. £44. I start my new supply on 19/12 & pay my 1st d/d on 20/12.

I feel happy that all is sorted & I can hopefully forget about this now. :j

Ofgem has just updated its advice and it is now telling suppliers to accept switches from GBEnergy customers. Clearly, policy is being made on the hoof.

Silveryfox

Again yesterday, stock market analysts from Credit Suisse suggested that Centrica's British Gas or SSE would likely be the successful bidder. More worryingly they also suggested that the GB Energy bankruptcy will be useful in that it will encourage the Government to the view that a profitable energy industry is necessary and that this will lead to less "political interference" in it. (Google search on "gb energy centrica sse")

Scotlands_Lite

If anyone still wants to check some basic details from the GB Energy Site, you can use this snapshot link from 17/11/2016...


http://web.archive.org/web/20161117234613/https://www.gbenergysupply.co.uk/


...just don't expect to be able to login to your account


Also, some additional info re. DD Guarantee Scheme...


http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/27/27-directdebit-guarantee.htm


I'm sure I saw at least one poster on here quote the (erroneous) excuse about 'you haven't suffered a loss, so no refund'