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

veryintrigued

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38119754

......No exit fees will be charged as a result of the closure, but Ofgem said it would be down to customers to tell their new supplier they wanted to be put on the cheapest deal.......

Robin9

And another question.

If I was to initiate a switch today
Could the new supplier refuse to accept a GBenergy customer on the basis of the hassle involved ?

rnager

I have initiated a switch today (I have no credit to worry about).Let's see what happens

[Deleted User]

@robin9
A new supplier can and always has been able to, reject a switch request. They don't need to accept your offer to switch to them or give a reason why.
That is one of the reason that OFGEM has to have a Supplier of Last Resort who has to accept blindly all customers from a failed supplier.

ceredigion

Well it looks like I'm in the switched out group.
Switched out of GB energy on the 10th nov, last dd taken on the 9th nov, so was still a customer sadly. Balance at last bill 28th oct was £118 credit , was just sitting here waiting for the final bill/statement to arrive , normally on the 28th, so tomorrow. When I would have claimed my refund. So probably now unsecured small creditor and will never see it. The only chink of light I can see is , as this last bill /statement of account has yet to be received and no doubt wont come tomorrow is that ofgem or whoever takes over ,will have to supply it . Whoever supplies it I will pursue for the money. But I don't hold out for much hope.
As for the dd guarantee scheme , with a little knowledge of how this works I really cant see how you could make a valid claim as the payments weren't taken in error.

Caddyman

Firstly, I can only express my sadness for everyone affected and I hope this does sort itself out, though I fear it will be a long drawn out affair and ultimately some customers will end up on very expensive tariffs.

I read in another post much further back that one of the contributors wouldn't be put off by switching to a smaller less known company than one of the big six suppliers. Whilst I appreciate that it is human nature for some to save absolutely every last penny they can, this sort of situation is exactly the reason why I won't leave Npower as my energy supplier.

I've been on the Cheap Energy Club website for a considerable time now and having just today checked my comparison, no other tariff can beat what I fixed to in June this year with Npower and I'm on a fixed dual fuel tariff until June 2018. There have previously always been cheaper tariffs I could have switched to over the last 5 or 6 years, but the savings rarely edged over £50 per annum, not enough in my book to warrant switching to small energy supplier with a cheaper tariff. What I have done over those years, is constantly review my tariff with Npower and always switched as soon as they had a cheaper one. In one year alone, I switched tariffs three times without penalty, cheaper energy without the hassle of changing suppliers.

Also, my energy is delivered via Indepenent Gas Transporter. Lots of new housing developments have been subject to this for many years and as another contributor commented, it can sometimes take weeks to swap suppliers with IGT's and it isn't necessarily the easiest transition and it's a hassle I can do without.

So mindful of what has just happened, yes, I am put off by switching to small energy providers and I'm more than happy to pay a little extra if it means my energy company isn't likely to go bust anytime soon.

I absolutely realise that in these difficult economic times nothing is guaranteed, but sometimes as a customer, you really do have to weigh up the pros and cons of whether cheapest really is best.

smiley11

Hi I switched to another company on 9th November, because I simply couldn't afford a 30% hike. Despite ringing about my direct debit, it was still taken on 14th, building my credit up to nearly £250. I have not received a final bill despite requesting on the phone and in writing, and providing readings to my new company and GB on the same day. My new supplier, have already issued me with a gas bill. I was lead to believe that I could not stop my direct debit as this was where my money would be refunded, but no more payments would be taken. I have been able to claim my last payment back from 14th, but told I will need to pay it back if first direct can not get it back themselves. I think this could be incorrect, as it was taken when I was told it would be stopped, so I have also contacted the direct debit guarantee scheme to seek advice on this. I have documents to show when my new supply was set up, phone call evidence to GB (when I managed to get through), and first direct also set up my direct debit to my new supplier. It's upsetting that I have been building up my credit so it can see me through this winter, and I may not have this:(

chris73

No one has contacted me from Ofgen or GBE so I don't hold up much hope of anything be done as its been badly handled so far.

I believe that the announcement to close GB was only made yesterday Afternoon / Evening.

So you think Ofgem could access GB Energy's customer base, shortlist every single customer who was still active, find a new supplier to take over all of GB's active customer accounts, put a plan of action into place and then send out upto 160k emails / letters to all GB Energy customers informing them of what their plan was, and any new tariffs, all in less than 24 hours, at a weekend.

Does Ofgem even work during the day at the Weekends, let alone have staff and key people working late into a Saturday night?.

I think your expectations of personal contact timescales in relation to this matter, might be a little on the high side.

Back in the world of reality I suspect that this won't even get looked at until a working day and then it will be weeks before anything is decided let alone put into place. I can't imagine any new suppliers will be exactly rushing to take on GB's customer base, some of whom profess to have £200 or even £300 worth of credit accrued with GB.

I agree that how GB Energy handled their customer requests prior to this accouncement, especially ones for credit refunds was poor, even non existent for many, and for weeks GB staff were happily still posting new adverts on social media whilst customers were waiting endlessly for phone calls to be answered, and credit to be refunded.

But as far as Ofgem are concerned, I doubt they'll be doing much until 9am on Monday morning.

System

This is the latest decision from OFGEM on consumer credit protection:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/10/2016-10-21_decision_letter_on_supplier_insolvency.pdf

Scotlands_Lite

Might be relevant for those considering retaining their GBE DD atm


https://gocardless.com/direct-debit/transferring/