Together Energy?

Fromply

I've today had confirmation from the Ombudsman that the made an error in their calculations and they have now increased my award. I have accepted their decision and TE will now have 28 days from when the Ombudsman notifies them of my acceptance. I obviously have no confidence in TE complying in a timely manner! We shall see!

[FONT=&quot]You question whether the £60 gesture of goodwill that you were previously awarded by Ombudsman Services: Energy has been taken into consideration when calculating the balance as no direct payment was made to you.

I have revisited the calculations that I have completed and the £60 gesture of goodwill from your previous complaint was not included in this calculation. If I include the £60 gesture of goodwill from your previous complaint, then the final balance should be in credit by £121.12. I will increase the credit that Together Energy should apply to your account to total £162.55. The £50 awarded in this complaint is awarded separately and as a direct payment and therefore does not need to be added to the figure as it will not be applied directly to your energy account. [/FONT]

PurpleMoonlight

No apology from the Ombudsman for getting their calculations wrong?

Fromply

No, just an acknowledgement that the calculations have been confusing (when I calculated it originally, I came up with a match, to the penny - it's now a couple of pounds different - I haven't bothered to go back and check my calculations (again) against what they are saying. Here's the full response:

[FONT=&quot]You question whether the £60 gesture of goodwill that you were previously awarded by Ombudsman Services: Energy has been taken into consideration when calculating the balance as no direct payment was made to you.

I have revisited the calculations that I have completed and the £60 gesture of goodwill from your previous complaint was not included in this calculation. If I include the £60 gesture of goodwill from your previous complaint, then the final balance should be in credit by £121.12. I will increase the credit that Together Energy should apply to your account to total £162.55. The £50 awarded in this complaint is awarded separately and as a direct payment and therefore does not need to be added to the figure as it will not be applied directly to your energy account.

You state that it is a large coincidence that the difference between your own calculations and Together Energy’s calculations is £164.87 which is the same amount you were awarded in your previous complaint. However, I do not consider that this is due to the previous award as I can see that the calculation does not include the previous goodwill award. The issue that I can see is that when it recalculated the balance, it did not start with a zero balance. It bought forward a balance of £102.55 which is the balance on your previous invoice. However, I appreciate that these figures and the calculation of your balance has been confusing and difficult to follow.

If you choose to accept our decision, then Together Energy will have 28 days to implement the remedies in full. We have a remedy implementation team who will follow up with Together Energy over this period to ensure that all remedies are carried out. If you reach the end of 28 days and you feel that something has not been carried out or that it may have been completed incorrectly, then you can contact us and we will chase this. You have requested that interested is applied to take into account any days beyond the implementation period that the refund is not provided. I cannot justify requiring Together Energy to do this as we cannot determine that if a refund was provided on time, that it would be placed into a bank account to allow interest to be accrued. If you accept the decision, then this will be binding on Together Energy and it is therefore required to complete all actions within 28 days. I therefore do not anticipate that this will be an issue. However, if it is an issue then our remedy implementation team will deal with this as necessary.

The decision is that Together Energy is required to:

• credit your energy account with £162.55 and refund the remaining credit of £121.12 to you;
• send a letter of apology for any inconvenience caused; and
• provide a direct payment of £50 as a gesture of goodwill.[/FONT]

Lawcraft

PurpleMoonlight wrote: »

No apology from the Ombudsman for getting their calculations wrong?

Does presence of apologies change something?

System

Fromply wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your problems Steve, but I'm not surprised.


You should submit a formal complaint to Together and get the clock running so that 8 weeks after your complaint you can escalate to the Ombudsman. They will issue a legally enforceable decision in your favour (just from the length of time to issue a final bill) with compensation.


Of course no guarantees that Together will comply with the order - but you stand more chance with the Ombudsman fighting your corner than by yourself.


I'm shocked that Together haven't been hit with something similar to Economy Energy! I wonder just how bad Economy must have been..... https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46756909

Sadly, Energy Ombudsman Decisons are not enforceable. Have a look at the table on page 33:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2017/11/mse-tells-mps-of-need-for-urgent-reform-to-ombudsman-farce/

Fromply

I wonder if it's changed since that report was published because the Ombudsman Services website clearly says that their decisions are enforceable through the courts.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=75232265&postcount=361

masonic

As discussed earlier in the thread, an Ombudsman decision that isn't enforceable renders the service not fit for purpose and the small claims court the only viable alternative.

Fromply

Ah - the annex at the bottom of page 69 explains it.

PurpleMoonlight

Lawcraft wrote: »

Does presence of apologies change something?

No, but would you not normally apologise if you make a mistake that inconveniences others?

JuneS

Hengus wrote: »

Sadly, Energy Ombudsman Decisons are not enforceable.

That's not true - the energy ombudsman even have a team that monitor compliance.

Hengus wrote: »

Have a look at the table on page 33:

I'm not sure what page 33 you are referring to , but perhaps look at post#361 above

Hengus wrote: »

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2017/11/mse-tells-mps-of-need-for-urgent-reform-to-ombudsman-farce/

This article, which is over 12 months old, does not appear to support your allegation either.