Reporting electricity reseller for overcharging?

thefatgit

We have just gone onto a seasonal caravan pitch which has metered electricity. When enquiring about the unit cost prior to paying for the pitch I thought they had said 11p per kWh, however now we are on site it appears they had said 11 units for £5, which is 3-4 times the average business unit rate - something that is not allowed.
If I complain to the site we could be thrown off and we've just got all set up for the year, and to be honest the site is lovely but we've stretched our finances about as far as possible, so can't afford to move it again. Is there any body to report the overcharging to, preferably anonymously?

The OFFER site said to use Energywatch for purchaser issues, but that does down years ago.

Thanks

spiro

See here - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/resale-gas-and-electricity-guidance-maximum-resale-price-updated-october-2005

I suggest you query the price with the campsite and say you think the price should be £x not £y per unit.

wavelets

thefatgit wrote: »

We have just gone onto a seasonal caravan pitch which has metered electricity. When enquiring about the unit cost prior to paying for the pitch I thought they had said 11p per kWh, however now we are on site it appears they had said 11 units for £5, which is 3-4 times the average business unit rate - something that is not allowed.
If I complain to the site we could be thrown off and we've just got all set up for the year, and to be honest the site is lovely but we've stretched our finances about as far as possible, so can't afford to move it again. Is there any body to report the overcharging to, preferably anonymously?

The OFFER site said to use Energywatch for purchaser issues, but that does down years ago.

Thanks

EnergyWatch disappeared yonks ago, so that indicates whatever you were reading was also from yonks ago.

Energywatch was replaced by Consumer Focus (which added other organisations such as Postwatch), and was then renamed Consumer Features.

However, that has gone now too, and is replaced by the CAB (amongst all the other things they do)

Remember, a reseller is allowed top pass onto you all the costs attributed to the supply of electricity. i.e. not just the unit charge, but the standing charge. I suspect the campsite is supplied on a commercial agreement by the energy supplier, and so the campsite may well also be paying metering services costs. These too can be passed on (all pro-rata)

This Ofgem paper provides more info on reselling
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/74486/11782-resaleupdateoct05.pdf

dogshome

The power supplied to these holiday sites is charged thro' one meter, and then distributed around the c'vans by the wiring and meters the site owners have installed.

The rules allow, not unreasonably, for the site owners to recover the cost of these in the price per KWh they charge to the van owners.
However, there isn't any body that polices this mark up to decide if it's reasonable or not, so the site owners make up their own rules and prices

PaschalFun

dogshome wrote: »

The power supplied to these holiday sites is charged thro' one meter, and then distributed around the c'vans by the wiring and meters the site owners have installed.

The rules allow, not unreasonably, for the site owners to recover the cost of these in the price per KWh they charge to the van owners.
However, there isn't any body that polices this mark up to decide if it's reasonable or not, so the site owners make up their own rules and prices

Not suggesting you are wrong, but what is the difference between a caravan park owner doing this and say a landlord that has split a large house up into a number of bedsits, each of which has a landlord's meter installed?

dogshome

Answer to the question - No difference.

If a Landlord pays the bill for the 'mother' meter that supplies the whole building and then runs wiring to each individual flat with his own meter on the end, he is entitled to add a reasonable charge for installation and maintenance, to the 'mother' meters billing.

Just like the caravan site, there is no agency policing the mark-up on such arrangements

dogshome

Trawled thro' the Ofgem data kindly pointed up by Spiro, found it interesting that the seller was supposed to charge the costs of putting in and maintaining wiring/private meters, as an entirely seperate item from the Kwh consumption. charges.
Had happy holidays in Holiday Park van owned by an uncle in the early 2000's and his bills never showed this, but the cost per Kwh certainly did.

Loved the Ofgem advice that buyers who found themselves overcharged should seek recompense thro' the Small Claims Court - To do this they would have to have access to the sellers original bills from the supplier ! FAT CHANCE

Pity, as Energy Watch were murdered we can't see their advice, and I say murdered because that's what it was.
After the 'free' market rules were brought in, in 2002, Ofgem were happily putting out press releases saying how well it was working, but Energy Watch who dealt directly with Customer complaints were saying the exact opposite, had the data to prove it and had levied multi-million £ fines on some Energy suppliers.

This spat ended with EnergyWatch being closed down, since when we have had four other customer champion agencies in succession, with each one having less and less power to bring suppliers to heel
Never ever, doubt the power of the Energy Industries lobby at Westminster

Cardew

Ask the local trading standards office to investigate