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MSE News: Energy users are put off switching because they haven't heard of the...

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  • What risk?

    The risk in my opinion, and it is my opinion, that a small, hardly heard of energy provider, might go out of business, such as happened with GB Energy.

    Ok, OFGEM states it's 'unlikely that your supplier will go out of business' but guess what? it happened! So OFGEM may have a safety net in place to minimize the inconvenience to customers that suffer this kind of calamity, but my own risk aversion leads me to remain with a very large supplier. That's it, my choice, just as it is the choice of everyone who wishes to do so, to change energy supplier to whomever they see fit.

    I have to admit, I do find it slightly odd why some people would swap supplier just to save 10 or 20 quid a year, but it's money saved, so good on them. I would however point out, that there are switchers out there who take the moral high ground and will switch to a more expensive tariff to be 'Green' and do their bit for the planet. Good for them if they can afford to do it.

    As CL47 has pointed out, I too don't mind paying a little extra for a quarterly "in arrears" direct debit payment for energy actually used and quite possibly a bigger 'safety net' of a large utility company that is possibly less likely to go belly up if the wind farm stops rotating. ;)
  • I took a gamble when I switched to Iresa, because they were a relatively new company that I had never heard of before. At first they were a complete shambles - wrong readings, unable to speak to anybody on the phone, multiple failures to reply to emails.

    I'm not saying Iresa are perfect now, but they do eventually get there in the end. They bill me for gas and electric and I pay them. All I would ask is that they support smart meters.

    As off-putting as new suppliers might seem, ride it out and give them a chance.
  • If you're concerned about using a smaller supplier, don't let that put you off switching. . .
    Now, this is all very well in theory but what would happen if huge numbers switched to the cheapest small supplier? . . .

    It wouldn't be long before the supplier would not be able to cope with the demand and will refuse to admit it until the complaints levels rose so high that the "victims of their own success" line would be issued.

    In my view, consumers are right to treat new entrants with some reservation until there has been some organic growth that indicates the supplier is adapting efficiently to increases in customer numbers.

    Although customers' supplies are protected from the collapse of a supplier, it's not a lot of fun having to hurriedly hunt round for a new supplier if the fall-back supplier's tariffs are not suitable.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • KTF wrote: »
    MSE in promoting its switching site and 'special' EDF switching deal shocker ;)

    totally agree, looks like MSE is more for profits than savings these days,


    wonders how much EDF paid Mse to promote this shocking EDF deal


    MSE claim to help save people money , yet they promote this so called top deal which is soooo expensive it doesnt even come in the top 20 in cheapest deals


    tells you all you need to know
  • totally agree, looks like MSE is more for profits than savings these days, . . .
    Oh come on folks, that's a bit unfair.

    Many people don't know whether to trust the smaller suppliers so MSE cut a deal with one of the big six. Then there is cash-back to be earned from the switch and MSE gets some commission.

    Some people will not be satisfied until the comparison sites require a subscription to use them.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • its there in black and white how much of a shocking deal MSE have promoted


    nothing unfair about it
  • System
    System Posts: 178,227 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    However, the background of some of those 50 odd suppliers is debatable?

    I personally, research any of the smaller unknown companies, and i certainly wouldn't use a company with little information available or with a director who has owned previous companies which have gone into liquidation, for instance.

    Conversely, maybe for the uninitiated, maybe you would see a company you haven't heard of offering a low price and be tempted to use that company surely, if you are influenced solely by price?

    I wonder where MSE published last months poll? 3500 respondents, but the poll seems to have passed me by. I never saw it.

    I am not disagreeing. Ofgem itself has said that it awards Supply Licences on the basis of a completed application form and a £450 licence fee but in doing so it is not giving any guarantees that the Licence Holder is ‘a fit and proper person to run a company’. My point is that the level of protection now offered to domestic energy customers far outweighs the protection that you and I have for such things as insurance, broadband and mobile phone contracts. If any of these businesses go into liquidation then we are on our own. No credit protection plus the need to take out a new contract with A N Other. With energy, the insolvency process is seamless. Ofgem appoints a supplier of last resort and even the DD mandate does not have to be re-written.

    So what are the actual risks? Put simply, bad billing and poor customer service. I, and others, had issues with Iresa’s incorrect use of calorific values and this led to a complaint to The Energy Ombudsman (at a cost of £460 to the supplier).

    I do have an ongoing concern about Powershop which Ofgem has been considering now for over 2 months. If I don’t get an answer shortly, then I will just switch away. The only thing that keeps me with them is their excellent customer service. That said, like many new companies, it is worth looking to see whether there is more to them than just a man with a laptop. Powershop is a well established NZ/AU energy supplier.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • its there in black and white how much of a shocking deal MSE have promoted
    Well, from the latest newsletter :-
    • The market's cheapest: £824/yr - so save about £330.
    • Cheap small firm with decent feedback: £838/yr (a) - so save £310.
    • Cheap longer fix and top service (Ovo): £883/yr (a) - so save £270 (£500+ over 2yrs).
    • Cheapest Big 6: MSE EDF tariff: £890/yr (a) - so save £260.
    • Cheapest 'don't wanna switch firm' Big 6 deals: £890/yr - £1,082/yr (a).
    FULL HELP ON EACH OF THESE BELOW
    (a) Our Cheap Energy Club gives £25 dual-fuel cashback on these tariffs, so we've included that in the saving.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • Hengus wrote: »
    ........So what are the actual risks? Put simply, bad billing and poor customer service.......

    With great respect to you, that's too simplistic a view. GB Energy went bust I believe, because of a spike in wholesale prices. Yes, Co-op Energy were appointed by OFGEM to take on GB Energy's customers, but I suspect it still left an awful lot of GB Energy's customers feeling downright miffed at the whole saga.

    You may not agree with my own viewpoint, but I'm not going to shift away from Npower because quite frankly, I feel safe and comfortable with their service and billing as things currently stand. I don't feel as though I'm in any way being ripped off, I'm paying less for my energy than many people. I just don't want to move to an energy company I know practically nothing about, with possibly little customer feedback, perhaps tied to poor billing or poor customer service and maybe with no support even for Smart Meters if I had them? Why would I want to put myself in that position just to save a few quid a year? That's my risk aversion sorted!

    The following link is an interesting view:

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/02/co-op-energy-chief-david-bird-more-small-suppliers-could-go-bust
  • System
    System Posts: 178,227 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 8 September 2017 pm30 6:00PM
    Caddyman wrote: »
    With great respect to you, that's too simplistic a view. GB Energy went bust I believe, because of a spike in wholesale prices. Yes, Co-op Energy were appointed by OFGEM to take on GB Energy's customers, but I suspect it still left an awful lot of GB Energy's customers feeling downright miffed at the whole saga.

    You may not agree with my own viewpoint, but I'm not going to shift away from Npower because quite frankly, I feel safe and comfortable with their service and billing as things currently stand. I don't feel as though I'm in any way being ripped off, I'm paying less for my energy than many people. I just don't want to move to an energy company I know practically nothing about, with possibly little customer feedback, perhaps tied to poor billing or poor customer service and maybe with no support even for Smart Meters if I had them? Why would I want to put myself in that position just to save a few quid a year? That's my risk aversion sorted!

    The following link is an interesting view:

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/02/co-op-energy-chief-david-bird-more-small-suppliers-could-go-bust

    I am not questioning your decision, I am questioning the underpinning logic behind it. Why would GBEnergy’s customers be ‘miffed’ (and I was one of them) when the Supplier of Last Resort (Coop Energy) took over the supply to customers, with no supply break, and on the same fixed tariff terms. Customers had to do nothing but allow their monthly DD payment to go through. When the tariff term ended, the standard 49/42 day notice was given and all credit was refunded if the supplier was changed.

    By way of comparison, if my broadband/phone supplier is forced into insolvency as I am typing this ( the day after my monthly payment was taken), then I will lose my broadband and phone service for at least 12 days and any credit owed to me will be added to the long list of unsecured creditors. I will also have to enter into a new minimum term contract with another telephone/broadband supplier.

    https://www.choose.co.uk/news/186k-fast-firenet-collapse.html

    ‘Big’ does not necessarily mean financially secure. Have a look at the link below re NPower’s financial situation:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/08/11/loss-making-npower-warns-against-meddling-energy-market/

    Under UK contract law, the parent company (UK or foreign) is not normally liable for the debts of one of its subsidiaries.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
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