Utility Warehouse Mis-sold Dual Fuel

joe_lawson

Signed up to Utility Warehouse 12 months ago. After providing the Agent with our previous 12 months dual fuel use, he calculated the figures & he offered us a really good deal (or so we thought). We paid the set fee every month. Received a letter from them a couple of days ago, informing us we have a deficit of £877. Our new monthly budget plan has increased to £275 from £93! In hindsight we would have been better staying put. We have always been in credit previously. I have sent an e-mail of complaint. This is surely mis-selling? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Robin9

What has been your consumption this year in kwh compared with the previous period ?

What were the unit rates / standing charges you were paying and what did UW quote you ?

joe_lawson

Thank you Robin9
Pretty much the same usage as last year.
UW quoted a monthly price for Gas & Electric going on the previous years usage or so we thought.

Robin9

joe_lawson wrote: »

Thank you Robin9
Pretty much the same usage as last year.
UW quoted a monthly price for Gas & Electric going on the previous years usage or so we thought.

But what were the figures ?

joe_lawson

He didn't provide the figures, just the dual fuel monthly payments.

Robin9

Well ! He must have given you something in writing .

What are unit rates on your bills?

So what are the rates on your bill

matelodave

You should always check the tariff using your own consumption figures in kwh.

If the price per kwh was more than you were previously paying then your DD should have gone up rather than down - how much did you think you were going to save?

Never ever compare just costs or go for a low DD without making sure that you are comparing the same number of kwh over the same period.

I'm not sure that you were actually missold but it appears that you didn't actually check what you were buying.

I'm guessing that you've probably had a bill or two in the intervening period or been able to check an on-line account.

You've had the opportunity to send in monthly or even quarterly meter readings to make sure that your bills are correct and to see if your direct debit was covering your consumption

You could have checked bills or statements against your own meter readings and to get them corrected if they were estimated. You could have seen that you had an increasing debt if you'd looked.

If you did none of those things then you really do have to shoulder most of the blame for ending up with a large deficit.

joe_lawson

GAS:
November

Calorific value 39.5
kWhs used 1145
Unit Rate (p per kWh) 3.833
Units used 0
Calorific value 39.5
kWhs used 0
Unit Rate (p per kWh) 3.833
Units used 111
Calorific value 39.5
kWhs used 1245
Unit Rate (p per kWh) 3.833
Total cost of gas used (excluding VAT) £91.61
Standing charge for October £5.32

ELECTRIC:
November

Units 311
kWhs used 311
Unit Rate (p per kWh) 16.187
Units 0
kWhs used 0
Unit Rate (p per kWh) 16.187
Units 313
kWhs used 313
Unit Rate (p per kWh) 16.187
Total cost of electricity used (excluding VAT) £101.01
Standing charge for October £5.57

joe_lawson

I read this earlier

The energy mis-selling checklist:

Sales staff may ask you how much you currently pay for energy per month and simply set your direct debit at a lower amount to encourage you to switch. This doesn't mean you'll pay less for your energy overall.

Direct debits can be set at any amount, depending on how much energy your supplier thinks you'll use. All that happens with a low direct debit is you'll have to catch up later in the year.

If a salesman tells you you'll pay less and you end up paying more, this could be deemed as mis-selling by the Ombudsman.

What the rules say: Ofgem Licence Condition 25.1 a) states information given to the customer should be complete and accurate, and not mislead the customer.

Licence Condition 25.6 says if the sales rep tells you the new contract will be cheaper than what you pay now, he or she has to provide you with a comparison based on your current usage and costs. If that isn't possible, you should be given a best estimate.

Case studies from the Ombudsman suggest setting a low direct debit in order to get you to switch is viewed as misleading.

Robin9

Sound advice as always for matelodave.

Have you got similar figures from your previous supplier ?

Are the unit figures actual or estimated ?

When I was involved in a UW account they required monthly readings.

dogshome

Chances are is that the 'Agent' is a freind or aquaintance - UW get their customers by signing up ordinary people to whom they pay commision, to sell UW to people they know.

Do a search on this site on UW for the full histories

The one certain thing is, is that UW's Gas & Elec prices are some of the highest in the industry