MSE News: Iresa banned from taking on new...

System

Gerry1 wrote: »

Iresa is one of many companies including British Gas / Sainsbury's / Places for People Energy etc who give FRAUDULENT QUOTATIONS for Economy 7 electricity. Their bills can be significantly higher because they choose to make unfounded assumptions about the amount you use overnight: they ask only for the total usage, or ignore the usage figures you have given them. They arbitrarily assume that up to 70% is used overnight, but if you use a smaller proportion at night their fake "quotations" amount to Misrepresentation, which is a criminal offence.

Try it yourself: get an online "quotation" for 20% night usage, e.g. 2000kWh (day) and 500kWh (night), and then calculate from their published E7 rates just how much more expensive it would really be !

OFGEM CEO Dermot Nolan has personally known about this scam for 18 months but has chosen to allow the offenders to keep scamming all the way to the bank.

Would MSE like to hold the dozy OFGEM and all the rogue energy companies to account?

How exactly is this fraud? The quote is based on a tariff with 2 rates and an assumed percentage for day/night use. It is a quote and nothing more, as is the quote for single tariff use. I pay for what I use at the agreed tariff rate: nothing more, nothing less. Use more: pay more.

That said, I agree that the forecast annual cost may be out if the 70/30% split usage assumption is wrong but, if the assumption is spelled out clearly in the quote, it does not constitute mis-selling in my opinion.

House_Martin

gardner1 wrote: »

"out of interest"....you must have nothing better to do if you've got time to waste 5-10 minutes trying to apply for quote to a company who are banned from taking any more customers

A forum poster mentioned on here last week that quotes direct from the supplier may be higher than the comparison "exclusive " websites published rates.That is something I was nt aware of.
That could mean that the 20% of people who do not have an internet access have to telephone the supplier to get higher tariffs than what is available online.Seems grossly unfair to me. The poorest copping for the highest rates once again like prepayment meters are.OFGEM !! have a look at this
Comp site rates can vary too.
When I checked Iresa Energys Eco 7 tariff (before they were taken off ) and at exactly the same 42% night usage, Simply Switch rates for this supplier were higher than Uswitch`s.
Daily standing charge and day/night tariffs were a penny higher with Simply Switch than Uswitch.

Gerry1

Hengus wrote: »

The quote is based on a tariff with 2 rates and an assumed percentage for day/night use. It is a quote and nothing more, as is the quote for single tariff use.

A quotation is for an EXACT price, it is NOT an estimate or approximation. So if I tell a prospective supplier that I have an Economy 7 meter they should ask for my day and night readings and not make an unjustified assumption that allows them to quote an unrealistically low price. Honest energy companies always ask for the overnight usage and don't make unjustifiable assumptions.

Note that we are NOT talking about using more energy than the quoted amount.

Sainsbury's quote £461.38 for 2500kWh but they would actually charge me £516.74 for 2000kWh day + 500 kWh night. Overcharging me by £55.36 would be Misrepresentation and hence definitely fraudulent.

Offering unrealistically low fake quotations gives these dodgy companies an unfair, anti-competitive advantage against their honest competitors. It makes a nonsense of shopping around when the best price for the stated consumption turns out to be unattainable in reality.

System

Gerry1 wrote: »

A quotation is for an EXACT price, it is NOT an estimate or approximation. So if I tell a prospective supplier that I have an Economy 7 meter they should ask for my day and night readings and not make an unjustified assumption that allows them to quote an unrealistically low price. Honest energy companies always ask for the overnight usage and don't make unjustifiable assumptions.

Note that we are NOT talking about using more energy than the quoted amount.

Sainsbury's quote £461.38 for 2500kWh but they would actually charge me £516.74 for 2000kWh day + 500 kWh night. Overcharging me by £55.36 would be Misrepresentation and hence definitely fraudulent.

Offering unrealistically low fake quotations gives these dodgy companies an unfair, anti-competitive advantage against their honest competitors. It makes a nonsense of shopping around when the best price for the stated consumption turns out to be unattainable in reality.

You are clearly on a mission, so don’t let me stop you.

PaschalFun

Hengus wrote: »

I see that they have finally amended the quote page with a simple message NOT TAKING NEW ORDERS and WE WILL BE BACK SOON.

Ever the optimists.

It seems Iresa are already back ..

You can still get a quote and switch via their website here:

https://selfservice.iresa.co.uk/sales/home

System

PaschalFun wrote: »

It seems Iresa are already back ..

You can still get a quote and switch via their website here:

https://selfservice.iresa.co.uk/sales/home

I wonder whether you are picking up an old page from your browser cache? This is what I am now seeing. I doubt that any supplier would be silly enough to breach a Regulatory Order when they know that the Regulator is on their case:

http://www.iresa.co.uk/not-taking-new-orders/