Spark Energy: Switched without my permission

Ant174

Hi,

I have decided to post here as I have the exact same issue as the OP.

A couple of weeks ago I receied a not-so 'welcome letter' from Spark, exactly as the OP did, addressed to "The Occupier" saying that:

"As instructed by your letting agent on your behalf, we've been appointed as the gas and eletricity supplier to your property."

So here's the issue: Firstly, we have no landlord because we own our own property and have done for over seven years. Secondly, we had no intentions of even switching supplier as we were quite happy with our fixed term deal with our current supplier, which had another year to run.

Better still, this letter is dated 12th April, and it claims "Good news! You electricity supply went live on 12 April and your gas will go live on 24th". Not such good news. And where was the 14 day cooling off period during which time I could have taken some action to stop this at the outset? The first notification I get that my energy has been switched is a welcome letter on the day of the switch.

So I contacted our current supplier and they confirmed that we had been switched. I raised an Erroneous transfer with them and they said they would liase with Spark. I also email Spark customer services, both the email given on MSE as well as the one from the un-welcome letter. To be fair they both responded saying that they will raise the ET and try to cancel the switch. If only for a moment I had peace of mind that this issue was being sorted.

Rest of the week I hear no more from Spark, then today I get a letter from my ex-current provider stating that Spark "has rejected the proposal to return your supply back to us." and that we need to liase with Spark. But as it's a weekend I can't get through to anyone. And I don't have the time during the week for this. So I'm sitting here stressing about how to proceed and trying to anticipate the hurdles that I'm quite likely to face on this issue.

I would like to know how this has happened. How can someone claim to be a landlord and switch my energy, and how can the energy company refuse to cancel? As far as I can tell I have no contract with Spark as I have received no written contract from them. This whole fiasco appears to be totally underhanded and legally questionable. I do wonder who Spark have the contract with.. the supposed 'landlord', or myself. If it's the former then I wonder who will be paying the bills. If it's the latter, then why are Spark taking instructions from a third party on my behalf?

What concerns me, of course, is that since I am not the account holder (I assume, as I am 'The Occupier' as opposed to the mythical Landlord), will they even deal with me when I try calling them next week? They responded to my initial emails. Although now they seem to have stopped.

I suppose as a last resort I can give it 28 days and then switch to a new supplier, but in doing so I will not only lose my current deal, but will be liable for a month's energy from Spark, which I resent paying for.

The worrying thing about all this, is that it seems that anyone can go around setting up and switching energy supplies to anyone's house. Without consent, or without even a legitimate right. I may as well walk up someone's driveway, wash their car without their consent and then bill them for my services. It amounts to the same thing. There are no checks done to confirm that the applicant has the authority to make the switch. It's madness.

This is a stress that I don't need at the moment. So any advice would be greately appreciated.

Biscuit_Tin

Ant174 wrote: »

Hi,

I have decided to post here as I have the exact same issue as the OP.

A couple of weeks ago I receied a not-so 'welcome letter' from Spark, exactly as the OP did, addressed to "The Occupier" saying that:

"As instructed by your letting agent on your behalf, we've been appointed as the gas and eletricity supplier to your property."

So here's the issue: Firstly, we have no landlord because we own our own property and have done for over seven years. Secondly, we had no intentions of even switching supplier as we were quite happy with our fixed term deal with our current supplier, which had another year to run.

Better still, this letter is dated 12th April, and it claims "Good news! You electricity supply went live on 12 April and your gas will go live on 24th". Not such good news. And where was the 14 day cooling off period during which time I could have taken some action to stop this at the outset? The first notification I get that my energy has been switched is a welcome letter on the day of the switch.

So I contacted our current supplier and they confirmed that we had been switched. I raised an Erroneous transfer with them and they said they would liase with Spark. I also email Spark customer services, both the email given on MSE as well as the one from the un-welcome letter. To be fair they both responded saying that they will raise the ET and try to cancel the switch. If only for a moment I had peace of mind that this issue was being sorted.

Rest of the week I hear no more from Spark, then today I get a letter from my ex-current provider stating that Spark "has rejected the proposal to return your supply back to us." and that we need to liase with Spark. But as it's a weekend I can't get through to anyone. And I don't have the time during the week for this. So I'm sitting here stressing about how to proceed and trying to anticipate the hurdles that I'm quite likely to face on this issue.

I would like to know how this has happened. How can someone claim to be a landlord and switch my energy, and how can the energy company refuse to cancel? As far as I can tell I have no contract with Spark as I have received no written contract from them. This whole fiasco appears to be totally underhanded and legally questionable. I do wonder who Spark have the contract with.. the supposed 'landlord', or myself. If it's the former then I wonder who will be paying the bills. If it's the latter, then why are Spark taking instructions from a third party on my behalf?

What concerns me, of course, is that since I am not the account holder (I assume, as I am 'The Occupier' as opposed to the mythical Landlord), will they even deal with me when I try calling them next week? They responded to my initial emails. Although now they seem to have stopped.

I suppose as a last resort I can give it 28 days and then switch to a new supplier, but in doing so I will not only lose my current deal, but will be liable for a month's energy from Spark, which I resent paying for.

The worrying thing about all this, is that it seems that anyone can go around setting up and switching energy supplies to anyone's house. Without consent, or without even a legitimate right. I may as well walk up someone's driveway, wash their car without their consent and then bill them for my services. It amounts to the same thing. There are no checks done to confirm that the applicant has the authority to make the switch. It's madness.

This is a stress that I don't need at the moment. So any advice would be greately appreciated.

With due respect, I suggest you start a new thread rather than bump this 6 months old thread.

A lot can happen in 6 months and hence your situation is not the same as the OP's

Last October (when this thead was otherwise last posted in) Spark Energy were a supplier in their own right. Spark Energy ceased trading in November 2018

Spark Energy is now a trading style of Ovo Energy, and should not be confused with any company past or present with a similar name.

Ant174

I appreciate what you are saying. I know little about Spark but I did hear that they were taken over. I don't, however, see the difference. The brand has simply changed hand. The issue remains the same.


However, I shall post a new thread anyway.


Many thanks.

Benight

Ant174 wrote: »

...

So I contacted our current supplier and they confirmed that we had been switched. I raised an Erroneous transfer with them and they said they would liase with Spark. I also email Spark customer services, both the email given on MSE as well as the one from the un-welcome letter. To be fair they both responded saying that they will raise the ET and try to cancel the switch. If only for a moment I had peace of mind that this issue was being sorted.

....

Ant174 wrote: »

...

As for giving my details to Spark, I have remained anonymous in my correspondence for the very reason of stopping them applying a name to the account and forming a contract....

Really? :cool:
As stated above

Spark_Energy:_Jenny wrote: »

Hi The Occupier

Sorry to hear about this.

It's strange this has happened if you are a property owner, and if you're not letting the property out via one of the Letting Agents that we work with.

It does sound like this is an Erroneous Transfer.

In order for me to look into this, I'd need you to email the address given in my profile, confirming the full supply address.

For the purposes of raising an Erroneous Transfer, we would need to know your name as shown on your account with Scottish Power, and this would be the only reason that we used it. We need to provide a name with the Erroneous Transfer, otherwise your rightful supplier likely won't accept the request to send the supplies back.

I'm not able to locate an email based on the first line of your address, so any information you can provide via the email address on my profile would be very much appreciated.

Kind regards

Jenny
Customer Relations Team

(My highlighting)