PFP Energy - closed account but no credit refund

anticlaus105

I joined PFP Energy around a year ago, switching to them through cheap energy club. I have recently switched to another provider. My PFP energy account is in credit.

I sent them a message, using the online contact form, asking how and when I will be refunded. Apart from the acknowledgment there has been no reply. I tried to phone but nobody answers.

Is there away to get my money back? Who do I escalate this to? ofgem or is it time to start court proceedings?

System

anticlaus105 wrote: »

I joined PFP Energy around a year ago, switching to them through cheap energy club. I have recently switched to another provider. My PFP energy account is in credit.

I sent them a message, using the online contact form, asking how and when I will be refunded. Apart from the acknowledgment there has been no reply. I tried to phone but nobody answers.

Is there away to get my money back? Who do I escalate this to? ofgem or is it time to start court proceedings?

We need to know the chronology. Switches can take anything from 17 to 35 days from the date that your new supplier accepted your application to switch. The losing supplier cannot raise a Final Bill until it has received industry third-party verified switch readings from the gaining supplier. It then has 6 weeks from the date of the actual transfers of supply - under the terms of its Supply Licence and EU Law - to raise a Final Bill. Any credit will then normally be refunded within 2 to 4 weeks depending on the size of the refund due.

anticlaus105

Thanks. In that case I may be being a little hasty. The switch happened at the start of October. I have received a pfp bill since, which is dated a few days after the switch date. It uses the final readings but it doesn't state it's a final bill.

It doesn't help that there is nothing on PFP website to say what happens if you leave them and are in credit, and they haven't replied to any of my contact.

System

anticlaus105 wrote: »

Thanks. In that case I may be being a little hasty. The switch happened at the start of October. I have received a pfp bill since, which is dated a few days after the switch date. It uses the final readings but it doesn't state it's a final bill.

It doesn't help that there is nothing on PFP website to say what happens if you leave them and are in credit, and they haven't replied to any of my contact.

They will pay you back. To do anything else would be deemed theft. However, paying you back and doing it quickly are two different things. If you are unhappy, then you need to follow the supplier's formal complaints procedure in writing. You then wait 8 weeks, (unless the supplier agrees to Deadlock) and you can escalate your complaint to The Energy Ombudsman (not Ofgem as they do not deal with individual complaints). The EO will then take up to another 8 weeks to 'investigate' and it will issue an interim and then final decision. That latter is binding on the supplier which then has 4 weeks to comply.

You could, of course, get around all of this by going straight to the Small Claims Court. However, you need to be sure of your facts. For example, do you know what the industry verified opening/closing meter readings are? These may be different from the ones that you provided to the gaining supplier.

https://octopus.energy/blog/secret-life-opening-meter-reading/

PS: I should have added that most suppliers will not accept a complaint about Final Billing until 6 weeks has elapsed since the transfer. Up to that point, they are not in breach of their Supply Licence.

anticlaus105

Thanks again. I will hold fire for a while. Hopefully it will just go through without any issue. It's funny how they were very communicative when I joined but not now I'm on my way out.

System

anticlaus105 wrote: »

Thanks again. I will hold fire for a while. Hopefully it will just go through without any issue. It's funny how they were very communicative when I joined but not now I'm on my way out.

They have no reason to communicate with you as the gaining supplier has the Licence obligation to manage the transfer of supply. That said, some will send out a ‘sorry you are leaving’ email.

littlehavers

I left PFP on the 17th September - I have reminded them twice and am promised a refund of the credit owed to me by the end of November. The final credit amount is less than i calculated and they have not answered me when i asked for a breakdown of their final charges.
I decided to switch after the year as they would not support my multi-tarif meter for another year without changing me to economy 7. I argued that my meter is a two time period meter which other suppliers are happy to support in single tariff or dual tariff mode - they would not accept the argument so I decided to switch rather than pay considerably more than I needed to.

Also they charged me a fixed £68 a month every month even when they had on time monthly readings.
They told me under questioning that my average consumption was about £59 a month.
I was expecting a varying charge - it seems this is how they protect their income.
When I was approaching the contract end I asked them for an annual summary - it never materialised.
I did it myself in the end.