Amending Terms & Conditions, vs the law

VoucherMan

Anyone know what the legal requirement is for energy suppliers when they amend Terms & Conditions?


With the ongoing mess with OFTM I noticed a change in their online T&C compared to an older copy I have. This is one I downloaded myself as they never send customers a copy. I assume this is so they can amend it at will and hope customers do not realise.


Do they not have to inform customers of changes?


They used to claim

Changes To Your Contract



14.1
We reserve the right to change your contract at any time.

14.2
We will notify you if any changes are made to your contract.

14.3
If we make changes to this contract that are disadvantageous to you, we will give you 30 days’ notice to let you know about the changes. If you do not agree with the changes, you can switch to another supplier without paying a termination fee.

which has changed (without notification) to

Changes To Your Contract



14.1
We reserve the right to change your contract at any time and will provide the relevant advance notice where applicable according to our licence conditions.

There are several amendments I've noticed. Many I just skipped over as I think they would only affect new customers, but there are changes that may impact existing 'members, especially now they've increased the direct debit


Old condition

6.5
Any missed or late payments will incur a charge of £5 if payment is not made within 5 working days from the payment due date.

New condition

6.5
Any missed or late payments will incur a charge of £25 if payment is not made within 5 working days from the payment due date.

So not only are some customers likely to be hit as they won't have enough money to cover the new increased direct debit, they'll also be charged more for failing to pay.

The next one I like

Old

7.1

The only available payment method is standard direct debit, which means paying for your supply each month by direct debit, where we set the amount of your direct debit.

New

7.1

The only available payment method is Direct Debit, which means paying for your supply each month by direct debit, where we set the amount of your direct debit according to your consumption.

My consumption has gone down, so I think I'll write and check that they will be reducing my payments.

Old

7.2 Paying by direct debit means:
You must keep your account in credit by paying for the supply in advance.
You agree to contact us before the direct debit is taken from your bank account if you believe your bill is incorrect.
We will carry any debit or credit balance forward to the next month’s bill.
You must give us an up-to-date meter reading at least every 30 days.


7.3 Paying by standard direct debit means:

Your monthly standard direct debit amount will be fixed based on the amount of energy we think you’ll use each year of your contract divided by 12.
We can increase the standard direct debit amount if necessary to cover your consumption.
We aim to review your standard direct debit where necessary, to make sure you are paying enough to cover the energy you use, or offer to reduce your standard direct debit if it’s too high.
We may not reduce your standard direct debit payments unless we have up-to-date meter readings for your account.

New

7.2 Paying by standard direct debit means:

Paying by standard direct debit means:
You must keep your account in credit by paying for the supply in advance.
You agree to contact us before the direct debit is taken from your bank account if you believe your bill is incorrect.
We will carry any debit or credit balance forward to the next month’s bill.
You must give us an up-to-date meter reading at least every 30 days.
Your monthly direct debit amount will be fixed based on the amount of energy we think you’ll use each year of your contract divided by 12 but may be weighted according to winter/summer seasonality.
We can increase the standard direct debit amount if necessary to cover your consumption.
We aim to review your direct debit where necessary, to make sure you are paying enough to cover the energy you use, however it is your responsibility to ensure you are paying enough for the energy you use.
We may not reduce your standard direct debit payments unless we have up-to-date meter readings for your account.
Decreases of direct debit amounts or refunds of credit on account will depend on your forecasted usage not just your current statement balance. This is to ensure that your energy account is not negatively impacted in the future, especially upcoming winter periods.

No need to highlight that to see lots of amendments


Old

7.4 If you are in debt and don’t repay us, or if you don’t comply with the conditions for your chosen payment method:

We may install a prepayment meter in your property.
We may notify you and move you to a different tariff for prepayment meters.
You may pay higher unit prices or membership fee on this different tariff.
We may use official debt collection channels or legal action.
Credit Checks And Sharing Your Information

New

7.3 If you are in debt and don’t repay us, or if you don’t comply with these terms and conditions:

We may install a prepayment meter in your property.
We may notify you and move you to a different tariff for prepayment meters.
You may pay higher unit prices or membership fee on this different tariff.
We may use official debt collection channels or legal action.
We may disconnect your energy supply.
We may take other action we deem necessary.

Don't know the relevance of 8.7, but it's now been removed

Old T&C
8.7

Your data will not be used to create a blacklist.

9.1 From time to time you may need to pay additional charges relating to the following:

Testing the accuracy of your meter. We’ll tell you what this amount is at the time, and we’ll provide a breakdown of the costs if you ask us for one.

The last bit's been removed


Old

10.1 If you’re having trouble paying your bill, you should contact us immediately to discuss ways to save money and the payment methods available to you

New

10.1 If you’re having trouble paying your bill, you should contact us immediately to discuss payment options available to you

Old

11.4
We reserve the right to decide the appropriate amount of refund depending on your debit/credit balance. In order to responsibily ensure that your account does not fall into arrears, we may be unable to process refunds for credit amounts less than £250.

New

11.4

We reserve the right to decide the appropriate amount of refund depending on factors affecting your account such as your balance. In order to responsibly ensure that your account does not fall into arrears, we may have to refuse certain refund requests.

Old
12.1
For the purposes of the Online Rules below, Online Account Management refers to your customer portal on our website, namely the ‘Hero Hub’.

12.2 All Outfox customers must use Online Account Management and you therefore agree to follow these Online Rules:

[cut]

You will provide meter readings when prompted before you come on supply with us, and once a month thereafter, using your Hero Hub, email or webchat only.

You will manage your direct debit using your Hero Hub only.

New

12.2 All Outfox customers must use Online Account Management as we are an online only supplier and you therefore agree to follow these Online Rules:

You will provide all meter readings using your Hero Hub only.
You will manage your direct debit using email/web chat only.

Plenty of other minor (in my uninformed opinion) changes that I've not listed too.

System

It is not uncommon for organisations to change terms and conditions. FWIW, this is what it states in the Supply Licence:

Condition 23. Notification of Domestic Supply Contract terms

Notification of Principal Terms

23.1 Before it enters into a Domestic Supply Contract with a Domestic Customer (or, where applicable, before any mutual variation of a Domestic Supply Contract is agreed with a Domestic Customer pursuant to standard condition 23A), the licensee must take (and ensure that any Representative takes) all reasonable steps to communicate the Principal Terms of the Domestic Supply Contract (which in the case of a mutual variation must cover the Principal Terms that will apply as a result of that variation and any Principal Terms of the current Domestic Supply Contract that are not affected by the mutual variation) that Domestic Customer and ensure that the Principal Terms are communicated (or, where they are provided in Writing, drafted) in plain and intelligible language.

I can see your direction of travel but I would have thought that this Condition is more relevant to the situation that OFTM customers find themselves in:

Condition 0. Treating Domestic Customers Fairly Customer Objective

0.1 The objective of this condition is for the licensee and any Representative to ensure that each Domestic Customer, including each Domestic Customer in a Vulnerable Situation, is treated Fairly (“the Customer Objective”).

Achieving the Standards of Conduct

0.2 The licensee must, and must ensure that its Representatives, achieve the Standards of Conduct in a manner consistent with the Customer Objective.

0.3 The Standards of Conduct are that the licensee and any Representative:
a) b)
behave and carry out any actions in a Fair, honest, transparent, appropriate and professional manner;
provide information (whether in Writing or orally) to each Domestic Customer which:
i. is complete, accurate and not misleading (in terms of the information provided or
omitted);
ii. is communicated (and, if provided in Writing, drafted) in plain and intelligible
language with more important information being given appropriate prominence; iii. relates to products or services which are appropriate to the Domestic Customer to
whom it is directed;
iv. in terms of its content and in terms of how it is presented, does not create a
material imbalance in the rights, obligations or interests of the licensee and the
Domestic Customer in favour of the licensee; and
v. is sufficient to enable the Domestic Customer to make informed choices about
their supply of gas by the licensee;

VoucherMan

Hengus wrote: »

It is not uncommon for organisations to change terms and conditions. FWIW, this is what it states in the Supply Licence:

Condition 23. Notification of Domestic Supply Contract terms


the licensee must take (and ensure that any Representative takes) all reasonable steps to communicate the Principal Terms of the Domestic Supply Contract that Domestic Customer and ensure that the Principal Terms are communicated (or, where they are provided in Writing, drafted) in plain and intelligible language.

I can see your direction of travel but I would have thought that this Condition is more relevant to the situation that OFTM customers find themselves in:

Condition 0. Treating Domestic Customers Fairly Customer Objective

0.1 The objective of this condition is for the licensee and any Representative to ensure that each Domestic Customer, including each Domestic Customer in a Vulnerable Situation, is treated Fairly (“the Customer Objective”).

Achieving the Standards of Conduct

0.2 The licensee must, and must ensure that its Representatives, achieve the Standards of Conduct in a manner consistent with the Customer Objective.

0.3 The Standards of Conduct are that the licensee and any Representative:
a) b)
behave and carry out any actions in a Fair, honest, transparent, appropriate and professional manner;
provide information (whether in Writing or orally) to each Domestic Customer which:
i. is complete, accurate and not misleading (in terms of the information provided or
omitted);
ii. is communicated (and, if provided in Writing, drafted) in plain and intelligible
language with more important information being given appropriate prominence; iii. relates to products or services which are appropriate to the Domestic Customer to
whom it is directed;
iv. in terms of its content and in terms of how it is presented, does not create a
material imbalance in the rights, obligations or interests of the licensee and the
Domestic Customer in favour of the licensee; and
v. is sufficient to enable the Domestic Customer to make informed choices about
their supply of gas by the licensee;

Luckily I never considered a career in law. I'm assuming you're saying the parts on bold go against Outfox as they do look like they've skewed it in their favour.


I can see the changes being problematic too, since I've not (and assuming neither has anyone else) been informed of them. It's only by chance that I noticed.

What about the removal of 14.3. Does that mean they can now increase charges or do whatever they like and there's nothing the [STRIKE]victim[/STRIKE] customer can do about it?
Whose fault will it be if there are disagreements about the account when customers continue to send emails, unaware that all meter readings should now be done on the website?

It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, Martin has to say about them on his show on Tuesday.

VoucherMan

Part of my current anti Outfox agenda is because I think this is not the first time they've pulled a stunt like this. If they can alter the T&C like this, there's nothing to stop them virtually re-writing your contract, and completely changing it.


Although I have no proof due to the absence of any earlier versions of the T&C, I think the part in the tariff information section has been amended since I joined, by changing the membership fee from based on actual usage, to basing it on estimated usage. There's certainly no mention of it in the older T&C that can be found on the Energylinx website.
This 'minor' tweak has effectively made the fixed tariff into a variable one.

System

If it is a variable tariff, then any supplier change can increase the tariff standing charge and/or unit price with 30 days notice. The customer then has to either accept the change by doing nothing; change to a fixed tariff with the same supplier, or switch away to a new supplier.

Fixed tariffs are fixed in terms of contract length; the upper limit of the standing charge and unit prIce. Exit fees may apply up until the period 49 to 42 days before contract end.

I am not saying that OFTM has done anything wrong. All I am saying is that it is a Standard Licence Condition that those affected might like to seek an opinion on from the Regulator.

Consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk

VoucherMan

Hengus wrote: »

Fixed tariffs are fixed in terms of contract length; the upper limit of the standing charge and unit prIce. Exit fees may apply up until the period 49 to 42 days before contract end.

I am not saying that OFTM has done anything wrong. All I am saying is that it is a Standard Licence Condition that those affected might like to seek an opinion on from the Regulator.

[EMAIL="Consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk"]Consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Already emailed them after you posted the link on Friday.


But since you mention contract length.

Whack! is a fixed tariff for the period of 12 months

They haven't tweaked this one as much, but neither have they corrected it.
It took a couple of months after I joined to persuade them to specify the end date on my bills (until then it had just said 'No end date'. My contract is for 18 months, not 12, so if they survive they'll have to keep selling me energy for even longer at the low rates they must be regretting offering, unless they think they can re-write some extra clauses there too.