Are you required to wait until Ofgem appoints a supplier when yours ceases to trade?

bonus2010

Are you required to wait until Ofgem appoints a supplier when yours ceases to trade?

I’m with Our Power, or was rather which has ceased trading. The advice given to me by Ofgem is that I should sit tight and wait until Ofgem appoints an energy provider and then wait again until they contact me before considering a switch with any other supplier.

I don’t have any credit with Our Power, instead owing them £10, so really, I should be in a position to request any supplier to supply me today, however I’d imagine that would just complicate things.

Anybody been in a similar position and could tell me how long it usually takes until able to switch again?

[Deleted User]

Have a read of a thread about another recently failed supplier https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5936493/mse-news-small-energy-supplier-one-select-stops-trading-what-you-need-to-know

Trying to switch now will more than likely fail as they is no-one currently minding the shop at Our Power.
OFGEM advice is the correct way to go.

masonic

I was involved in the One Select failure discussed in the thread linked above. You will have to wait. People did have attempted switches blocked right up until the appointed supplier gave its consent to people switching away, which in that case was almost a month later, but that included the festive period.

I would suggest having photographic evidence of your meter readings (displaying the meter number). I did not, and it appears my readings were not accepted and I got billed for less usage at the cheaper prices of the failed supplier.

matelodave

As said, you really need to wait until the new supplier has taken over otherwise you can end up in limbo and it could take a lot longer to sort out the mess.

You need to try and get all your data sorted out, download any bills or statements before the website goes down (if it hasn't already) and make sure you record your meter readings.

The more organised you are, the quicker and easier the transfer.

wavelets

bonus2010 wrote: »

Are you required to wait until Ofgem appoints a supplier when yours ceases to trade?

I’m with Our Power, or was rather which has ceased trading. The advice given to me by Ofgem is that I should sit tight and wait until Ofgem appoints an energy provider and then wait again until they contact me before considering a switch with any other supplier.

I don’t have any credit with Our Power, instead owing them £10, so really, I should be in a position to request any supplier to supply me today, however I’d imagine that would just complicate things.

Anybody been in a similar position and could tell me how long it usually takes until able to switch again?

Ofgem has typically taken about 2-3 days to appoint a SoLR
So I would expect you will know who your new supplier is by Wednesday, if not before

The new supplier will then need some time to switch over the supply to them. To clarify, you are usually on supply from the new supplier from the day after announcement, but you will understand it will take time to get all the records updated.

The new supplier will probably give an estimated timeframe as to how long that will take when they are appointed.

In the meantime, I would urge you to follow Ofgem's advice. They gave it for a good reason

macman

Before you can switch, you need to have a supplier, which you don't currently have. Ofgem are now pretty slick at doing the supplier of last resort appointments, as there have been 11 in the past year. Sit tight.

Thomas_Edison

Behind the scenes, your switch would get rejected as the industry can only handle one request at a time and your supply is currently in the process of switching to the solr which takes about 3 weeks.

bonus2010

Yes I'm sure I'll be forced to stick to Ofgem's required procedure even though their wording suggests the consumer has a choice. In my thinking I don't over-complicate things and wonder why failed energy supplier customers can't just phone up a new supplier on the day of the announcement without the need to be appointed a supplier. Our Power isn't owing me any money. So much for protecting customers when Ofgem is forcing consumers to accept a supplier & tarrif of their choice and deny consumers theirs. I don't believe its a good idea to have any supplier taking on so many custoemrs on in bulk... Given energy companies are failing so often maybe its time Ofgem review their procedures on this..

matelodave

Actually there's a process for doing it in bulk and by trying to by-pass the process to get a few odd customers winkled out makes it more difficult especially if the failed supplier's accounting systems and records are not fully in order.

You can have a good whinge because you feel aggrieved that you are stuck with a supplier that you didn't choose for three weeks or try and thwart the process and possibly be stuck with them for seven or eight weeks instead because your account transfer got stopped and restarted after everyone else's had been sorted out.

[Deleted User]

@bonus..

Actually it is the simplest way to handle the situation as it ensures that every customer has a supplier and no-one loses out financially. It is a minor delay until you can switch to a supplier of your choice.

I expect that a majority of customers of the failed companies didn't even know that the company had gone up until the SoLR told them.