Eversmart blocking me from switching away

wavelets

ChrisK..... wrote: »

Technically you ALWAYS owe utility companies money, therefore any company could block you leaving

Incorrect.

If it were correct, no one would ever be able to switch supplier.

wavelets

captaincork wrote: »

Take care with this debit issue, Peoples Energy are deliberately under charging on submitted readings now. This allows a debit to accrue which will no doubt be used to block any switch. There appears to be no way of clearing any debit either on the website or by email. They never answer emails no matter how urgent or important the subject. Complaints are ignored leaving no way to start the eight week wait before the Ombudsman can be contacted. We urgently need some early intervention with these small suppliers as things can only get worse.

Incorrect.

An account being in debit at point of applying to switch is not a valid cause to block a switch application.

You need to owe a supplier money.
You don't owe a supplier money until they have formally demanded it, and it remains unpaid for 28 days thereafter.

The formal demand is normally in the format of a bill.
Most people never receive a bill from their energy supplier (until they switch, after which they usually get a final bill), as they pay pay monthly.
So they get statements instead. Statements are not demands for payment.

captaincork

JohnB47, Thanks for your helpful reply. I will follow this up.

captaincork

Hello Wavelets, I have always settled accounts on presentation of a statement. What is happening here is a constant accruing debit with no payment demand and no way of settling the account .This now looks like a bad account. When do they propose to collect this and at what tariff ? It's the total lack of communication that is the problem.
What happens is, when a reading is submitted online, a box pops up saying 'this reading looks high' then 'please confirm this is correct.' Tick the box to confirm and all looks well.
Check the account an hour later and the reading is always less than that submitted ,leaving a debit which cannot be cleared, Where these readings come from is anyone's guess but it is consistent each month . This debit goes on from month to month. Emails asking for a solution are ignored. I can only conclude that this is deliberate as it must affect income. This single point needs to be investigated urgently. How difficult can it be to have a 'pay now' option if only to get the money in promptly. This increasing debit will no doubt accrue at the new higher tariff,
There is no dispute with my usage as entered by me and try as I may I cannot find how to clear this. How stupid can a company be to ignore a customer actually trying to pay ,rather than the other way round. Thus my opinion that this is a cleverly engineered set of handcuffs to lock you in.
I have not switched yet having been frustrated by this nonsense. Letters appear to vanish into a black hole.
Phone , fine if you can hear or speak properly. (big C is a mean old rascal) Catch 22, they cannot discuss your account with third parties due to some legal stuff.
I joined this company as I supported their declared aims, the few pounds saved was of little importance,I really thought that this was a challenge to the big boys. How wrong I was. Should have known better at my age. Thanks for your interest.

wavelets

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/

Whilst this article was aimed at those who had their monthly payments set too high, it can also equally apply to those who have them set too low.

ElwoodBlues

wavelets wrote: »

Incorrect.

An account being in debit at point of applying to switch is not a valid cause to block a switch application.

You need to owe a supplier money.
You don't owe a supplier money until they have formally demanded it, and it remains unpaid for 28 days thereafter.

The formal demand is normally in the format of a bill.
Most people never receive a bill from their energy supplier (until they switch, after which they usually get a final bill), as they pay pay monthly.
So they get statements instead. Statements are not demands for payment.

If that's correct, then non of it applies to me - they've set the direct debit, and could have altered it at any time. , The debt is trivial, less than a month's payment, and they've never notified me that I was behind or asked for a payment, either before or after requesting to switch from them.

Also, their monthly bills have been based on estimated reading for several months now, and they've over estimated my usage, I may well not have been in debt at all when the switch was supposed to have been progressing. I provided meter readings to the new supplier, even though they never got as far as asking for initial readings. If they'd done that and passed them on to EverSmart (as they're supposed to do), EverSmart would have been able to calculate an accurate final bill.

The only thing EverSmart could blame me for is not providing actual meter readings regularly. But they've never asked for them either.