Price rises that Energy Suppliers don't tell you about

JJ_Egan

£2.5 k is rather a large amount, is it correct.

molerat

It looks like they are using the "not under their control" clause to get out of their responsibilities under SLC23. I think they are pushing it a bit so it may be worth raising a complaint to see where it goes.

Streaky_Bacon

Mark333032 wrote: »

Hands up, I did not read the T&Cs. Just because something is in the T&Cs does not mean it is ethical. If a supplier is increasing prices for whatever reason, they have a duty to inform their customers.

They do have a legal duty under the standard licence conditions (including 23 and 31), but not where the rate is linked to an external rate that they don't control. Your case seems to fall under that exclusion, so they probably do not have to notify you.

I do agree that they should take steps to notify customers. Whether it is ethical or not, I personally think it good practice to do so, unfair to not do so.

As a general legal principle, it is not sufficient to simply bury something away in a long list of conditions. The more onerous a contract term is, the more it should be brought to a party's attention.

I don't think that changes things in your case, but I do agree that "it's in the T&Cs" is not a magic wand that frees a company of all liability (legal or otherwise).

splking

For OP I did raise this issue before but it didn't get much traction.. not sure Orbit Energy are too popular on here.

I disagree with the position that 'if it's in the t's and c's then you agreed to it'.. yes Orbit Energy haven't acted in a way that is illegal, but you should note that MSE incorrectly categorised this tariff as variable when it's actually a fixed (tracking price cap). That miscategorization alone would have given the customer the impression they would get a notification if the price of the tariff changed. If you are on MSE's alert system you'll have got an alert a few weeks before the actual price cap rise as MSE seemed to have factored the price hike in early.