Energy Company Dispute - am i in the right?

dusty123

Carrot007 wrote: »

That bit is on yout bill.

This is what I mean though. If you check that link, for the Standard Licensing Conditions, it states that the notification of the end of the tariff has to be sent separately, I quote:

"must be provided to the Domestic Customer separately from any other
document (including, but not limited to, a Bill, statement of account, or
marketing material)"

Most of you on here are on the ball, and perhaps would have spotted something on a bill, and all credit to you for that. But for the majority of the population, they don't drill down in that detail. That's not laziness, that's life. That's why the conditions of licensing exist. The onus is on them to tell me clearly that the fixed tariff is coming to an end.

Gerry1

Unfortunately, both Ofgem and the Ombudsman are examples of Regulatory Capture.

EnergyRookie

dusty123 wrote: »

I appreciate your response, but may I ask:

1) Do you think the Standard Conditions of License don't apply to them? Or
2) An email subject line is irrelevant, Or
3) An email subject line of "Don't miss out - our new exclusive fixed tariff ends soon" is sufficiently clear that it's about a fixed tariff coming to an end, and could not be confused with marketing material

In answer to your numbered questions:
1. All licenced energy suppliers are expected to comply with all conditions of that licence.
But what if they fail? You may be able to get offered a goodwill payment of maybe £20, I suspect, but little more.

2. An email subject line may or may not be irrelevant. It depends.

3. The subject line of the email would imply to me that an offer of a new exclusive fixed tariff ends soon, and you may miss out if you do not act.
I would need to look at the full content of said email to establish what it actually is about.

Ever heard the phrase, do not judge a book by it's cover?
Then please do not judge the content of an email by it's title. I have seen some very strange/odd email titles on occassions.
(a bit like some thread titles on this MSE forum )

Takmon

dusty123 wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm in the middle of a complaint with PFP Energy, and have had a decision from the Ombudsman that I'm not happy with, and have appealed. I wondered if anyone wanted to give your thoughts on if I'm in the right/wrong.

The fundamental complaint seems clear cut to me, and would affect many people. In fact, MSE staff may be interested in it. I'll keep it as brief as possible...

We were on a fixed tariff, dual fuel, until November 2018. It was a paperless billing account, and we always paid on time by direct debit.

In May 2019, I noticed our direct debit had shot up. With some digging, I realised we'd missed the expiry of the fixed tariff, had been switched onto a variable tariff, and they'd let us accumulate a debt without increasing the direct debit in-line with the tariff increase. If they'd have increased the direct debit in Nov 18, we'd have spotted it earlier. As it was, we'd unwittingly accrued a debt. This is an aside.

I was a little annoyed, because we're hot on switching energy, insurance etc for the best deals. I was sure I hadn't had an email about the tariff change. I searched my inbox, and found the email, but here's the thing, the subject line was:

"Don't miss out - our new exclusive fixed tariff ends soon"

I'd seen this as a marketing/sales email at the time, and disregarded it without reading it. It categorically does not refer to our existing tariff ending. The 'Don't miss out' implies it's related to something we don't already have, as does the word 'new'.

If my car or home insurance is ending, I receive a message with an unambiguous subject line along the lines of "Your insurance renewal" or similar.

"Well they sent an email, you didn't read it" you may think, but they have a duty to notify customers at the end of their fixed term, and there are lots of rules they have to follow to do this.

Standard Licensing Conditions

I hadn't heard of these before reading up, but there are standard conditions that suppliers have to follow, for all of our protection. You can find them here (my account can't link yet, remove the space):

https:// epr.ofgem.gov.uk/Content/Documents/Gas%20supply%20standard%20licence%20conditions%20consolidated%20-%20Current%20Version.pdf

To save you reading the whole thing, a couple of key paragraphs:

Paragraph 22C of SLC stipulates the licensee must act in accordance with paragraph 31I at the end of a fixed term contract.

Paragraph 31I in turn gives a whole host of conditions that a licensee must satisfy in their communication in advance of the end of the fixed term contract (dates, options available, financial implications and more, see 31I.2(b) page 247).

In particular, SLC 31I.5(a) on page 248 explicitly states that the contract change notice must be sent separately from any marketing material. This is where PFP's email falls foul of their licensing conditions in my view, as the subject line on the email to me is masquerading as a marketing email.

Ombudsman Decision

Fast forward a couple of months. PFP claim the communications are clear, I disputed it. It went to deadlock and the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman decision arrived yesterday, and they're siding with PFP, saying that our fixed term expiry was on our welcome letter and a couple of bills.

I've appealed on the basis that the Ombudsman should disregard the welcome letter and bills. The crux of the dispute is the 'end of fixed term' communication letter in line with the Standard Licensing Conditions. Namely, that the subject line is confusing the communication with marketing material.

If they disregard the SLC point on this, what is the point of the SLC in the first place? The whole point of SLC 31I.5(a) is to make sure the communication is unambiguous.

If the subject line of the email is irrelevant, what is to stop an energy company sending an 'end of fixed term' communication, with a subject line of 'Terms and Conditions Change' or 'GDPR Changes', neither of which would be read by 99% of customers? Multiple the number of affected customers up, and the increase in tariffs before their customers notice, and it's a nice little earner for an energy company.

I work in the IT industry, and I consider myself to be pretty astute with these kind of things. What hope does someone vulnerable, less IT-literate, less persistent have?

What are your thoughts? If the appeal is declined, is it worth taking further? Any advice gratefully received, I'm starting to feel like I'm going crazy, as it seems pretty clear cut to me.

You need to accept responsibility for this and realise that you have been very very slack with your admin.

You seem to be under the impression that you are "pretty astute" yet didn't even set a reminder in a digital calendar which is the most basic of things. Even people with no IT skills know how to use a paper calendar to mark the date of when a tariff ends.

You seem to be under the impression that most people don't actually read emails and letters. That really isn't the case and you would be pretty stupid to delete/archive an email from a company you do business with without even looking at the contents.

Carrot007

dusty123 wrote: »

This is what I mean though. If you check that link, for the Standard Licensing Conditions, it states that the notification of the end of the tariff has to be sent separately, I quote:

"must be provided to the Domestic Customer separately from any other
document (including, but not limited to, a Bill, statement of account, or
marketing material)"

Interesting. Not really up on the domestic market. Though I do think it a pointless term and really not required (unless you are say registered as a vunrable customer).


And therefore by your above post you say they did contact you but you did not read it becuase you assumed things from the title. So they did. And there certainly is nothing prescribing the wording.



And that is the trouble with wooley wording or leaving it up to the individual supplier. They are all different and it will just cauase chaos (see smart meter rollout). But the government does not want to get involved. It is juts do this, we won't tell you how, so theres 100 different ways.

dusty123

Takmon wrote: »

You need to accept responsibility for this and realise that you have been very very slack with your admin.

You seem to be under the impression that you are "pretty astute" yet didn't even set a reminder in a digital calendar which is the most basic of things. Even people with no IT skills know how to use a paper calendar to mark the date of when a tariff ends.

You seem to be under the impression that most people don't actually read emails and letters. That really isn't the case and you would be pretty stupid to delete/archive an email from a company you do business with without even looking at the contents.

I have since put a reminder in my calendar for the company we switched to, but have never needed to in the past. You criticise my admin whilst knowing nothing about me, nor my responsibilities running a household, a small business, three kids etc etc.

The amount of emails that I receive (even after checking the requisite checkboxes, and unsubscribing where necessary), is huge. The number of emails from PFP alone was substantial. It's easy to miss an email that looks like it's trying to sell me something.

You haven't commented at all on PFP's responsibilities under the Standard Licensing Conditions as you're too busy having a dig. Play the ball, not the man.

This isn't just about me - how many other people would have missed a tariff ending?

dusty123

It's been enlightening. I think I'll just pay off the account and settle the matter.

I posted with genuine intentions of highlighting an issue that could affect many people. A big company skirting the rules, and seemingly not abiding by their licensing conditions.

With respect, it seems some on here are intent on proving some kind of superiority: "take responsibility", "pay attention", "you took your eye off the ball", then a hive-mind takes hold. Perhaps some lurkers would agree that PFP have not lived up to their responsibilities, but are too afraid to upset the apple-cart.

I will take responsibility, pay it off and forget about it. If others have the same experience, c'est la vie.

Thanks for replying.

Robin9

dusty123 - one thin you haven't commented on is what did you do in May2019 - did you then switch supplier ?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

dusty123 wrote: »

Hi All,

In May 2019, I noticed our direct debit had shot up. With some digging, I realised we'd missed the expiry of the fixed tariff,

I was a little annoyed, because we're hot on switching energy, insurance etc for the best deals.

I work in the IT industry, and I consider myself to be pretty astute with these kind of things. clear cut to me.

dusty123 wrote: »

Of course, but you don't expect your tariff to change.

Obviously not that 'hot' nor 'astute' or you would've known when fixed tariff ended and that your tariff would change.


How much extra do you reckon this has cost you, and what compensation are you looking for?

dusty123

Robin9 wrote: »

dusty123 - one thin you haven't commented on is what did you do in May2019 - did you then switch supplier ?

Switched supplier on the same day that we found we had dropped onto their variable tariff. Notwithstanding the usual delay in transferring.

[Deleted User] wrote:

How much extra do you reckon this has cost you, and what compensation are you looking for?

Has cost me only time in emailing. Not looking for in-pocket compensation, just wanted our final bill to be recalculated at the same rate as our initial tariff. Quite happy to pay for the energy used, at the rate we thought we were buying it for.

[Deleted User] wrote:

Obviously not that 'hot' nor 'astute' or you would've known when fixed tariff ended and that your tariff would change.

You're kind of proving my point above (post 18). Why is everyone so concerned with criticising, and not at least giving an opinion on PFP's responsibilities under their licensing conditions?