Energy company goes bust while in credit??

Pete_J75

Hi, I am paying a quite large direct debit payment to my gas/elec supplier and consequently have built up a big credit. Even after winter i am expecting to be in credit. I don't really mind this as it's almost like an unofficial saving plan, as if i ever move supplier i will get the credit back as a little bonus and would rather do this than lowering it and risk being behind with payments.(i am not on a smart meter so am always at risk of either being ahead or behind)

However it occurred to me that if the company (which is an obscure one i'd not heard of until recently - Utility Point) went bust what protection do i have about getting my money back? Is it protected in the same way deposits in a bank are or would i lose it?

PennineAcute

Your credit is safe (as unfortunately is any debt you make have with them).

brewerdave

IF they go bust, OFGEM will appoint what is known as a Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) - they will be responsible for any carry over of credit which you might have after the date of supplier failure. Any debts at this date will be chased up by the administrators for the defunct Co.
I've "lived" thru 3 supplier failures in the past 15 months - the credits with two were sorted after a bit of difficulty - but the last one is still "in dispute" 9 months after the collapse:mad:

jemgee

We left economy energy on 18 Oct with a credit balance on both electricity and gas. On that date I sent them photos of both meters. We got our final electricity bill on 10 January showing a credit of £76.56, but no sign of a final gas bill. The last gas statement was 26 September and showed a credit of £138.38.

Despite several calls to OVO and Grant Thornton and email acknowledgements we are no further forward with getting a refund. Any suggestions please?