Can you get out of a rolling contract

Justin_GB

Hi,
I was never aware that I was in a rolling contract with my electricity provider, so I found that for another year I have to stay with them although they are charging silly money to supply me with the service. They say it is a rolling contract and it is up to me to opt out, they claim they sent me a letter in October and it gave me 14 days to opt out if I did not then the contract was good for another year. Point one I can never remember receiving a letter and never signed anything. What will happen if I change suppliers will I get a big bill from my original supplier,
Thank you,
Justin

espresso

Who is the supplier?

Justin_GB

Powergen at present

Terrylw1

Hi,

Your old Supplier can easily block you from transferring. It's likely that you are locked but like any locking agreement, they may agree to let you switch if you pay a sum to them. Don't know if this happens in the utility sector the same as it would in say th mobile phone industry.

Are you by any chance a business customer? As far as I can see on business contracts, by not responding you can end up in a far worse deal on an 'out of contract' rate.

Have a look at this link for some info on others affected by this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/mar/25/utilities.observercashsection

Ignore the link if you are domestic.

I think you need to focus on not receiving the letter to resolve this. Remember that a lot of mail has gone missing in Oct. RM have states publicly that they have not delivered a lot. So, you could possibly use that against them.

echurchill_-_E4B

Hi there,

Getting out of what's known as 'evergreen contracts' with electricity suppliers is especially difficult if you are a business customer.

Being rolled over into prices that are 20% each year is extremely common and cheaper prices are only being offered to new customers only. That's why its important to shop around for the best deal for you and switch.

Each supplier has a different window in which to cancel your contract - so its important to know yours, electricity4business.co.uk has a guide about the small print for electricity contracts (.pdf bottom left corner). It might point you in the right direction?

good luck

Emma