Am I liable to pay debit balance for mis-sold tariff?

Ogeybogey

I would really appreciate your thoughts and opinions with a current complaint that has been investigated by the Ombudsman. I'm not sure whether I should appeal their decision or accept it but feel that I have been 'done over' even though the Ombudsman has upheld my complaint. Here's the background...
I have been significantly mis-sold a contract by an energy provider and the Ombudsman has upheld my complaint, confirming and agreeing that the provider has;

a) Not correctly based the quote on consumption levels that reflected my own historic usage.
b) Breached several supply licence conditions (SLC’s) including standards of conduct.
c) Mis-sold the tariff/contract.
d) Provided a shortfall in the level of customer service.

To put this into perspective for you, I was quoted a monthly bill of £13 and when this was reviewed over 1 year later, the provider informed me that actually, I owed them £910.64 as well as increasing my monthly payments from £13 to £167.32. (yes those are the figures!)

On investigating this myself and how this could be, I found that this had occurred because they had incorrectly calculated my usage against their tariff when quoting me.

Unfortunately, the Ombudsman feels that £150 compensation that the provider has already offered is sufficient but I don't feel that I should pay the debit balance when I have been mis-sold the contract and was not expecting my utilities to cost me this. I certainly wouldn't have agreed into this contract if I had the correct information and quote because it was a such higher tariff then my previous provider and to be quite honest, I cant afford to pay that much.

The salesman/agent told me that they provide the cheapest tariffs on the market but in fact, this is one of the most expensive ones.

Am I liable to pay this back given the circumstances because it really deosnt seem right or fair?

Should I accept this Ombudsman decision or appeal it?

PennineAcute

So you accepted at £13 a month contract, without it ringing alarm bells?

You also accepted the word of a salesman?

Enough said!

the_bandit

How much were you paying to your previous supplier before switching?

frugalmacdugal

Hi,


was this a doorstep deal?


Was it based on your actual usage, that you provided?

Robin9

£13 only just covers the standing charge.

It should not take an annual review to realise that there was a mistake - your first bill would have told you that. This was as much your negligence (or greed) as the supplier. Take the generous £150 and put your affairs in order.

Ogeybogey

At the time, £13/month did not ring alarm bells because I have never had the responsibility of paying these bills directly. This was my father's responsibility and I lived with my parents to care for my father. Following his death, I supported my mother to sort out the estate and bills that we now both shared responsibility for. I contacted the provider following recommendations from friends and the fact they were the winner on Which provider of the year, at that time. They made arrangements for one of their agents to visit me 2 weeks after my father's death and discuss their services because they could amalgamate our utilities and other household bills into one and for this we would get further reductions as a 'gold customer'. I provided 2.5 years of monthly meter readings during the appointment as well as bills from the previous (and at that time, current) provider. So no, it wasn't a doorstep sale, no, it didn't raise alarm bells, no this wasn't down to greed and no, our first bill or subsequent bills did not tell us that! As I mentioned, the Ombudsman have found the provider breached their obligations to me as a consumer and have indeed significantly mis-sold me the tariff/contract. I'm asking, is it fair that I have to settle this debit balance when it has been mis-sold even though the Ombudsman has upheld my complaint and has only reccomended that the provider allow us early exit of the contract with no exit fees?

Andy_WSM

Ogeybogey wrote: »

I'm asking, is it fair that I have to settle this debit balance when it has been mis-sold even though the Ombudsman has upheld my complaint and has only reccomended that the provider allow us early exit of the contract with no exit fees?

Yes because one way or another you have used the energy. Whichever supplier you were with you would have paid a similar amount.

Talldave

Hmmmm, amalgamation of utilities and household bills... care to name the company?

Gerry1

Ogeybogey wrote: »

I provided 2.5 years of monthly meter readings during the appointment as well as bills from the previous (and at that time, current) provider.

As you knew your energy consumption it would have been a doddle to have guesstimated your likely bills or to have obtained quotations from comparison sites. Similarly, were all those earlier bills less than £13 per month?

You haven't been overcharged, you'd still have had to pay for the energy you've used. The compensation is really quite generous for what amounts to glorified late billing, so take it and make a new year's resolution to keep a closer eye on things.

frugalmacdugal

Hi,


did a google for 'gold customer' and it came up with Utility Warehouse Gold Bundles, mmm.

Talldave

Accept the decision, pay the bill and next tme you're thinking of signing up to anything, do an internet search for the company.

Unless your previous bills showed annual spend of £156, you made a big mistake.