Utilita Complaint: Keep Pushing or Accept Derisory Offer?

CJMylchreest

Hi All,

So, Eversmart went bust last summer and I was automatically switched to Utilita, which appears one of the most expensive options out there.

They have been pretty woeful from the start, and I have only just (late Feb) got the final 'round up' of my Eversmart account. Given that I didn't trust Utilita from the start I was reluctant to switch before now in case I was in credit after my period with Eversmart and they failed to recognise this. So I stayed with them and now have a massive bill to pay.

I have raised a complaint with Utilita and they've offered me £30 compensation (good will for being slow to calculate the final Eversmart bill), which against a £900 bill is derisory.

So, I know I could have switched before now, but as I say I didn't trust them (an error on my part). I know they have 12 months to work these things out, but again I didn't trust them. And I know the billing is correct, it just so happens they are very expensive.

So my options as I see it are:

1. Accept the £30 and be done with it and put it down to experience.

2. Keep fighting Utilita for a bigger offer by going through the ombudsman. They have said it won't budge but maybe will with pressure from OfGEM if they find fault.

3. Accept the £30 and raise a separate complaint with the Ombudsman on the basis it is unfair that OfGEM switched me to a very expensive provider, effectively without asking.

Ultimately it is OfGEM's fault they put me onto a rubbish provider, but it just so happens that Utilita have been rubbish as well, hence seeking compensation through them.

Any views on the chances of (a) getting anything further from Utilita through the ombudsman or (b) being successful claiming from the ombudsman about OfGEM's failures?

I suspect I know the answer but didn't want to accept the £30 without exploring options.

Many thanks.

CJMylchreest

Anybody?! Thanks! 

Talldave

Personal opinion from me, having never been in your position, would be that I'd have switched away from a supplier not of my choosing the moment I could. So unless the £900 bill should really have been £450, I'd put it down to experience and avoid months of to and fro with disinterested regulators/ombudsmen.

Gerry1

CJMylchreest said:

raise a separate complaint with the Ombudsman on the basis it is unfair that OfGEM switched me to a very expensive provider

I'm fairly certain that the Energy Ombudsman can only investigate complaints against energy companies, not against the regulator, so you'd be wasting your time there.  In any case Ofgem would say that you benefited because the lights stayed on and you were free to leave the SoLR without penalty.  As such, Ofgem haven't broken any rules.

Take the money and run.

MothballsWallet

A wet paper bag would be a better defence shield against a plasma cannon than Ofgem are as a regulator, imo.
Also imo, Ofgem just sit in their offices all day and agree with whatever the industry wants to do, especially when it impacts customers.

matelodave

I think most sensible people would have shifted from Utilita as soon as they possibly could. I've been with a couple of providers who have gone belly up and got out as soon as I could. Iresa to Octopus to Eversmart and just avoided Utilita by the skin of my nose (I left Eversmart about three days before their demise). I actually got my Eversmart refund from Utilita two days before Xmas but only because I gave them a severe prod

IMO you are lucky to be offered £30 but if you feel you really want to spend the next couple of months ranting and trying to communicate with organisations that probably don't care all that much because the only basis for a complaint is a slow final bill (for which you've been offered a payment) then feel free. You could end up with a lot of stress and frustration with the possibility of the £30 being withdrawn if the ombudsman makes a judgement that Utilita did nothing wrong (which is more than likely)

CJMylchreest

Thanks everyone - lesson learned. Should have got out sooner and trusted the system rather than distrusting Utilita.

Gutted, but there we go.

Thanks again.