Help! Utilita Energy

lesleyc1921

Hi there, 
I really don’t know what to do. We have been with EverSmart for 2 years, and then a month ago we received 6 months worth of statements from Utilita saying that EverSmart had gone bust and they had been providing our energy for the prior 6 months. I didn’t even notice EverSmart had stopped taking money from my account 🤦‍♀️

They have clearly put us on the highest tariff as they said we owed them £2500! We phoned and provided metre readings and they said our energy would cost £500 a month without repayment of what we owed. I’ve never paid anywhere near this for gas and electric and simply cannot afford to do so. 

We phoned and agreed to start paying £200 per month towards energy as that’s still higher than we’ve ever paid anyone (usually pay around £150 a month). We also advised we were getting help from the Ombudsmen and would be back in touch as we didn’t believe it was fair! They didn’t tell us they had taken over our supply and I never would have agreed to such a high tariff. 

Today I’ve received a letter saying they have changed our direct debit for £200 per month to £300! Surely they should check before doing this? I can’t afford £300 a month on energy! 

I am desperate to change providers as I feel the whole time I’m with them I’m getting further into debt but they advised us nobody else will take us on with debt outstanding to them! Is this true? 

The ombudsmen have said they will be in touch but there are significant delays due to Covid-19! 

I don’t know what to do, does anyone know what I can do to start resolving this I feel so stressed out about this! 

Thanks so much in advance
Lesley 

Hasbeen

Eversmart ceased trading Sept 2019. OFGEN appointed utilita to take over eversmart customers. It was not your choice to agree. The majority of people switched away from Utilita as soon as possible, because they at the time were expensive.

Did you stop any direct debits at that time? And not notice that you were up £150 per month?

Letters should have been sent to you. 

You will owe any outstanding money to Eversmart and now for usage to Utilita.

Can you verify that your energy usage is estimated at £500 per month or is this also including any arrears?

Some old info here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/09/small-supplier-eversmart-energy-stops-trading---what-you-need-to/

Keep checking on this thread as there are many knowledgeable posters that will give you better advice. 

Robin9

£2500 is far  more than the difference between standard and lowest tariff. Please give us the actual tariff details and have a close look at your bills - are there lots of E's (meaning estimated) rather than A's (meaning you've not been reading your meter) ?

Gerry1

Did you provide monthly readings?  Have you done the sums, working out the amount you have used to date based on actual meter readings, multiplying by the rate per kWh and adding the standing charges and VAT?  How much do you owe them right now, based on these calculations and subtracting what you have actually paid so far?

You need accurate facts to challenge this.

lesleyc1921

Hi all, 
I am so sorry I am new to forums and can’t figure out how to reply to everyone individually but I very much appreciate all of your input, thank you so much for replying. 
So yes we received at the end of Feb 2020 - 6 months worth of statements with a letter saying they were our new suppliers. At that point we phoned with metre readings etc and the £500 a month purely on energy is their new bill for us which is outrageous. We put all of our usage in to British Gas who quoted £130 per month for the same usage! I am literally just serving dinner to kids and then will upload all my statements/ metre readings and the usage we’ve worked out so you can see for your own eyes. It doesn’t make a lick of sense! Give me around an hour but I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you I’m so grateful for your help. 

Also ever smart did stop taking our debit from Oct which I foolishly didn’t notice. 

To be clear I am very happy to pay for what we’ve used but cannot accept £500 a month is fair, we barely put the heating on and are very aware of keeping usage low. I want to switch to someone like British Gas who is reputable as I believe Utilita are crooks! 

Thanks so much 

Hasbeen

lesleyc1921 said:

Hi all, 
I am so sorry I am new to forums and can’t figure out how to reply to everyone individually but I very much appreciate all of your input, thank you so much for replying. 
So yes we received at the end of Feb 2020 - 6 months worth of statements with a letter saying they were our new suppliers. At that point we phoned with metre readings etc and the £500 a month purely on energy is their new bill for us which is outrageous. We put all of our usage in to British Gas who quoted £130 per month for the same usage! I am literally just serving dinner to kids and then will upload all my statements/ metre readings and the usage we’ve worked out so you can see for your own eyes. It doesn’t make a lick of sense! Give me around an hour but I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you I’m so grateful for your help. 

Also ever smart did stop taking our debit from Oct which I foolishly didn’t notice. 

To be clear I am very happy to pay for what we’ve used but cannot accept £500 a month is fair, we barely put the heating on and are very aware of keeping usage low. I want to switch to someone like British Gas who is reputable as I believe Utilita are crooks! 

Thanks so much 

Op to reply to individual posters, click on the Quote button under their post, click on post and click on white part underneath to write reply.

£500 per month as others have said is "expensive"

Can you confirm, you have not paid anything from last October. You are £2500 in debit. Utilita have estimated your usage at £500 per month. Utilita have now set your DD at £300 per month? And this does not include paying any debt?

You will be able to switch as soon as debt is paid off, but as to companies reputations my personal opinion they are all not so good. I just go for the cheapest but all mine eventually go bust.

As requested please post statements with personal details hidden. Someone will advise.