Tonik Energy transferred to Scottish Power but at what cost?

SpLint

So Tonik Energy ceased trading on 10th October and Ofgem decided to move us over to Scottish Power.
We were advised not to switch to another supplier until the transfer to Scottish Power was complete.
Fast forward a month and we are finally allowed to know how much we are being charged for our Gas and Electric.
I ran through the figures on our last full months bill with Tonik , August 17th to September 16th and the bill that cost £65.90 with Tonik will cost £82.64 with Scottish Power.
A price hike of over 25%.
I don't need to ask what the motivation for this is when you multiply the price hike by the number of Tonik customers 130,000 it adds up to over £2,000,000 on its own (yeah, yeah, assumptions). This is quite a nice haul.
So Ofgem and Scottish Power have got together and set a price that i didn't agree to and only notified me after it had been in place for a month.
If either of these entities were liable to pay the bill I wouldn't have a problem, instead they have agreed that I should pay it.
I switched to another fixed tariff that is almost exactly the same as the one offered by Tonik on the same day that I got this information.
If Ofgem are representing me then I would suggest that they could do a lot better.
Can any of this be legal??
Shouldn't I remain on my agreed tariff until i am at least advised of the new rates?

UnclaimedEnergy

When a supplier goes bust Ofgem asks the industry to to step in and take on the customers. Normally if the supplier that takes on these customers are a former Big 6, it would mean that it was because they had to put in a bid because no other supplier voluntary went for the customers.

The supplier which takes on the customers puts in a bid to Ofgem and lets Ofgem know what tariff they're going to put customers on. Sometimes you might get lucky and the supplier might honor your tariff, however most often than not they will put on you on a deemed contract.

In the case of Tonik to Scottish Power, this is what happened and... looking back at what Ofgem stated - they made it very clear that the customers would be put on a deemed contract. (A bit of advanced googling and knowing your region could find the rates for you). 

The reasoning behind this is that the tariff you were on with Tonik was likely a loss-making tariff (hence why they went bust) - The price rise to deemed would be to make sure that they're charging you enough to make sure they can recover the costs that are involved with supplying elec and gas without actually going bust themselves.

Scottish Power etc. aren't trying to increase what profit they can make of these customers - they're just making sure that they don't leave them on loss making tariffs.

There's a reason why so many domestic suppliers have exited the market.... most of them price at cost or below and therefore can't cover any admin costs.

Part of the reason why you are advised to wait for them to contract you is because Scottish Power needed to migrate all of the customers over and make sure they have all of the correct information for them. You could had tried your hand at contacting them sooner though as this may have solved the issue for you.

Anytime you join the cheapest tariff on the market you are at risk to that supplier going bust (some members on here have gone through multiple SoLRs) - the long term savings you make from the lower tariff though will outweigh the short term losses you experienced this time.

Will I be on a different contract with Scottish Power? Will I pay more?
They have put you on a deemed tariff rate and will now contact all ex-Tonik  Energy customers to let them know personalised tariff information. 

brewerdave

UnclaimedEnergy said:

When a supplier goes bust Ofgem asks the industry to to step in and take on the customers. Normally if the supplier that takes on these customers are a former Big 6, it would mean that it was because they had to put in a bid because no other supplier voluntary went for the customers.

Never had the previous tariff honoured in 4 SOLR takeovers of my leccy supply. Some of the increases were substantial eg Iresa to Octopus.

Malchester

It's not just the tariff but also quality of customer service which in the case of Scottish Power has been one characterised by total incompetence, inconsistencies, misleading and false information, deceit, failure to keep promises. The rip off tariff pales into insignificance compared to their incompetence at every level. See the other topic headed Tonik Energy to see what I mean

nyermen

I'm ex-Tonik myself too and I can accept the reasons for the deemed tariff, frustrating as it is.  My issue is the lack of information, I've only had the initial "your account has been moved to scottishpower" email asking for details, then a second one confirming details received and now to wait to be told more.  Is it so hard to tell us what the rate is?  Attempts to call result in long waits / cut-offs.
Apparently until tonik (administrators?) have calculated my final bill and told scottishpower, I'm deemed to be "in debt" (despite actually being in credit according to tonik's website) and therefore scottish power are blocking any requests to change provider.  Not a whisper from the tonik side unsurprisingly (Note: you can access tonik space again now, to get statements etc)

Malchester

Nyermen -email Tonik and ask for your final bill. I did 12 days ago and within 1 hour it was done. Email Scottish Power Ceo (Keith.s.anderson@ Scottishpower.co.uk) and complain, I did and got a result and have just a few days to wait to switch to British Gas Evolve. They have 4 weeks from final bill to refunding credit.

Gerry1

Malchester said:

They have 4 weeks from final bill to refunding credit.

Nope.  It's 10 working days, £30 compo if missed.

Malchester

Gerry1 - sorry to disagree but the rule is 4 weeks as per Ofgem

Gerry1

Malchester said:

Gerry1 - sorry to disagree but the rule is 4 weeks as per Ofgem

"Customers will also be entitled to a £30 payment if their previous supplier is late in refunding them their credit balance after they have switched.

"Under Ofgem’s rules, suppliers must refund these credit balances within 10 working days of a final bill being issued."

So when was the working week cut to 2.5 days?

Am I missing something? 

worrywart_3

I was told two weeks as well but does that apply to those who take over from a bankrupt company ?

Malchester

Exactly. If you switch yourself it is 10 days but for a firm that goes out of business with a SOLR it is 4 weeks. But it's not worth arguing with a know all!!!!