Yorkshire energy ?

[Deleted User]

thankyousam said:

DerwentMailman said:

thankyousam said:

I just phoned SP as my opening gas reading still wasn't there, but the electric one was. They were able to get the gas reading added to the system, so my two opening readings from 6th December are now set up correctly.

I am going to give them a little more time to get these readings added themselves.  How long after your phone call was your account updated?  Annoying they are unable to do this themselves without being prodded into doing so. 

The opening gas meter reading appeared on my online account while I was on the phone to them. The agent I spoke to had to put me on hold and speak to the "meter reading department" and it seemed to take them about 5 mins to figure it out.

Good information that.  I shall use the same tactic next week and ask the agent to speak to the same department.  I shall have my prepared spiel for when I ring them.  Basically my account (re the meter information (only gas showing) and any opening readings therein (none whatsoever)) has remalned the same for the last 14 days.   Even British Gas were more efficient in setting up my my account (for the Breeze to BG SOLR switch).  

Catscradle

I'm a bit surprised to see that some of you already have the account all set up. I sent in my meter readings right away on December 6, and also sent all my direct debit info and kept the Yorkshire Energy direct debit open. But I've had absolutely no contact from SP except for an email on January 7 to confirm they had received the details, which said my direct debit would be set up soon. No notification of the DD as yet and I have not received a welcome pack or an account number either.

 I have phoned the SP phone line for former YE customers a couple of times - the first time I got someone who was not very helpful, but today I got through to someone who said the direct debit had been set up (strange that I've heard nothing from my bank) and they would send me through the welcome pack on January 19. It seems like quite a long time to be stuck on the variable rate! He also gave me an account number but then told me I shouldn't try to do anything with it until I get the welcome pack. 

I was with Scottish Power in the past and had switched away partly because they constantly phoned and texted me urging me to install a smart meter, several times a week in some cases, even after I'd told them we didn't want one at the moment. 

masonic

venia said:

venia said:

Is it better to go with variable and hope prices go down or choose a fixed tariff until things get cheaper?

Whilst I was wondering which one would be better, I found that prices went up, and both Avro and Green. are more expensive now compared with last week (Avro £2 extra per month, Green - £5). So to answer my own question - variable isn't better. 
Octopus is my best option now with £50 credit if I use someone's link from the Referrers board. 

Wholesale prices are unusually high at the moment due to the unusually cold weather and several power stations being offline. Prices should start to fall in due course, but there may be further increases in the short term. Octopus makes for a good holding option as there are no exit fees on any of their tariffs, so you can reevaluate when prices settle down.

[Deleted User]

Catscradle said:

I'm a bit surprised to see that some of you already have the account all set up. I sent in my meter readings right away on December 6, and also sent all my direct debit info and kept the Yorkshire Energy direct debit open. But I've had absolutely no contact from SP except for an email on January 7 to confirm they had received the details, which said my direct debit would be set up soon. No notification of the DD as yet and I have not received a welcome pack or an account number either.

 I have phoned the SP phone line for former YE customers a couple of times - the first time I got someone who was not very helpful, but today I got through to someone who said the direct debit had been set up (strange that I've heard nothing from my bank) and they would send me through the welcome pack on January 19. It seems like quite a long time to be stuck on the variable rate! He also gave me an account number but then told me I shouldn't try to do anything with it until I get the welcome pack. 

I checked my DDs showing on my bank a while ago and there was a reference attached to this which appears to be your account number (it was for me and many others).  This is why many of us have been able to access an account (albeit in various stages of completion it seems) since New Year.  My bank did not notify me of this but there again I would not have expected them to.

Re the variable rate,  I believe I am on the Energy Exclusive Online tarrif (which is a fixed tariff for only 6 months I am led to believe) although I have had no confirmation of this via a welcome pack.  If true, it is actually better than anything is currently being promoted by SP on any of the energy comparison websites (or on Scottish Power direct).  Make no mistake I am not a fan of SP and have a switch date to AVRO on 3rd February.
    

masonic

ewokuk said:

bagand96 said:

ewokuk said:

What needs to happen with this SOLR stuff is one simple change, when people get dumped on a new supplier they didn't sign up for, the rates must stay the same for 30 days after the switch to the new provider has taken place.  This fixes all the issues we have had in 2 ways:

1. It incentivized the new supplier to get the switch sorted out quickly so that the 30 days starts ASAP, rather than them being incentivized to do the exact opposite currently and delay it as long as they can (as SP have done) to stop people being able to switch away from their high rates.
2. It stops customers being fleeced at extortionate rates for an extended period and will allow them to sort out a switch to another provider without being charged a huge amount more than they had budgeted for with their old supplier.

Problem solved.  Anyone that doesn't sort out a switch quickly will end up paying loads to the new provider, this will be a win for the new provider and offset the money they might be losing by having everyone on the lower tarrif from the old provider for the first 30 days.  So the new providers are still incentivized to 'bid' because plenty of people will probably not switch quick enough and they can still make money from it, and the even partially savvy customers do not get ripped off by being dumped on a sky high tariff that THEY DID NOT SIGN UP FOR.

And which Energy company would bid to take on the customers from the failed provider if they had to provide the energy at unsustainable rates. 

It's easy to say make OFGEM force one of the Big 6 to do, but it needs paying for one way or another, why should their customers subsidise the SoLR process?

First off the rates can't be THAT unsustainable or the old company wouldn't have set them at those rates in the first place (no company will sell something they don't think they can make a profit on).

I suspect the problem YE ran into is they were obliged to supply energy at a fixed price that they set based on what price they thought they'd be able to buy energy from the wholesale market, but wholesale prices went up and they couldn't sustain those tariffs. Additional costs related to Covid probably didn't help.

In that position I'd prefer that they were wound down in a more orderly fashion, breaking fixed price contracts if necessary, with some support from the industry to ensure an orderly transfer of customers elsewhere. It would probably be more efficient that the current system, where the SoLR ends up claiming vast sums for the liabilities it takes on anyway.

There are now more checks and balances for new entrants to the market than there were for companies of YE's vintage. Only time will tell whether they improve the situation.

Catscradle

DerwentMailman said:

I checked my DDs showing on my bank a while ago and there was a reference attached to this which appears to be your account number (it was for me and many others).  This is why many of us have been able to access an account (albeit in various stages of completion it seems) since New Year.  My bank did not notify me of this but there again I would not have expected them to.
Re the variable rate,  I believe I am on the Energy Exclusive Online tarrif (which is a fixed tariff for only 6 months I am led to believe) although I have had no confirmation of this via a welcome pack.  If true, it is actually better than anything is currently being promoted by SP on any of the energy comparison websites (or on Scottish Power direct).  Make no mistake I am not a fan of SP and have a switch date to AVRO on 3rd February.

 Thank you very much, I've just looked at my bank and found the direct debit - I normally receive text messages from my bank whenever a direct debit is set up, but perhaps didn't receive this because there is no date or amount as yet. 

The information on the SP website about Energy Exclusive says: "This is a variable tariff and prices may increase or decrease in the future; we’ll give you 30 days’ notice if our prices are increasing."  But oddly the pdf actually has "fixed" in its name, so it's a bit confusing.
https://web-content.scottishpower.co.uk/files/pdf/tariffs/2020/FIXED_OL_E23B_TERMS.pdf 

I had hoped SP would have a cheaper rate to switch to once the account was set up, but from your comments it sounds as if this is unlikely. Thanks again for the information.

masonic

Catscradle said:

DerwentMailman said:

I checked my DDs showing on my bank a while ago and there was a reference attached to this which appears to be your account number (it was for me and many others).  This is why many of us have been able to access an account (albeit in various stages of completion it seems) since New Year.  My bank did not notify me of this but there again I would not have expected them to.
Re the variable rate,  I believe I am on the Energy Exclusive Online tarrif (which is a fixed tariff for only 6 months I am led to believe) although I have had no confirmation of this via a welcome pack.  If true, it is actually better than anything is currently being promoted by SP on any of the energy comparison websites (or on Scottish Power direct).  Make no mistake I am not a fan of SP and have a switch date to AVRO on 3rd February.

 Thank you very much, I've just looked at my bank and found the direct debit - I normally receive text messages from my bank whenever a direct debit is set up, but perhaps didn't receive this because there is no date or amount as yet. 

The information on the SP website about Energy Exclusive says: "This is a variable tariff and prices may increase or decrease in the future; we’ll give you 30 days’ notice if our prices are increasing."  But oddly the pdf actually has "fixed" in its name, so it's a bit confusing.
https://web-content.scottishpower.co.uk/files/pdf/tariffs/2020/FIXED_OL_E23B_TERMS.pdf 

I had hoped SP would have a cheaper rate to switch to once the account was set up, but from your comments it sounds as if this is unlikely. Thanks again for the information.

The deemed tariff from a SoLR is normally fixed for 6 months, but must not lock a customer in, so it may be that SP has had to make it "variable" for internal reasons so exit fees are not charges. It's not clear whether SP can change those prices or not, but not relevant to most who will be switching out as soon as possible.

Catscradle

masonic said:

The deemed tariff from a SoLR is normally fixed for 6 months, but must not lock a customer in, so it may be that SP has had to make it "variable" for internal reasons so exit fees are not charges. It's not clear whether SP can change those prices or not, but not relevant to most who will be switching out as soon as possible.

Thanks, that makes sense. I will have a look at the SP rates but will probably end up switching out as soon as possible too.

Chino

DerwentMailman said:

Re the variable rate,  I believe I am on the Energy Exclusive Online tarrif (which is a fixed tariff for only 6 months I am led to believe) although I have had no confirmation of this via a welcome pack.

So you're another poster who didn't read the FAQs linked to by the email they were sent by ScottishPower:
"If you’re a domestic customer, you’ll move to our Energy Exclusive tariff - this is a tariff created specifically for former customers of Yorkshire Energy and provides some of our most competitive prices."
https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/solr/yorkshire-energy

Stonesmike

On my SP account it states my D/D is £8.50 and recommends to change it to £58 lol