Utility Point credit refund delays

Jayne1111

I’m struggling to get a refund from Utility Point. I switched to Shell on the 14th September and was told by UP that it can take 32 days for Shell to give them a reading, then UP said that they then had 6 weeks to refund my £454. Fast forward to today and they say that they have a backlog and are working on it. 

Does anyone know if I can do anything to expedite the payment? 

Thanks 🙏 

bubieyehyeh

I'd like to know also, I switched early November, they generated the final bill within two weeks, but it now been more than four weeks since then and I've received no refund or compensation. I've chased them twice.

matelodave

There are statutory rules regarding the performance of the energy companies which are included in their licence conditions.
They are obliged to produce a final bill within six weeks of you leaving them, if they don't then you are entitled to £30 compensation. After that they have two weeks to refund your credit which also attracts £30 if they don't manage it.

Send them an official compliant - in writing both by e-mail and recorded delivery snail-mail, pointing this out to them and telling them that you will be referring it to the Ombudsman if they don't comply.

These rules were introduced just because energy suppliers were dragging their feet and hanging onto credit.

I've just done it with Symbio, it was surprising how quickly my credit was refunded and I kept it going and got some compensation as well. 

Here - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/new-customer-compensation-payments-further-improve-switching and here https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/how-switch-energy-supplier-and-shop-better-deal/compensation-if-there-s-energy-switch-problem

bristolleedsfan

matelodave said:

There are statutory rules regarding the performance of the energy companies which are included in their licence conditions.
They are obliged to produce a final bill within six weeks of you leaving them, if they don't then you are entitled to £30 compensation. After that they have two weeks to refund your credit which also attracts £30 if they don't manage it.

Customers entitled to automatic compensation for switching problems from 1 May | Ofgem

"Suppliers are required to pay compensation automatically to the affected customer within 10 days of the breach occurring. If they fail to make the initial payment, they will be required to make a further payment of £30"

Important to note that most people affected will be entitled to £60 compensation from U.P even if they produced a final bill within six weeks of switched out date .....

7Phil

Ensure you lodge a formal complaint with them on the first day you are eligible to based on their own timeframes. Eg: If they state a deadline of six weeks and it has now passed, email their complaints address and raise your complaint stating you haven't received your refund by said deadline. They will give themselves some time to resolve your complaint. Wait that out and when it too expires follow up again. Keep repeating that cycle. 
In your complaint outline that you understand that you are entitled to compensation of £X for reason YZ. 
You will get your refund plus your compensation after a couple of iterations.

Don't expect to get anything sooner than any timeframe they give you. And do not waste time with either chasing the customer service lines or the "speak to the manager" route. Straight on to formal complaint as soon as you are able and persist.

CRISPIANNE3

I have found this company good but do not like giving refunds back. I changed tariffs a year ago with them and had to go via Resolver to get the credit back on the account. It is now time  to renew again and they are offering me a very competitive tariff. The only problem I have I will have to fight to get the largish credit back on the account. 

JohnB47

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I'm in a similar position with Utilita. When Eversmart folded, I was with them for a short period before moving away. On 16th Feb 2020 I received this text: "I have requested for your Eversmart final bill to be produced, there is a long wait for this so I have placed your account on hold until it has been completed and we have any debit or credit from Eversmart transferred to ourselves".Then on 29th Feb they sent me two final Eversmart bills and one final one from them which, when combined, showed I was owed £17.94 I've heard nothing since then.
Perhaps, after Christmas, I'll follow 'matelodave's advice above - thanks for that.

HonestJohn

I had no problems with UP when I left. Everything was done within the required timeframe.
Some other companies have a different interpretation of the word 'automatic'.

bristolleedsfan

HonestJohn said:

Some other companies have a different interpretation of the word 'automatic'.

I left Scottish Power 27 November, final bill 2nd December they went by readings I gave to my new Gas supplier, credit refund in Bank 7 December 

fatbeetle

I'm in the same position with Utility Point. I left in September and have been waiting for a £118 refund since then.

Swipe

Utility Point have been playing this game for a very long time