Green.Energy - 10% extra on top ups - *Extended 1st Feb*

fewkeste

Bacman said:

i've not had the email from them but it looks like "if it looks too good to be true, it is" given the high interest rate.

My thoughts exactly - however there are contributors to this thread that have done this more than once and had their credit with interest returned, so I'm conflicted. At the end of the day, if they go bust, customers' credit balances are protected so there is that safety net.

In a way this is similar to the Powershop model whereby customers pre-buy credit (Powerpacks they were called) for their account at variable rates of discount, although I was only ever a few hundred pounds in credit, not the £1200 I am at the moment or the £5K some customers are/have been previously.

fewkeste

@Deleted_User - Good point. Why not fire an email off to Ofgem, explain the Green Monday offer and ask for confirmation that balances (that could be up to 5K) will be protected if Green. fold?

brewerdave

Deleted_User said:

Do the rules say that customer balances must be fully protected in a SoLR transfer? Or is that just how it's always been done so far? Could Ofgem decide that only up to £x per customer will be protected in a future SoLR (to limit the size of the industry levy that might be needed)?

(I've recently switched to Green, and am wondering how much I'd want to pay in if this offer recurs.)

I actually emailed OFGEM back in February to ask whether Green should have a banking license as they were effectively operating as a deposit taker - other than an acknowledgement of the email ,I didn't get a reply - and as I switched away in Feb . due to an uncompetitive rate, I didn't pursue.

fewkeste

I've just sent this message to OFGEM:

Hi, I’m a customer of Green Supplier Limited trading as Green. Recently, the company have been inviting customers to participate in a pre-payment scheme marketed as Green Monday. In essence customers are invited to pre-pay up to 5K into their account and 60 days later a bonus of 10% of the amount pre-paid is credited to their account. Customers are then allowed to withdraw their initial pre-payment plus their 10% bonus if they wish. This Green Monday event has been run at least three times to my knowledge.  

My question is; 

If a customer has pre-paid up to 5K into their account, will that balance be protected by OFGEM rules if Green. goes bust? I would appreciate a quick clear response please.  

Regards

I'll report back if/when they respond.

Bacman

"If's" and "might" and "should" are not indicators money is safe. Treat it as unsecured. There is no facility on the website (I can see anyway) to initiate a refund of monies you have sat in your account as it is, so I don't see where the confidence is to withdraw funds are in the account??

imaginary_80s

Bacman said:

"If's" and "might" and "should" are not indicators money is safe. Treat it as unsecured. There is no facility on the website (I can see anyway) to initiate a refund of monies you have sat in your account as it is, so I don't see where the confidence is to withdraw funds are in the account??

I go on the chat and ask them for a refund of the full amount, they say OK and then they do it. You can't initiate it yourself.

Inigo_Montoya

If anybody was on a Green variable tariff like me then they will probably have also had a rise in their tariff starting today

What I have noticed is that there was an error in the email they sent me in June listing the new tariff price i.e. mine stated 


These rates will stay the same until 19/07/2021. After this date, your new rates will be:

	Electricity	Gas
Unit Rate(s) p/kWh	14.40	N/A
Standing Charge p/day	20.95	N/A
Estimated Annual Consumption (kWh)	3279	N/A
Personal Projection (12 months)	£548.52	N/A

The above prices include VAT. Your estimated annual consumption is based on the information currently available to us and subject to change.

HOWEVER when I look at my account online it states :

Plan Name	Pine
Plan Type	Variable
Start Date	20/07/2021
End Date	N/A
Unit Rate	15.116p
Standing Charge	22.00p
Exit Fee	£0

So basically the prices in the email do NOT include VAT despite stating otherwise

imaginary_80s

Inigo_Montoya said:

So basically the prices in the email do NOT include VAT despite stating otherwise

I would write to Green pointing out the mistake and say you intend to hold them to the prices stated in their original email which were stated to include VAT, as otherwise they have not given you sufficient notice to change the prices to the amount they've actually changed them to.

You could either try and get them to honour the original prices stated in their email, or get them to postpone the price increase until they've given you sufficient notice in writing to increase them to the actual correct amounts. 

Inigo_Montoya

imaginary_80s said:

Inigo_Montoya said:

So basically the prices in the email do NOT include VAT despite stating otherwise

I would write to Green pointing out the mistake and say you intend to hold them to the prices stated in their original email which were stated to include VAT, as otherwise they have not given you sufficient notice to change the prices to the amount they've actually changed them to.

You could either try and get them to honour the original prices stated in their email, or get them to postpone the price increase until they've given you sufficient notice in writing to increase them to the actual correct amounts. 

I posted mainly to let other people know as I suspect this may have happened to everybody on a variable rate tariff

Not overly keen on getting into a "fight" over an issue which money-wise is quite trivial given that the best one could realistically hope for is another 30 day deferral of the (correct) price increase

imaginary_80s

That's strange. I'm on the Oak variable tariff and haven't been notified of any price changes. I've been with them since Feb 2021. I wonder if there's something in the terms about having to be with them for a certain period of time (e.g. 12 months) before they can increase their prices (though I sincerely doubt it).