Green Network Energy is ceasing to trade

UnclaimedEnergy

leitmotif said:

UnclaimedEnergy said:

leitmotif said:

What happens with Warm Home Discount applications?

"If you get the Warm Home Discount, your new supplier will tell you if you can still get it. If you can’t get the Warm Home Discount with your new supplier, you can switch to a different supplier"

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/your-energy-supplier-has-gone-bust/

Do you reckon that counts for existing applications? Decisions on WHDs for winter 2020-21 were due this month. The new supplier might say they can't respect the 2020-21 application as no decisions were reached by GNE.

EDIT: It's also possible that Ofgem will switch everyone to a supplier that doesn't offer a WHD and that supplier won't respect any decisions already made by GNE.

Due to the sheer size of GNE, any supplier who doesn't offer a WHD won't be able to take them on, so that wouldn't be an issue.

I don't know the process of the applications etc. however as GNE did offer the WHD to thousands of customers, it could be something which is taken into consideration then the new supplier is chosen.

UnclaimedEnergy

Grumpy_chap said:

I've never been through SoLR before, so ready for the learning experience.

From what I have read / heard, a supplier fails, in this case GNE and OFCOM then tender the customer base as a job lot to the market place and SoLR takes over all the accounts.

Why does this result in all the customers ending on a non-competitive tariff? That seems, to me, to be the most expensive route for the new supplier as they then inherit a job lot of dissatisfied customers all looking for early exit to a competitive supplier.  So the SoLR has all the costs of setting up and closing accounts with very little revenue time in between.

Why don't the suppliers inheriting / bidding for the job lot of customers seek to place those customers on whatever that suppliers current competitive tariff is?  That way, the costs of setting up all the accounts stands a chance of migrating into an increased customer base that can be glad to stay knowing they are receiving a value solution.

What am I missing?

The fact that the 'current competitive tariff' is normally below cost, so not only are they paying out to set up the customers and refund credit balances, they would also then make a loss on every customer they did get.

UnclaimedEnergy

brewerdave said:

BedrockFred said:

""if this process fails, then Ofgem has the legal powers to force a supplier to become a SoLR. It’s not perfect but it works.""
It's far from perfect it needs a complete overhaul IMHO it's slewed to the benefit of the SoLR, There should be a faster process for customers to pick their own supplier 2 or 3 months minimum stuck on a tariff that is/can be much more expensive 

And OFGEM seemingly accept assurances from the SOLR that their Customer Services /Accounts functions can handle the number of customers to be transferred WITHOUT any in depth audits ,which in the case of all the SOLR processes that I have been involved with ,was patently untrue, resulting in very long waits for account set up and extremely long waits for credits to be carried forward.
One wonders whether SP were forced into accepting the previous two failures !!

SP weren't forced into taking the previous two failures, they won them by offering to use the least amount of industry levy and cover more of the costs out of their own pockets : https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2020/12/decision_letter_yorkshire_0.pdf

[Deleted User]

It is worth remembering that whilst the SoLR might pay something for gaining 000s of extra customers, it is allowed to recover the costs from Ofgem for onboarding the failed supplier’s customers, and to cover such things as the repayment of customer credits. These costs are recovered via the Consumer Levy: a cost that falls to all energy customers.

Grumpy_chap

UnclaimedEnergy said:

The fact that the 'current competitive tariff' is normally below cost, so not only are they paying out to set up the customers and refund credit balances, they would also then make a loss on every customer they did get.

Are the credit balances refunded not recovered from the assets of the failing company?
I 'get' that failing companies may not have as much assets as they need to be viable, but if the company owes me, say £400 and other customer owe the supplier, say £50.  Collect the £50 debts and then put then together to pay the credits off.

On another note, my DD is due out and the bank said too late to stop it - will the bank pay a DD to a company that has ceased trading?

rooster47

On another note, my DD is due out and the bank said too late to stop it - will the bank pay a DD to a company that has ceased trading?

If your ddm payment has not been made then of course you can stop it!

[Deleted User]

Grumpy_chap said:

UnclaimedEnergy said:

The fact that the 'current competitive tariff' is normally below cost, so not only are they paying out to set up the customers and refund credit balances, they would also then make a loss on every customer they did get.

Are the credit balances refunded not recovered from the assets of the failing company?
I 'get' that failing companies may not have as much assets as they need to be viable, but if the company owes me, say £400 and other customer owe the supplier, say £50.  Collect the £50 debts and then put then together to pay the credits off.

On another note, my DD is due out and the bank said too late to stop it - will the bank pay a DD to a company that has ceased trading?

When any company goes into liquidation all its assets are frozen. Prior to the introduction of the Consumer Levy, energy customers lost their credit balances when a supplier failed. 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/168685

ronbell101

I`m due to switch my Gas over to Green Network on 5th February I have never been in this situation what should I do ??

stewie_griffin

I'm really interested to find out who the Solar will be. SP are still dealing with the fallout of YE, BG recently acquired a large amount of customers from RHE and E.ON are in the middle of migrating all of the npower customers over, so I doubt would want another customer databases to deal with. That leaves the likes of EDF, Shell, OVO and Octopus.

burnie1874

Hi 

I’m after some advice. We are (or were!) customers of Green Network energy. We are due to move house on 12th February and had tried to begin the process of informing our supplier before they announced the other day that they had ceased trading.

Reading the information that is available, I understand Ofgem will appoint a new supplier but this could take a couple of weeks, by which point we will have moved and the new owners will be in the property.

I’m unsure of what action I should take regarding this to ensure our account is closed and billed properly and so neither myself or the new owners pay for energy we haven’t used.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.