How many switches can I do?

Ken68

No hassle with Quidco, as long as you click via them, they track it auto. You need to register initially and wait for the cashback.

autismmum

ive been doing this all year, just to let you know that british gas is most reliable payer, powerge sometimes you need to chase up. i switch every two months, as i am aware one or two people had their quidco accounts taken due to over doing it, but every two to three months its great, i have halved my bill almost.:)

LuciferTDark

I got switched between 3 different companies earlier this year without agreeing to it & I've only just got back to my original supplier in the last couple of months. One cheeky lot decided I owed them £160 for being with them for a day.

magyar

It's worth bearing in mind that if you switched every 28 days I can guarantee that you'd end up spending all your time on the phone trying to sort the mess out! Depends how much you value your time.

(Of course I couldn't possibly suggest people might want to fall between the cracks...)

Terrylw1

magyar wrote: »

It's worth bearing in mind that if you switched every 28 days I can guarantee that you'd end up spending all your time on the phone trying to sort the mess out! Depends how much you value your time.

(Of course I couldn't possibly suggest people might want to fall between the cracks...)

Thats true. If a Supplier experiences a lot of hassle to sort a situation, they sometimes think why bother for the sake of 28 days when the money they recover is worth less to them. So, some customers have got away with it in the past.

Hopping is not new, it's been going on for years with the savvy customers.

Terrylw1

LuciferTDark wrote: »

I got switched between 3 different companies earlier this year without agreeing to it & I've only just got back to my original supplier in the last couple of months. One cheeky lot decided I owed them £160 for being with them for a day.

That's quite common. The reading issue is not actually caused by the Supplier in most cases, it's the Data Collector who deems the readings. They are supposed to advance the reading by 1Kwh inbetween CoS in these situations and sometimes it comes out a lot higher. They usually get picked up on the Elexon Large EAC/AA report though as when they go wrong, they really go wrong!!!

Terrylw1

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

good cashback on moneysupermarket I think, and sometimes from mutualpoints.com. But surely this would be a bunch of hassle to stay on top of, considering how useless most of these companies are with customer service! Be interested if someone starts doing this

It's not new. I've seen plenty of customers switch after a few months and come back 6 months later again.

However, they tend to end up waiting longer for the initial bill since data gets muddled and when you have got a queue of Suppliers, DC's, MOP's etc...it gets messy from a Supplier point of view.

The only real new part is the comparison sites & their cashbacks. Customers hop more now, but it's by no means new to Suppliers.

The industry is geared up to accept it. The processes are nice and simple, although a bit lengthy. The issue comes from the data issues and the huge backlogs of data in the industry. The elec industry has had some big problems with poor data over the past 5 years or so as the market still hasn't got on track after privatisation.

Terrylw1

Ken68 wrote: »

You could say, Cardew, that the Regulator is an unnecessary expense, OK until matters have settled after privatisation but a free for all should be the norm.
Subject to Health and Safety of course and outright fiddling.

It is not as if OFGEM has done a decent job.
But for a low user, inducements have to be considered, tho I see the Quidco cashback is UP to £60. Perhaps depends on consumption.

Thats veyr true. A lot of the issues in this industry exist because of Ofgem's lumbering incompetance.

For instance:

1) PP customers being backbilled huge amounts. Most utility companies have decided to scrap this themselves. Energywatch & CAB keep asking Ofgem to ban it, but they just say "we understand it's unfortunate" but refuse to deal with it!

2) PP charges being higher and the evidence from Energywatch to state that the social group with by fare the largest number of PP meters is the poor & fuel poor!

3) GSOS. Ofgem didn't even check that Suppliers were compensating their customers or even make them have a system to do it. So, customers have been getting shafted by Suppliers for all those visits they never arrange for you!

Energywatch do far more than Ofgem to push this industry along. Ofgem tend to respond to what EW & Suppliers ask them to change. You wouldn't run a business that way, so why regulate that way.

Ofcom was exactly the same when mobile phone came out.

far

Whilst we're on the subject, how is this 28 days counted - is it 28 days from the initial application or 28 days from when the actual switchover actually takes place?

Terrylw1

far wrote: »

Whilst we're on the subject, how is this 28 days counted - is it 28 days from the initial application or 28 days from when the actual switchover actually takes place?

Change of supply date per your new Supplier registration request (SSD) since contract signing date is irrelevant as it can't easily be tracked especially when you go back through several Suppliers. Sometimes you may sign a contract and then there are problems which cause a delay but it until your registration has been requested by your new Supplier, the CoS hasn't happened.

If old Suppliers object in error (and the objection has been upheld, not removed) then the new Supplier doesn't get you to sign another contract. They just save you a job and re-apply their registration. This does mean that a new date has to be used as a Supplier cannot backdate a registration date. So, in this scenario your month moves to be a month from the new SSD. If this occurred and you switched again straight after you would make 1 period potentially less than a month oin the process if they used your contract signing date.

In reality there is absolutely nothing stopping you changing in less time. This rule comes from industry de-reg when all consulted parties saw a month as enough time to do a change of supply completely. In reality, a CoS rarely happens in a month now (Energywatch & Ofgem will advise 4-6 weeks on average).

They (Ofgem) could easily change it to a longer date or make it less. However, making it less would put a lot more strain on the processes that occur. It really only needs to be longer than the objection period to allow a registration to become formal between Suppliers.