Energy Companies lack of moral standards

darcyscorpion

I moved house on recently. Before moving i instructed my exisitng company to move my power to the new address. We moved, assumed that everything was OK and then got a bill from GOT energy for £190.00 (The previous owners. We paid and then realised that our provider hadn't switched us so we looked for another provider who couldn't switch us until Mid April. In the back ground of all of this GOTO energy sent us a final bill of a further £85. I have disputed this with them and declared that this is not a fair practice. To move home-movers onto the highest tariff when the last thing they need is this additional stress. My point is that i was advised that this is industry standard practice. Why is this standard practice to move you to the most lucrative tariff for the energy provider to pay their shareholders? I have left this with GOTO.energy that i am not paying the additional £85 for 2 weeks of energy. This equates to an annual bill for circa £2500 for gas and electric! I believe that this practice is wrong if this is industry practice and a better (more fairer solution that isn't weighted towards the supplier). Thank you ;-)

JJ_Egan

Move in you are on a deemed contract with the existing supplier . Register with them and you are free to move .

It would be morally unfair for people moving home etc to be without energy for a week or more .

If you believe its wrong contact OF whatever and your MP .

Neil_Jones

darcyscorpion said:

I moved house on recently. Before moving i instructed my exisitng company to move my power to the new address. We moved, assumed that everything was OK and then got a bill from GOT energy for £190.00 (The previous owners. We paid and then realised that our provider hadn't switched us so we looked for another provider who couldn't switch us until Mid April. In the back ground of all of this GOTO energy sent us a final bill of a further £85. I have disputed this with them and declared that this is not a fair practice. To move home-movers onto the highest tariff when the last thing they need is this additional stress. My point is that i was advised that this is industry standard practice. Why is this standard practice to move you to the most lucrative tariff for the energy provider to pay their shareholders? I have left this with GOTO.energy that i am not paying the additional £85 for 2 weeks of energy. This equates to an annual bill for circa £2500 for gas and electric! I believe that this practice is wrong if this is industry practice and a better (more fairer solution that isn't weighted towards the supplier). Thank you ;-)

You have not been able to move energy providers from one address to another for quite some time now.

When you move into a new house you enter into a deemed contract (aka standard) with the existing provider, you phone them up and say you've moved into 17 Cherry Tree Lane, here are my meter readings, can I have a new account please.  once you've that you can move around in the normal way, including back to where you were before.

Note that it takes up to six weeks to move provider, so you will need to pay for the energy you've used in the new house with whoever the existing one was up until the new provider you've fixed takes over.  That's the way the system works.

rp1974

As already mentioned the rule is that you register with the existing supplier,get put onto the standard tariff that they offer,pay for your use,then switch as you see fit.
Whatever you instructed was neither here nor there,it's not an option available to you or anyone else for that matter.
Not following the proper processes for this is almost guaranteed to end up in a mess,as you have found out.
That's something you should take up with OFGEM if you feel that strongly about it,they make the rules.
Dont quite get why morals come into it,certainly not any worse morally than using a suppliers product then refusing to pay for it,for example.

[Deleted User]

Deemed supply exists so that when you takeover responsibility for a property, the lights will come on when you turn on the switch. The reason that deemed tariffs are expensive is because Ofgem will not permit suppliers to sign consumers up to cheaper fixed term contracts without their prior approval. This approval can be given the moment that you call the deemed supplier with your details and meter readings. If anyone is at fault here, it is your old supplier. I know that some will allow you to take your existing tariff with you when you move. However, this usually requires a switch back to them within a certain number of days from the date that you moved out of the old property.

Life is all about learning. This is a hard lesson to learn but you do owe the deemed supplier for the energy that has been consumed up until the actual date of transfer of supply: it is just not possible to switch on the day that you call a supplier. Store the lesson away for the next time that you move.

Hasbeen

darcyscorpion said:

I moved house on recently. Before moving i instructed my exisitng company to move my power to the new address. We moved, assumed that everything was OK and then got a bill from GOT energy for £190.00 (The previous owners. We paid and then realised that our provider hadn't switched us so we looked for another provider who couldn't switch us until Mid April. In the back ground of all of this GOTO energy sent us a final bill of a further £85. I have disputed this with them and declared that this is not a fair practice. To move home-movers onto the highest tariff when the last thing they need is this additional stress. My point is that i was advised that this is industry standard practice. Why is this standard practice to move you to the most lucrative tariff for the energy provider to pay their shareholders? I have left this with GOTO.energy that i am not paying the additional £85 for 2 weeks of energy. This equates to an annual bill for circa £2500 for gas and electric! I believe that this practice is wrong if this is industry practice and a better (more fairer solution that isn't weighted towards the supplier). Thank you ;-)

Sorry but you are. SO SO wrong on all points. 

You made mistakes, but now know the correct procedure.

And what a deemed supplier is.

Pay for what you have used.

If you think this standard procedure is wrong then complain to OFGEM

niktheguru

This happens time and time again where people don't understand how energy works. Its not like moving your sky TV or broadband from one address to the other.
However I do sympathise with the OP.
He/she didn't know, but surely there are multiple people who could have told her
1. Her existing provider should have said that's not how it works, register with existing supplier and we will switch you ASAP
2. Her solicitor, surely there will be a mention of who the utility suppliers are somewhere on the paperwork
3. Estate agent....shouldn't they have an obligation to remind people of their responsibilities
4. Previous homeowner.....don't people leave a note with important information about the property anymore. I know I certainly did.

Saying that, it would be a very poor choice to "refuse to pay" the deemed supplier what they've asked for for your mistake....it'll just open a world of pain.

Reed_Richards

darcyscorpion said:

... I have left this with GOTO.energy that i am not paying the additional £85 for 2 weeks of energy.... 

Not paying your debts is not indicative of high moral standards.

MWT

darcyscorpion said:

 I have left this with GOTO.energy that i am not paying the additional £85 for 2 weeks of energy.

Do let us know how that goes for you, especially after the debt collection fees have been added to the bill...

Not exactly claiming the moral high-ground with a refusal to pay your debts either.

It is unfortunate that you didn't know how to handle the existing supplier and it is also unfortunate that your previous supplier didn't explain it either, but that doesn't release you from the obligation to pay the bill, which had you followed the correct procedure, could have been lower...

welshmoneylover

not pay not paying the £85 may well leave you with a ccj and default on your credit file.
you have done things so so wrong, you do not take your old supplier with you.
you need to register with the existing supplier and then switch!