switched to more expensive tariff by angry family member

Jcbah

I suspect my previously helpful and kind family member of switching my gas and electricity tariff to one that is three times more expensive. 

As as he has been dealing (for which I am grateful) with this on money saving expert I don’t have access to the online mse energy account and nor am in receipt of the bills from the energy suppliers. I have a direct debit from my bank account.

when I ask him for the online account password and password for the email account he ignores me. 

If if he has switched me to a more expensive tariff (possibly initiated last week), is there anything I can do? The relationship is strained sadly. I’m worried about the financial implications. Thanks

Reed_Richards

There is a 14 day cooling-off period during which time you can revoke any switch applied for.  But what you are describing seems like controlling behaviour that is more worrying than what you are paying for your energy.  

Jcbah

Thanks for replying. If he has clicked the 'switch' button on a different more expensive tariff already, does that 14 day cooling off period start from when he clicked 'switch'? I personally won't be able to tell until, presumably,  a new direct debit comes up on my bank statement. Thanks and no problem if you can't answer, your initial comment was helpful. 

MWT

If you have to wait for the DD to appear it will almost certainly be too late to stop the switch, but don't wait for that.

Contact your current supplier now, explain that you have lost access to your online account and need to have it restored to your control.

poppellerant

First of all your best bet is to find out who your supplier is, if you don't know already.  Then contact the supplier with your meter serial numbers and readings to hand (to prove you have access to the meters) and explain the situation and that you wish to gain full control of the account.

With the control hopefully if your hands, can cancel the transfer and let these good forums help you if you need help.

Gerry1

It's unlikely to be three times as expensive.

Make sure you can access online banking and check that there are no unwanted DDs shown, but bear in mind that some banks don't list them until a payment has been made.

You could consider asking the bank to change your account number to prevent any further abuse by the family member.  The bank may even be able to update the existing DDs and standing orders, otherwise you'd have to notify the relevant organisations yourself.

Take control of your energy accounts: send monthly readings, keep records, find out your annual consumption in kWh derived from actual meter readings and start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch'.  Ignore all projections and claims about savings and remember that separate suppliers are often cheaper than dual fuel.  Don't go with Look After My Bills, Autoswitch or any similar switching service, just Do It Yourself.

Jcbah

Gerry1 said:

It's unlikely to be three times as expensive.

Make sure you can access online banking and check that there are no unwanted DDs shown, but bear in mind that some banks don't list them until a payment has been made.

You could consider asking the bank to change your account number to prevent any further abuse by the family member.  They may even be able to update the existing DDs and standing orders, otherwise you'd have to notify the relevant organisations yourself.

Take control of your energy accounts: send monthly readings, keep records, find out your annual consumption in kWh derived from actual meter readings and start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch'.  Ignore all projections and claims about savings and remember that separate suppliers are often cheaper than dual fuel.  Don't go with Look After My Bills, Autoswitch or any similar switching service, just Do It Yourself.

Thanks for reassuring me about the possibly new supplier NOT  being three times as much. I only suspect that because I was able to have a quick glimpse of the MSE account that he uses for me and I saw that he had entered three times as many kWh per year usage here as I had used this past year...that's why I suspect he might switch me to a supplier/tariff that is three times as expensive as he's reported three times actual previous usage.
As I'm a newbie to MSE, there's a big chance I might have misinterpreted this, but I want to be in the safe side. 

Thanks so so much for your other tips...they are very helpful - especially about separate suppliers. 

JJ_Egan

Three times as much usage may give you a higher direct debit .

But not a higher unit rate , nor a higher total bill .You will only pay for what you use .

Tallerdave

If someone else was setting up direct debits from my bank account I would be treating it very seriously. Are you OK with this situation? 

JJ_Egan

As above DD to anyone they please ??

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6282135/newbie-question-how-do-i-access-my-gas-and-electricity-bills-on-mse-account-or-linked-email-addre#latest

BUFF

bear in mind that given the current state of the wholesale market any new tariff is likely to be at noticeably higher rates than the equivalent preceding one.
As an example over the last year my fixed gas tariff (ending at the end of this week) was based on: 

Unit rate	2.413p per kWh
Standing charge	16.800p per day

The new one that I am about to move to this week is: 

Unit rate	3.1049p per kWh
Standing Charge	24.15p per day

Substantially higher yet it is still the cheapest fixed gas tariff for my area/usage.

Btw that is with Zog who I have found to be consistently amongst the lowest (at least for me) for gas. They only supply gas though (so no duel fuel tariffs) & are a pretty basic supplier in terms of website etc.  Cheap Energy Club often don't show all Zog's current tariffs so if interested use the Citizen's Advice energy comparison to check for your area/useage.