Utility Point to Cease Trading

Inigo_Montoya

Doc_N said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

After reading some of the comments I am not sure if I am wise keeping the dd going.  At the moment I am £132.00 in credit and another dd due on the 1 November for £30.00. 

I’m trying to get some clarification on this from EDF. They’re saying the continuing direct debits still being taken are nothing to do with them, and entirely down to UP. My supplier has been British Gas for a couple of weeks now, but the UP payments continue. I’m cancelling my DD because it can’t possibly create any issues now with either UP or EDF.

Nearly £800 owed by EDF now, and I’m not surprised they’re in no hurry to repay. Energy Ombudsman referrals will cost them around £500 each - revenge is sweet.

As far as I can see the main issue with cancelling the UP direct debit is if the UP billing system then starts automatically placing "failed" DD charges against your UP balance which you will then have to complain to EDF about to get refunded

If the GNE to EDF transfer is anything to go by then you wont see your UP balance refunded before the new year & I don't think a complaint will speed that up but it wont do any harm either 

I am also fairly sure that the final bill & refund timescale rules do not apply for SoLR take-overs so IMO you will probably find you wont get any compensation if you refer it to the Ombudsman

MWT

Do keep in mind that the normal service standards and penalties on things like the allowed time for producing final bills and refunding balances do not apply to the SoLR process, so you may find that heading down the Ombudsman path in the middle of a SoLR transfer isn't as productive as it would otherwise be...

Doc_N

Inigo_Montoya said:

Doc_N said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

After reading some of the comments I am not sure if I am wise keeping the dd going.  At the moment I am £132.00 in credit and another dd due on the 1 November for £30.00. 

I’m trying to get some clarification on this from EDF. They’re saying the continuing direct debits still being taken are nothing to do with them, and entirely down to UP. My supplier has been British Gas for a couple of weeks now, but the UP payments continue. I’m cancelling my DD because it can’t possibly create any issues now with either UP or EDF.

Nearly £800 owed by EDF now, and I’m not surprised they’re in no hurry to repay. Energy Ombudsman referrals will cost them around £500 each - revenge is sweet.

As far as I can see the main issue with cancelling the UP direct debit is if the UP billing system then starts automatically placing "failed" DD charges against your UP balance which you will then have to complain to EDF about to get refunded

If the GNE to EDF transfer is anything to go by then you wont see your UP balance refunded before the new year & I don't think a complaint will speed that up but it wont do any harm either 

I am also fairly sure that the final bill & refund timescale rules do not apply for SoLR take-overs so IMO you will probably find you wont get any compensation if you refer it to the Ombudsman

That’s a good point about the possibility of automated charges by UP.  I’m waiting to hear back from EDF on that, but I suspect it’s outside their control, which might be why they’ve so far dodged round that question.

I’m not expecting any compensation from the Energy Ombudsman, but each case taken costs the energy company around £500, so it might be an incentive to them to pay up. If they don’t, and they’re currently looking into whether they can, it’s a small financial penalty which I shall draw some satisfaction from. I imagine there’ll be quite a few more £500s to pay too!

Doc_N

MWT said:

Do keep in mind that the normal service standards and penalties on things like the allowed time for producing final bills and refunding balances do not apply to the SoLR process, so you may find that heading down the Ombudsman path in the middle of a SoLR transfer isn't as productive as it would otherwise be...

True, but it will take me about 5 minutes in time, and cost EDF about £500 just for the case to be handled.  If it gets that far - commonsense would dictate paying up to avoid the costs and the time.

poppellerant

I too still have a direct debit with Utility Point and have yet to hear from either Utility Point or EDF.  Both UP and EDF seem rather content in going as slow as they can get away with at our expense!

Am I likely to see all the paid DDs to UP trasnferred to my EDF account, or am I going to have to hound people to get my money transferred or refunded so I can credit my EDF account?

QrizB

poppellerant said:

Am I likely to see all the paid DDs to UP trasnferred to my EDF account, or am I going to have to hound people to get my money transferred or refunded so I can credit my EDF account?

Yes, and no, respectively.

poppellerant

A frequently asked question is regarding direct debits.  Many people, including myself were very confused about whether or not we should cancel direct debits to Utility Point or not.

Do NOT to cancel your direct debit with Utility Point, as per the advice given on EDF's website:

https://www.edfenergy.com/content/welcoming-utility-point-customers

What should I do if I currently pay by Direct Debit?

Please don't cancel your Direct Debit, we'll work with the administrator to automatically transfer your Direct Debit to match what you had in place with Utility Point. If this isn't possible, we'll let you know how and when to set this back up. If you cancel your Direct Debit before you migrate to EDF we'll need to set you up as a cash/cheque customer which is more expensive.

We'll arrange to transfer your Direct Debit to us and you'll continue to be covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee.

What happens to the payments Utility Point are still taking as part of my Direct Debit?

If you continue to make Direct Debit payments to Utility Point whilst we transfer you over, don't worry they'll be included in your final account statement and balance from Utility Point. This will be transferred over to us.

Worried_fool

Is there any way to move my Utility Point direct debit from one bank to another?

And does anyone know the Gas tarrif they are currently charging: their web site will not show it.

Spies

Phoned Octopus, switch date is 10th Nov on to their SVR. 

Dave_save

Worried_fool said:

And does anyone know the Gas tarrif they are currently charging: their web site will not show it.

If you go to EDF's TIL page https://my.edfenergy.com/gas-electricity/tariff-information-labels you'll see your tariff based on location and payment method.

The tariff is "EDF Welcome Variable" for migrating UP customers and appears to total lower than the cap.