Refunds from an ex-supplier going bust?

Acespok

I have just moved energy supplier. I was thinking this is a good thing with some of them at risk - my old supplier had some strange deals in recent months that made them look unstable.  I saw on the BBC that if your supplier goes bust "The new company is also responsible for taking on any credit balances the customer may have."*  Great!

But what happens if the credit is with an ex-supplier and I'm waiting out their stupid 6 week sitting-on-my-money period for the refund?  I doubt the company that takes over will refund people who were never their customer.  Anyone know for sure?

* ref (mse won't let me post links! so copy/paste) www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58610561

QrizB

You'll get your credit refunded but it might take a while. Others have reported waiting months.

Inigo_Montoya

I think your answer is on the ofgem website here
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/what-happens-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-bust

I recently closed my account. Will I get back the credit I’m owed?Read less

We’ll look to appoint a new supplier who will pay back money that's outstanding on closed accounts. 

Costs for the energy you have used but have not yet had a bill for will be deducted from your account balance.

This could affect me as well as I am currently moving away from Green who could go bust before I get a refund & I have a £900 credit balance  

worrywart_3

Good idea at the moment to not allow too
big a credit balance 

niktheguru

worrywart_3 said:

Good idea at the moment to not allow too
big a credit balance 

Thats a good idea for always, not just now!

Acespok

Inigo_Montoya said:

I think your answer is on the ofgem website here
www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/what-happens-if-your-energy-supplier-goes-bust

I recently closed my account. Will I get back the credit I’m owed?Read less

We’ll look to appoint a new supplier who will pay back money that's outstanding on closed accounts. 

Costs for the energy you have used but have not yet had a bill for will be deducted from your account balance.

This could affect me as well as I am currently moving away from Green who could go bust before I get a refund & I have a £900 credit balance  

Good find.  "We'll look to..." is nice but non-committal. I guess I'll find out in the coming weeks.

groovygav

I'm worried about this. I was with Symbio until I switched to EDF in May this year. Symbio waited until the end of August to send my final bill which showed that they owe me £278.98. This includes an amount they demanded before letting me leave, even though I knew I was already in credit with them. I've been on to them today because I still haven't received my money back, well after the 10 working days in which it was promised. I was told that they've changed bank accounts and so all refunds are delayed but I'll get it "by the end of the month."

I wasn't happy, so I started searching for information on Symbio refunds and came across their terms and conditions which say:

4.4.11: Refunds – You can ask for any surplus funds back at any time after the billing cycle. Any excess funds held by Symbio Energy at the end of a contract will be automatically returned upon issue and settlement of the final bill. If Symbio delays in this, the customer is entitled to compensation for Symbio’s failures.

I thought they might use the bank account change as an excuse to get out of the compensation(which I really don't care about, I just want my money back), and then I saw the term above it that says:

4.4.10: Symbio Energy reserves the right to change its billing or operational methods at any time. We will always notify the customer and provide at least 14 days’ notice of any changes...

As they hadn't given me 14 days notice of them changing bank accounts I consider them on an even stickier wicket.

But I also thought about all these rumours of more energy companies going bust due to the gas price crisis, so I called them back, quoting these terms and conditions, and saying I wanted the money today, or I would raise the issue with the regulator and with MoneySavingExpert.

The customer service agent had the customary word with her manager, and said they would offer my £20 compensation on top of the refund, but they could still only repay me within 7-14 days, which is an even worse outcome.

So I've raised a complaint with them, and I can sit here and hope that I get my money back, but as they haven't gone bust yet, what will happen if they do? Will I still be due the refund from the company that takes over their customers? Or because I've already left them will I be able to claim from anywhere else, perhaps through Ofgem? Or will I just become one of a long line of creditors who may eventually receive a small percentage of what I'm owed?

I'll be really grateful if anyone can shed any light on this. And although it may not be in my own best interests I would urge everyone to avoid Symbio like the plague if you can. I'm not in the habit of bad-mouthing companies, but this one is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth, so it feels like the only thing I can do.

EDIT: After getting all that off my chest, I re-read the above thread properly and Inigo_Montoya seems to have provided the perfect answer, many thanks!