Bulb to be Nationalised?

luckwudaveit

QrizB said:

luckwudaveit said:

Whilst this loan was the only option, it's helped Bulb customers as I presume they stay on their existing tarrifs. Whereas those of us who were with smaller companies that have gone under, have been moved to the capped tarrif.

As many prople have already stated, Bulb's customers are all already on the capped tariff.

Ah right, thanks. Sorry, I haven't read the entire thread. 

The_Green_Hornet

Deleted_User said:

Nice quote from Ed Miliband there. He’s either hit the nail on the head, or he’s been reading these boards…

I wouldn't take much notice of a politician who, when leader of the Labour party, was the first to suggest introducing energy price controls. Why the Tories ended up doing so is a complete mystery as they should have known it would end up with the mess we have now.

oliverbrown

The_Green_Hornet said:

I wouldn't take much notice of a politician who, when leader of the Labour party, was the first to suggest introducing energy price controls.

According to Greg Jackson, the Ofgem price control is not the issue here. 

MWT

oliverbrown said:

According to Greg Jackson, the Ofgem price control is not the issue here. 

I'd agree with him that it is not the only issue in the case of Bulb, they were far from the worst offender in terms of insufficient hedging and the price cap just turned the screws even harder as it stopped them responding to the wholesale price rises as they have previously been able to do.

For others like Avro he is entirely correct, zero hedging and fixed price contracts on a tiny margin means they were doomed to collapse this winter regardless of the price cap.

Curiousgirl1

The_Green_Hornet said:

Deleted_User said:

Nice quote from Ed Miliband there. He’s either hit the nail on the head, or he’s been reading these boards…

I wouldn't take much notice of a politician who, when leader of the Labour party, was the first to suggest introducing energy price controls. Why the Tories ended up doing so is a complete mystery as they should have known it would end up with the mess we have now.

Problem is that if there were no price cap the government would be accused of putting business before people. At least with the price cap some of the more vulnerable are protected to a degree over the winter. 

God only knows what’s going to happen in April though. 

Best thing for Bulb is if they tell all their customers to sign up with other companies, provided any will take them of course 

[Deleted User]

Curiousgirl1 said:

The_Green_Hornet said:

Deleted_User said:

Nice quote from Ed Miliband there. He’s either hit the nail on the head, or he’s been reading these boards…

I wouldn't take much notice of a politician who, when leader of the Labour party, was the first to suggest introducing energy price controls. Why the Tories ended up doing so is a complete mystery as they should have known it would end up with the mess we have now.

Problem is that if there were no price cap the government would be accused of putting business before people. At least with the price cap some of the more vulnerable are protected to a degree over the winter. 

God only knows what’s going to happen in April though. 

Best thing for Bulb is if they tell all their customers to sign up with other companies, provided any will take them of course 

I understand where you are coming from but, with respect, I believe that history will show that the Government has got this one wrong. The cost of supplier failures will add a considerable amount to future bills: more so than previous failures as SoLRs will seek to recover the cost of having to buy in additional energy to support the additional customers that they have gained. Yes, the Government can claim that they have protected customers but all this is doing is delaying the inevitable. April 2022 could be a very difficult month for the Government as a higher energy Cap; increased NI and increased Council Tax hit people's pockets.

Also, we shouldn't forget that Bulb under Administration may well decide to change its single tariff structure.

meinnit

Yes I do find it ironic that the cap which was designed to protect consumers will end up stinging them when this all gets added to their energy bills

Curiousgirl1

[Deleted User] said:

Curiousgirl1 said:

The_Green_Hornet said:

Deleted_User said:

Nice quote from Ed Miliband there. He’s either hit the nail on the head, or he’s been reading these boards…

I wouldn't take much notice of a politician who, when leader of the Labour party, was the first to suggest introducing energy price controls. Why the Tories ended up doing so is a complete mystery as they should have known it would end up with the mess we have now.

Problem is that if there were no price cap the government would be accused of putting business before people. At least with the price cap some of the more vulnerable are protected to a degree over the winter. 

God only knows what’s going to happen in April though. 

Best thing for Bulb is if they tell all their customers to sign up with other companies, provided any will take them of course 

I understand where you are coming from but, with respect, I believe that history will show that the Government has got this one wrong. The cost of supplier failures will add a considerable amount to future bills: more so than previous failures as SoLRs will seek to recover the cost of having to buy in additional energy to support the additional customers that they have gained. Yes, the Government can claim that they have protected customers but all this is doing is delaying the inevitable. April 2022 could be a very difficult month for the Government as a higher energy Cap; increased NI and increased Council Tax hit people's pockets.

Also, we shouldn't forget that Bulb under Administration may well decide to change its single tariff structure.

Fair point, didn’t think of it that way. Suppose the government are damned if they do & damned if they don’t. Don’t think there is an easy answer to this at all 

[Deleted User]

Dolor said:

April 2022 could be a very difficult month for the Government as a higher energy Cap; increased NI and increased Council Tax hit people's pockets.

Thanks for that. 

Of course, there are other costs besides purely financial ones for customers, namely the vast amounts of personal time spent trying to follow and administer the whole damn SoLR process, dealing with faceless corporations, and the attendant stress of it all, over months. Time that could be spent doing other, more pleasurable, things. 

Unfortunately, customers do not have the facility, or accepted norms, of charging for their time by the minute, unlike solicitors, accountants and Administrators. Or can WE reclaim these costs from Ofgem? I think not. 

Or, to put it another way, who do we pass our costs on to? 

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

Dolor said:

April 2022 could be a very difficult month for the Government as a higher energy Cap; increased NI and increased Council Tax hit people's pockets.

Thanks for that. 

Of course, there are other costs besides purely financial ones for customers, namely the vast amounts of personal time spent trying to follow and administer the whole damn SoLR process, dealing with faceless corporations, and the attendant stress of it all, over months. Time that could be spent doing other, more pleasurable, things. 

Unfortunately, customers do not have the facility, or accepted norms, of charging for their time by the minute, unlike solicitors, accountants and Administrators. Or can WE reclaim these costs from Ofgem? I think not. 

Or, to put it another way, who do we pass our costs on to? 

Even if Ofgem was prepared to accept personal claims then I have no doubt they would be treated on a ‘pass through’ basis as are all other claims: that is, we all pay. My sympathies lie with the high number of consumers that have never switched from the original Big 6 who now face the additional costs of supplier failures, which includes consumer credits, being added to their bills. Life really isn’t fair.

Hopefully, one of the things that will come out of this mess is the demise of Ofgem’s off-the-wall idea to auto switch reluctant switchers. In many respects, we consumers have ourselves to blame for this mess. How many thousands of consumers have followed the herd and switched to the cheapest supplier without giving a thought to the company’s financial standing - knowing that come-what-may their supply and credit balance would be assured?