SEG when your supplier fails

Sam_84

(I'm not sure which board to post this on so putting it here as it's about solar PV generation and the Smart Export Guarantee)

We are with Avro and waiting to be told who our new supplier will be.

I also had signed up for SEG with Avro. We went with them as we'd only just had the panels installed in the summer and needed to have our electricity meter changed.

Does anyone know what happens to SEG when your supplier ceases business?

In particular: does the SEG get transferred as part of the change of supplier?  And what happens to the accrued SEG payments that I haven't yet had?

(For us, the amount involved isn't very big as it's only been a few weeks but I imagine that, for some customers, it might be quite significant amount.)

QrizB

SEG is new enough that I can't imagine there's many people with experience of what happens during a supplier failure. I would hope that your SEG payments are factored into your account when the SoLR deals with it but I can't point you at anything that actually states that.

I don't think Avro's SoLR has been announced yet? Once they are, you can contact their SEG team (most of the likely SoLR's have one) and ask.

gefnew

This may help.
Section 3.14

Guidance for SEG Licensees | Ofgem

QrizB

gefnew said:

This may help.
Section 3.14

Guidance for SEG Licensees | Ofgem

So to summarise:

• the insolvent SEG licensee (Avro) must notify the SEG generator (you)
• it's the generator's responsibility to find a new licensee
• the new licensee isn't responsible for any electricity generated before the generator joins them
• Ofgem doesn't have the power to make anyone pay for the old licensee's liabilities to the generator
  

Hexane

QrizB said:

gefnew said:

This may help.
Section 3.14

Guidance for SEG Licensees | Ofgem

So to summarise:

• the insolvent SEG licensee (Avro) must notify the SEG generator (you)
• it's the generator's responsibility to find a new licensee
• the new licensee isn't responsible for any electricity generated before the generator joins them
• Ofgem doesn't have the power to make anyone pay for the old licensee's liabilities to the generator
  

Blimey, it makes one wonder what the "G" in SEG stands for!

gefnew

As always it is in the small print.

Hexane

gefnew said:

As always it is in the small print.

On the contrary. the GUARANTEE part was, by definition, in large print.

[Deleted User]

We shouldn’t forget that prior to the introduction of the Consumer Levy, all the customers of a failed supplier became unsecured creditors of the failed business with absolutely no hope of getting any credit balance back. Personally, I am not sure that we should expect other consumers to ‘insure’ our SEG payments. I say that as someone who gets SEG payments.

Sam_84

Updating this thread in case others search for this topic

I just got an email from Octopus telling me that, as we had SEG with Avro, the administrators will send us a letter with details of how to claim as an unsecured creditor.  (The email also says, as @QrizB mentioned above, that customers need to take action to sign up for a new export tariff as you're not moved automatically.)

As we were only on the Avro SEG for a few weeks, the amount for us isn't a lot but I was interested to see what the prospects were so I did a bit of investigation.

The A&M proposals on Companies House on 16 Nov 2021 says that they expect a dividend to unsecured creditors but wasn't able to include an estimate at that time https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09174794/filing-history

If I've understood the subsequent Statement of affairs of 18 Dec 2021 properly, this indicates it'll be something less than 50% if all unsecured creditors are treated the same.