Energy firm gone bust? How your new firm and tariff stacks up

wittynamegoeshere

DJMills2021 said:

I owe PE £200 to £300 for unpaid energy during their supply period. That is a debt and will show on my PE account as a balance owing on the account. I don't follow what distinction you are drawing between the two?

I would not sue PE, but if the administrators wish to sue me for the money I owe PE then I was wondering if I could defend that action with a claim for set off

I initially laughed but, thinking about it, why isn't this a valid argument?

The breach of contract has cost the customer some money.  Why shouldn't they deduct this from what they owe them?

Effectively the company owes the customer x months of supply at the agreed price, which will now cost more from elsewhere, therefore they have cost the customer a quantifiable amount.

Many people signed up to fixed tariffs knowing that they were paying a higher price than they could get on a variable tariff.  They paid a premium to the company during the good times, now that times are bad they're not providing their side of the deal.

DJMills2021

QrizB said:

DJMills2021 said:

QrizB said:

DJMills2021 said:

I was with People's Energy and moved to British Gas when they went bust. At the time of the transfer I owed PE about £200 to £300. Does anybody know what happens to that debt?

Was it officially "debt" or was it just a negative balance on your PE account? If it was "debt" it will be PE's administrators pursuing you for it, but if it was just a negative account balance it will (probably) have transferred to your BG account.

The way I see it is that since PE are no longer in a position to honor the fixed price deal I had with them, this has caused my energy cost to rise by about £600 from now until the fixed period was due to end next March. In effect PE owe me £600 so must I pay the £200 to £300 I owe them, or can I set off the debt I owe them against the loss they have caused me by their breach of contract? 

You are entirely free to sue PE for breach of contract. If you succeed in you will join their unsecured creditors and are unlikely to see any of the money.

I owe PE £200 to £300 for unpaid energy during their supply period. That is a debt and will show on my PE account as a balance owing on the account. I don't follow what distinction you are drawing between the two?

I would not sue PE, but if the administrators wish to sue me for the money I owe PE then I was wondering if I could defend that action with a claim for set off

My understanding (which I accept may be flawed) is that a negative balance will occur routinely as part of a fixed DD budget payment arrangement. This isn't a debt as you have the DD arrangements in place. Only if PE have specifically asked you to bring your account back into credit is it considerd a debt.

The account was in credit, most of the debt arose because I cancelled my dd when PE went bust 

QrizB

DJMills2021 said:

QrizB said:

My understanding (which I accept may be flawed) is that a negative balance will occur routinely as part of a fixed DD budget payment arrangement. This isn't a debt as you have the DD arrangements in place. Only if PE have specifically asked you to bring your account back into credit is it considerd a debt.

The account was in credit, most of the debt arose because I cancelled my dd when PE went bust 

If your PE account was in credit when they went bust, your shortfall is on your BG account and BG will be asking for it.

MWT

wittynamegoeshere said:

DJMills2021 said:

I owe PE £200 to £300 for unpaid energy during their supply period. That is a debt and will show on my PE account as a balance owing on the account. I don't follow what distinction you are drawing between the two?

I would not sue PE, but if the administrators wish to sue me for the money I owe PE then I was wondering if I could defend that action with a claim for set off

I initially laughed but, thinking about it, why isn't this a valid argument?

The breach of contract has cost the customer some money.  Why shouldn't they deduct this from what they owe them?

Effectively the company owes the customer x months of supply at the agreed price, which will now cost more from elsewhere, therefore they have cost the customer a quantifiable amount.

Many people signed up to fixed tariffs knowing that they were paying a higher price than they could get on a variable tariff.  They paid a premium to the company during the good times, now that times are bad they're not providing their side of the deal.

It is an interesting thought, but you'll find a version of this in all the suppliers standard terms & conditions:

So under 12.2.4 & 12.3 the contract was validly ended and no compensation is due.

You could seek to challenge the T&C's of course, but in general it is going to be hard to show that these terms are unfair or unreasonable since the supplier can only make a supply if they hold the required licences.

Matt.brownbill

I am (was?) with Pure Planet, and I have an appointment for a smart meter install booked, will this still go ahead? Thanks. 

Verdigris

Matt.brownbill said:

I am (was?) with Pure Planet, and I have an appointment for a smart meter install booked, will this still go ahead? Thanks. 

Probably not as the metering contractor is unlikely to get paid.

Ultrasonic

Matt.brownbill said:

I am (was?) with Pure Planet, and I have an appointment for a smart meter install booked, will this still go ahead? Thanks. 

Do you have a way to contact the company actually lined up to install the meter? You could contact them to check/cancel if you do.

tony863

Apologies for jumping on this thread, but it doesn't make sense to set up a new one. I'm also a Pure Planet customer and naturally concerned about what's happening next. I had ~ £100 credit before they went bust, has that now been lost? It says on their website its protected, but worth asking. 

Separate to that, my annual consumption was approx 7500khw of both gas and electric. Someone mentioned the cap price is based on a typical customer using 12000khw and 2500khw. One of mine is lower, but the other much higher! Am I reading that incorrectly? 

In terms of prices, I'm currently paying 14.6p electricity and 2.7p gas, plus £13 per month membership charge. I pay £90pm in the summer months and £145pm in the winter. I know it's a guess, but can anyone give me a guess on how much more this will cost me? I've already disabled the heating to keep costs down, but worried (like many) that we won't be able to afford the extra costs.

Finally, is it worth getting oil filled radiators in the main rooms and turning off the central heating for the house? It seems extreme, but oil rads are around £50 for decent ones and obviously use electric to warm up. My thinking here is that electric is cheaper than gas. Thoughts? 
 

worrywart_3

The cap isn’t a cap on amount it’s on unit price currently about 20p for electric and 4p for gas.
Oil rads will cost you more to run.
you can estimate you me bills by selecting a svr for your usage. 

Ultrasonic

tony863 said:

Separate to that, my annual consumption was approx 7500khw of both gas and electric. Someone mentioned the cap price is based on a typical customer using 12000khw and 2500khw. One of mine is lower, but the other much higher! Am I reading that incorrectly? 
 

It's kWh not khw but otherwise yes, you're right. Your electricity use is significantly above average and your gas usage a bit below. Something like using electric showers in a home that otherwise uses gas for heating and hot water tends to produce results like this. Or supplementing gas powered heating with electric heaters.