Energy Supplier that does not do credit checks

Keu

elsien said:

A company can give a discount for paying by direct debit. That’s not unlawful and isn’t exclusive to Shell energy. 

Yeh I remember that old trick, Financial Services Authority should put a stop to that, but as we are all on cap rate then they can't pull that stunt on me.

Keu

Ultrasonic said:

Keu said:

I also do not want a company that insists on a smart meter for their variable tariff, I will never have one of those.

I bet there's a good chance you'll eventually have no choice, but I don't think smart meters are something to be worried about.

Do you have a specific reason to not want a credit check completed? If not I'd honestly stop worrying about all of the points you've raised and just let Shell do their thing. 

The point I made are important to me, I care about my data.

I want to be treated as a valued customer, their terms are onerous and the customer service staff pretty much the same.

I will hold out from having a smart meter and if I am forced I will use the BOFH tactics to make it fail, I already hear of consumers where the energy company puts back the old type because of interference or it just not working.

LippyDoodle

Keu said:

elsien said:

A company can give a discount for paying by direct debit. That’s not unlawful and isn’t exclusive to Shell energy. 

Yeh I remember that old trick, Financial Services Authority should put a stop to that, but as we are all on cap rate then they can't pull that stunt on me.

Paying by d/d is usually cheaper then PAYG. It's not a trick it's what most people do. Most people pay all their bills by d/d or standing order. You are in the minority if you don't. 

QrizB

Keu said:

elsien said:

A company can give a discount for paying by direct debit. That’s not unlawful and isn’t exclusive to Shell energy. 

Yeh I remember that old trick, Financial Services Authority should put a stop to that, but as we are all on cap rate then they can't pull that stunt on me.

On the contrary, there's a lower cap for DD payment compared to pay-on-receipt-of-bill. See here. DD payment is "other payment method" vs. "standard credit". Standard credit is the most expensive cap.

For example, in north west region the gas cap is £552.92 for DD vs. £593.78 for standard credit (and £577.46 for prepayment meters).

elsien

Keu said:

Ultrasonic said:

Keu said:

I also do not want a company that insists on a smart meter for their variable tariff, I will never have one of those.

I bet there's a good chance you'll eventually have no choice, but I don't think smart meters are something to be worried about.

Do you have a specific reason to not want a credit check completed? If not I'd honestly stop worrying about all of the points you've raised and just let Shell do their thing. 

The point I made are important to me, I care about my data.

I want to be treated as a valued customer, their terms are onerous and the customer service staff pretty much the same.

I will hold out from having a smart meter and if I am forced I will use the BOFH tactics to make it fail, I already hear of consumers where the energy company puts back the old type because of interference or it just not working.

Any sort of reputable source for that information? 

Ultrasonic

Keu said:

I want to be treated as a valued customer, their terms are onerous and the customer service staff pretty much the same.

I'm being moved to Shell as SOLR too and realistically neither of us is a valued customer. We are being put onto tariffs where Shell are being forced to sell energy at a loss - presumably under some agreement with ofgem that covers this loss but I doubt we'll be making them any money worth talking about. We're also realistically the sort of customer very likely to switch away again in the future.

Right now I'm sure the Shell staff have a huge amount of extra work dealing with migrating hundreds of thousands of customer accounts, so maybe consider cutting them a bit of slack too.

Ultrasonic

Keu said:

macman said:

Unless you have a PAYG meter, how exactly do you come to the conclusion that you won't be getting credit, via a credit meter?

Simples, because an invoice is produced monthly and I pay by direct debit for amount used

The Energy companies hold excesses hundreds of millions of customers money and were so bad at returning it that rules had to be brought in to make them show the amount in credit and force them to repay within 28 days of a request. So me thinks they can afford the few days between a bill being raised and the DD going out.

You are paying for a month's energy after you've already used it, hence credit. The delay from you being sent a bill and then paying it is not the defining factor, although it does extend the credit period.