So Energy wont refund my money???

kippers

So im £333.74 in credit on my gas/elec account..  i explained that my two daughters have left home recently and even if i base our usage on last years nov and dec bills ( which take me to the end of our fixed contract) then with our monthly pays of £123 x 2 (dec 1st & jan 1st) we will end up over £300 in credit.  

They have agreed to refund just £87.74 as they say they have to keep a credit of two monthly payents on the account in winter (£333.74 - 2 monthly payments totalling £246).  …..surely this cant be right as its my money.

i have now emailed them with a formal complain and ive told them i will take this to ofgem if they dont refund, but does anyone know how i stand legally?

( i know the price of gas and elec will go  up loads after jan for me but for now i would rather have some of the credit back )

thanks for any replies

XXX

bristolleedsfan

kippers said:

They have agreed to refund just £87.74 as they say they have to keep a credit of two monthly payents on the account in winter (£333.74 - 2 monthly payments totalling £246).  …..surely this cant be right as its my money.

Outcome of complaint might influence whether you stay with them when fixed term finishes

https://www.so.energy/refund-policy/ Guessing  that you fall into this category

If you pay equal Direct Debit payments each month, the amount left in the So Energy account after the refund is at least one month’s payment amount in the late spring/early summer months (March-August), and two months at other times of the year (September-February).

Astria

Whether its your money or not, surely it depends on the contract you agreed to when you signed up. Do you agree to keep a floating balance of 2 monthly payments?

[Deleted User]

OK - you complain and wait 8 weeks for deadlock. You then escalate the complaint to The Energy Ombudsman (not Ofgem as it doesn’t deal with consumer complaints). The Energy Ombudsman then takes 8 weeks to come to a Final Decision and the supplier has 4 weeks to implement it. Is it really worth all the worry and hassle when your credit balance is 100% secure?

kippers

[Deleted User] said:

OK - you complain and wait 8 weeks for deadlock. You then escalate the complaint to The Energy Ombudsman (not Ofgem as it doesn’t deal with consumer complaints). The Energy Ombudsman then takes 8 weeks to come to a Final Decision and the supplier has 4 weeks to implement it. Is it really worth all the worry and hassle when your credit balance is 100% secure?

It is just really annoying that they are allowed to keep two months of my credit even though by refunding it, it wont leave me in debit…..surely this cant be right.  If this is ok then all services would surely do this ie council tax, water etc etc

emmajones1976

Water does do it to an extent, if you are on monthly billing. Not everyone pays it quarterly.
Council tax doesnt vary depending which season it is.

Anyway, ask So Energy which of their terms and conditions they are keeping your money under....

https://www.so.energy/terms/

[Deleted User]

kippers said:

[Deleted User] said:

OK - you complain and wait 8 weeks for deadlock. You then escalate the complaint to The Energy Ombudsman (not Ofgem as it doesn’t deal with consumer complaints). The Energy Ombudsman then takes 8 weeks to come to a Final Decision and the supplier has 4 weeks to implement it. Is it really worth all the worry and hassle when your credit balance is 100% secure?

It is just really annoying that they are allowed to keep two months of my credit even though by refunding it, it wont leave me in debit…..surely this cant be right.  If this is ok then all services would surely do this ie council tax, water etc etc

The easiest way to resolve the issue is to ‘ditch and switch’; however, this is probably not a sensible move at the moment. 

wakeupalarm

The Energy ombudsman route takes far too long to get a conclusion but I think everyone should be going down this route so that it ultimately brings a change to the complete ripoff situation we have where these energy companies hold onto unnecessarily large amount of customers money to keep their business going.  There is far too many accounts of huge credit balances building up and customers struggling to get their money back.

Here is Ofgem's advice
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-you-are-owed-money-your-energy-bill

And MSE guide
https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2019/03/martin-lewis--how-to-reclaim-p100s-of-credit-from-your-energy-fi/?

worrywart_3

I’m with somenergy and don’t have two mths credit in fact my direct debit is way lower than perhaps it should be but I’m keeping an eye and would rarther may as hic payments.

kippers

kippers said:

So im £333.74 in credit on my gas/elec account..  i explained that my two daughters have left home recently and even if i base our usage on last years nov and dec bills ( which take me to the end of our fixed contract) then with our monthly pays of £123 x 2 (dec 1st & jan 1st) we will end up over £300 in credit.  

They have agreed to refund just £87.74 as they say they have to keep a credit of two monthly payents on the account in winter (£333.74 - 2 monthly payments totalling £246).  …..surely this cant be right as its my money.

i have now emailed them with a formal complain and ive told them i will take this to ofgem if they dont refund, but does anyone know how i stand legally?

( i know the price of gas and elec will go  up loads after jan for me but for now i would rather have some of the credit back )

thanks for any replies

XXX

Just tolet you know…..I WON….So Energy have refunded a further £123, so actually they have now refunded slightly more than the £200 i originally asked for which is brill.  I would rather have the credit sitting in my account than theirs!

thanks for all your replies on hereXXX