PFP credit where account holders are deceased and house sold

fennec_fox

My parents in law had electricity supplied by PFP.  They moved into residential care in January 2020 and the house was put up for sale to fund their care, with the supplier remaining as PFP.  Sadly they both died at the end of July and the house sale went through after probate had been granted at the end of August.  In the meantime PFP had of course gone under and British Gas were in touch with my husband (who had power of attorney before they died and was executor afterwards) to say that they were taking over the account and would refund the credit balance which was over £300. Having heard nothing further, he checked the account today and found it was closed with no balance showing.  He got in touch with British Gas who are now claiming the account was never transferred to them because the date they took over is after the house was sold and the new owners have chosen a different supplier.  They have suggested that he will have to claim from the administrator of PFP, or the new supplier.  I believe this to be total nonsense and that British Gas did take on responsibility for refunding credit balances. Should we make a formal compliant to British Gas or are thy correct that it is not their problem?

fennec_fox

Correction to above - all dates refer to 2021 not 2020!

JJ_Egan

Jan 2021   where they still paying DD to PFP ??

When was this contract cancelled .

Forum info says PFP in administration after the house sale end of August .

fennec_fox

JJ_Egan said:

Jan 2021   where they still paying DD to PFP ??

When was this contract cancelled .

Forum info says PFP in administration after the house sale end of August .

The DD was still being paid to PFP after my in laws moved out as the house was being viewed and my husband was visiting to sort out sale and deal with contents.  House was sold 27 August and meter readings were submitted so that would be the end of the contract.  E-mail from British Gas advising the transfer of PFP business was after that.  The new owner changed supplier, and clearly we had no control over that and the new supplier never had a contract with my in laws so can't be liable.  I thought the article said that even if the supplier was changed, credit balances existing before the transfer were protected and would be reimbursed by the supplier that took over PFP contracts, British Gas in this instance?

QrizB

fennec_fox said:

... I thought the article said that even if the supplier was changed, credit balances existing before the transfer were protected and would be reimbursed by the supplier that took over PFP contracts, British Gas in this instance?

Yes, the SoLR is usually liable for repaying credit balances from closed accounts. See Ofgem guide here:

I recently closed my account. Will I get back the credit owed?
We’ll try to appoint a new supplier who will refund money that's outstanding on closed accounts. Costs for the energy you have used but have not yet had a bill for will be deducted from your account balance.

You should get back on to BG about this. If you get brushed off again, raise a complaint via their procvess (ideally in writing, not verbally).

dbks

fennec_fox said:

My parents in law had electricity supplied by PFP.  They moved into residential care in January 2020 and the house was put up for sale to fund their care, with the supplier remaining as PFP.  Sadly they both died at the end of July and the house sale went through after probate had been granted at the end of August.  In the meantime PFP had of course gone under and British Gas were in touch with my husband (who had power of attorney before they died and was executor afterwards) to say that they were taking over the account and would refund the credit balance which was over £300. Having heard nothing further, he checked the account today and found it was closed with no balance showing.  He got in touch with British Gas who are now claiming the account was never transferred to them because the date they took over is after the house was sold and the new owners have chosen a different supplier.  They have suggested that he will have to claim from the administrator of PFP, or the new supplier.  I believe this to be total nonsense and that British Gas did take on responsibility for refunding credit balances. Should we make a formal compliant to British Gas or are thy correct that it is not their problem?

fennec_fox said:

Correction to above - all dates refer to 2021 not 2020!

fennec_fox said:

JJ_Egan said:

Jan 2021   where they still paying DD to PFP ??

When was this contract cancelled .

Forum info says PFP in administration after the house sale end of August .

The DD was still being paid to PFP after my in laws moved out as the house was being viewed and my husband was visiting to sort out sale and deal with contents.  House was sold 27 August and meter readings were submitted so that would be the end of the contract.  E-mail from British Gas advising the transfer of PFP business was after that.  The new owner changed supplier, and clearly we had no control over that and the new supplier never had a contract with my in laws so can't be liable.  I thought the article said that even if the supplier was changed, credit balances existing before the transfer were protected and would be reimbursed by the supplier that took over PFP contracts, British Gas in this instance?

Sorry about your loss.

A rather complicated tale, but the answer is quite simple. I think you already know the answer but want confirmation?

House was sold 27/08/2021. It was being supplied at that time by PFP
PfP indicated that they were ceasing to trade 07/09/2021 with BG appointed as SoLR w.e.f. 11/09/2021
Assuming no final bill had been issued when PfP collapsed., then you say there was a credit on the account when they collapsed. The account details should have been transferred to BG, and BG will eventually have to refund you the credit balance shown on the final bill. Do you have the final bill yet? If not, it may take some time if the supply has since switched supplier after the house was sold.

Follow the BG complaint procedure to obtain the credit balance refund you are due from BG, being the balance owed to you by the failed supplier.

The only other complication is that the owner/account holder has passed away. You may need to provide BG with a copy of the death certificate, and possibly confirmation of house sale. Also you need to provide a correspondence address. The refund will be issued to the excecutor of the estate, and will then form part of the deceased's estate.

fennec_fox

Thanks for the response dbks, brilliant to get confirmation as it is indeed complicated.  We have a screen shot showing the credit balance on the account in September, which should reflect the final meter reading. We will follow the BG complaints procedure.  Now we just have to tackle the issue of the credit owed by another company for solar energy generation!