Together Energy collapses

QrizB

fallen121 said:

Advice please. We are Bristol Energy customers so fall under Together Energy. We pay on receipt of bill. We have a bill that falls due within the next few days. Should we wait to be contacted by the new supplier? All the advice seems to be directed towards customers who pay by DD.

Personally, I'd pay this bill; your money will be safe. By next month you'll have a better idea who to pay.

fallen121 said:

Also, what happens if the new supplier expects payment by DD? We pay from a basic bank account with no OD facility and no automated payment allowed. Thank you.

The new supplier will be required to accept all the usual payment options and won't be allowed to insist on DD.

fallen121

Bristol Energy have put a statement on their website which clearly states they have CEASED TRADING and that there’s nothing more customers need to do at the moment. A new supplier will be in touch once accounts have been transferred.

I personally would be very wary of giving money to a company that has ceased trading. You say my money will be "safe" but there is no Direct Debit guarantee with an internet payment. There's already another poster on MSE started a thread complaining they're being chased by debit collectors for a bill they've already paid and numerous posts at the start of this thread saying that the billing and payment system is the worst they've ever encountered. Where will this payment be recorded if they've ceased trading? And will it be recorded? How can I prove I've paid if the website goes dark in the next few days? The online system doesn't use the same system as the DDs and payments sometimes take nearly a week to show. It seems to me there's a huge chance that my hard earned cash may disappear into a vast black hole. And if the new supplier asks me to pay again what the heck do I do? Who do I complain to? There's no protection here.

Please explain to me how my money will be "safe" when I'm in the minority of customers who don't have DD guarantee protection and we're so overlooked that no-one has ever issued advice about what to do?

Swipe

@fallen121 Personally, I'd wait to be contacted by the new supplier before paying the bill

Gerry1

fallen121 said:

We pay from a basic bank account with no OD facility and no automated payment allowed.

You need to change to a basic bank account that allows DDs, many do.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts/

https://www.which.co.uk/money/banking/bank-accounts/best-bank-accounts/best-basic-bank-accounts-axdj05l1236r

MWT

fallen121 said:

I personally would be very wary of giving money to a company that has ceased trading....

Please explain to me how my money will be "safe" when I'm in the minority of customers who don't have DD guarantee protection and we're so overlooked that no-one has ever issued advice about what to do?

'Ceased trading' does not mean that they turned of the lights and went home for good.

Odds are they will be going into administration as soon as Ofgem have lined up a supplier of last resort.

The administrators will be collecting debts due for the period up to the appointment of the SoLR and they will be running the accounts as normal to track those payments.

The new supplier will only be expecting payment from you for the period from their appointment as SoLR.

 

jed130

If the Ofgem chosen new supplier tariff comes with a non zero exit fee can it be avoided if a switch is done promptly?

MWT

jed130 said:

If the Ofgem chosen new supplier tariff comes with a non zero exit fee can it be avoided if a switch is done promptly?

The SoLR tariff is not allowed to have exit fees, so that will not be an issue.

Xbigman

I've just sent a meter reading (to BE) and made a note of that reading to pass to the SoLR. I've also cancelled my DD. The administrators of these companies seem keen to keep taking peoples money even when in credit so I'm playing safe on that. 
There is an outside chance they may go into special administration in which case I can put the DD back. Its also possible that BE and TE customers could be split between different SoLR's to make the numbers more digestible. Note - BE and TE run independent billing systems so this is possible if unlikely. 


Darren

MWT

Xbigman said:

I've just sent a meter reading (to BE) and made a note of that reading to pass to the SoLR.

I would keep taking daily readings for the next few days, the date which really matters is the effective date of the SoLR appointment, that will mark the end of paying TE/BE and the beginning of paying the SoLR.

Susan26

I am not surprised at their collapse. I was with them for 12 months until I ‘escaped’ in November 2021.

I feel sure that management are to blame. I say this because the staff were always unfailingly polite and friendly and wanted to help. But nothing, I repeat nothing happened re my enquiry.

The so-called  ‘Complaints Department’ was nothing of the sort. No attempt was made to rectify my complaints. Many emails went unanswered.

As for the CEO, words fail me. I wrote a letter of complaint to him in December 2020. I sent by registered post. It was received and signed-for but no answer was forthcoming.

in January 2021, I lodged a formal complaint with Offgen. The responses from the ‘Complaints Department’ - them again - were pathetic. I actually gave up as I realised I was almost at the end of my contract so decided to put my energy into finding a new supplier.

Writing this has been highly beneficial. I feel vindicated. However, it is the staff I am concerned about. They deserved more - not the ‘Complaints Department’, of course. The staff are now unemployed. Although I feel sure that the CEO and his senior managers will not be affected but if they are it will only be a miner hiccup for them.