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indebt80

I am one of the unfortunates who was with Neon Reef for electricity and then was transferred to British Gas.  However in my "welcome contract email" from them it states that my tariff ends on 31 July 2022 and the price is guaranteed until end 31 July 2022. However, when I Iog into my British Gas account, guaranteed prices until end 31 July 2022 has vanished and this now shows guaranteed price as not applicable.  But until just now it has always shown price guaranteed until end July 2022.  Why is this?  I obviously realise that the prices are rocketing beyond belief but presumably they will put up my rates etc to double the amount in April, when I have an email that clearly says that my price is guaranteed until end 31 July. Can they do this?  It does say that the tariff is variable but even so. Advice would be appreciated and apologies if you have covered this elsewhere.

MattMattMattUK

indebt80 said:

I am one of the unfortunates who was with Neon Reef for electricity and then was transferred to British Gas.  However in my "welcome contract email" from them it states that my tariff ends on 31 July 2022 and the price is guaranteed until end 31 July 2022. However, when I Iog into my British Gas account, guaranteed prices until end 31 July 2022 has vanished and this now shows guaranteed price as not applicable.  But until just now it has always shown price guaranteed until end July 2022.  Why is this?  I obviously realise that the prices are rocketing beyond belief but presumably they will put up my rates etc to double the amount in April, when I have an email that clearly says that my price is guaranteed until end 31 July. Can they do this?  It does say that the tariff is variable but even so. Advice would be appreciated and apologies if you have covered this elsewhere.

It is covered by it being a variable tariff, you will be on the Ofgem price cap.

MWT

indebt80 said:

I obviously realise that the prices are rocketing beyond belief but presumably they will put up my rates etc to double the amount in April, when I have an email that clearly says that my price is guaranteed until end 31 July. Can they do this?  It does say that the tariff is variable but even so. Advice would be appreciated and apologies if you have covered this elsewhere.

This has affected most of the recent SoLR tariffs, I posted about it here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6332329/british-gas-removes-guarantee-dates-from-solr-tariffs/p1

The core of this is that the original tariff description was a mistake, which they have now corrected.

However, when the mistake is that in large letters is says that the price is guaranteed, but in the fine print it contradicts that there is obviously room for confusion, and had you realised that your tariff was not guaranteed earlier, you might have chosen a different fixed tariff which is no longer available, so you have suffered a financial loss due to your reliance on the information they provided to you.

This means that if they do put the prices up you do have grounds for a complaint, but what we do not know is how the Ombudsman will react to it if BG let it go that far.

Another alternative would be to try for one of the older BG tariffs that people are managing to get onto, they are also a 'mistake' but one that BG seems unable or unwilling to close down so do a little research on here regarding 'Zero Fixed October 22' and what is probably the better choice of 'Exclusive Fix June 23' and see if that is a solution you want to try for...

Xbigman

A normal fixed tariff would be fixed until a set date and then you'd be moved to a different tariff, the fixed one ceasing to exist.
The SoLR tariff's usually had a period where the tariff was guaranteed and then became variable.  You can easily read the BG SoLR tariff's in that light and assume that the guaranteed period works that way. The NR tariff is therefore fixed until July and then becomes a variable tariff with no end date. A hybrid tariff if you like. BG's TE/BE tariff's work the same way except the guaranteed period is 13 months. 
Yes, these look like mistakes but they are mistakes that have been put in writing. I've noticed in my 58 years on this planet that when I've signed something and then realized it was a mistake it was tough poop on me.

How serious is this? I believe it was Eversmart who had a fixed tariff with small print saying it was variable and OFGEM sided with the customers and confirmed it was fixed. Eversmart went bust shortly after. I wasn't a customer but I think I'm right. If I'm wrong someone can correct me and put up the exact facts on that one.


Darren

MWT

Xbigman said:

The NR tariff is therefore fixed until July and then becomes a variable tariff with no end date. A hybrid tariff if you like. BG's TE/BE tariff's work the same way except the guaranteed period is 13 months. 

The NR tariff got the same treatment...

I do agree that BG have got themselves in a mess, again, this level of repeated incompetence is disturbing to put it mildly.

I would also hope that the Ombudsman would go with the view that you can't give a guarantee and then change it, but I've seen some perverse rulings in the past and some token gestures for compensation so I never assume.

The tariff card was clearly wrong from the start, but when they were doing it on all of the SoLR tariffs, over a period of months, it gathered legitimacy from the consistency, so BG are going to have to do some tap-dancing to get out of this one for sure...

indebt80

MWT thank you very much I had not read your post regarding the tariff, but have the link now and have read it.  I expect my tariff will change in April, to a higher rate and am not pleased.  Is it not best to raise this issue now, rather than wait until April as BG will have no doubt found a way not to honour what they wrote.  I did not bother to find another supplier, as I was "overjoyed" to find the rate fixed until the end of July.  I read it was a variable rate but as they were welcoming me to British Gas with the special Welcome to British Gas rate I assumed everything written in the email was correct!  I am sometimes too trusting.  I am also an ex Zog energy customer as well for gas.  I am £415 in credit with Neon Reef and hope that I eventually get that but it will be swallowed up rapidly by the monstrous electricity bill I will have - I am a heavy user of electricity.  Thank you all for your help.

MWT

indebt80 said:

Is it not best to raise this issue now, rather than wait until April as BG will have no doubt found a way not to honour what they wrote.

No harm in putting down a marker by opening a complaint on the basis that they have changed the tariff information from the contract documentation that they originally supplied to you, but as yet you have suffered no loss as the tariff has not changed, so if you do that you might want to couple it with a request to move you to one of the historic fixed tariffs, if that is what you want' since that would be consistent with your position that had you known it was not guaranteed, you would have changed at the time... (if you do that, check the two I mentioned above and if one of those would work for you, ask for it by name)

... or just wait a little longer and see what happens...

indebt80

Thanks MWT - Have been trying to speak to them by phone and chat and have had no success. So will pen a letter this evening.  Thank you so much for your help.

indebt80

Thanks too exbigman

roseview

Let us know how you get on as we are in the same boat!

indebt80

will do of course