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jmsgld

My current dd is £322 PCM before the approx 45% increase, so I estimate I will be around £450 out of pocket over 3 months. 

It is not necessarily about the money, it is the principle. I am lucky in that I can afford to pay my bills without issue, many others are going to be really struggling over the next couple of years. 

If I went to a supermarket and picked up an item marked as £10 and took it to the counter and they wanted £15 for it, they would be obliged to sell it to me for £10. If I signed up to a weekly food delivery for 3 months at a guaranteed rate of £40 a week, they could not deliver my food and then demand £60 a week. 

My last contact from them stated "Just to reassure your current rates are locked in until the 30th of June 2022." 
There is no ambiguity there. 

MWT

jmsgld said:

If I went to a supermarket and picked up an item marked as £10 and took it to the counter and they wanted £15 for it, they would be obliged to sell it to me for £10. If I signed up to a weekly food delivery for 3 months at a guaranteed rate of £40 a week, they could not deliver my food and then demand £60 a week.

Actually that first one isn't true, as long as they tell you it is the wrong price before they take your money they have no obligation to sell. Boring contract law stuff gets in the way.

There are problems with the 2nd example too as this is more like they tell you it is going to be £60 in future and you keep on ordering then complain later... but this isn't really the point.

Do file a complaint and see what reaction you get and do take it to the ombudsman if you are not happy with the result.

We've been waiting for these cases to come up since we first saw the BG SoLR tariffs appear with the mixed message of both variable and yet guaranteed.

Nobody was expecting these tariffs to be anything other than capped variable tariffs so if was both noteworthy and confusing, but it took them so long to fix the mistake that their own staff believed they really were fixed.

So far at least, £100 seems to be the most anyone has got out of BG, but do keep us posted as it can help and inform others...

jmsgld

Many thanks for your informative responses, much appreciated. I certainly know a lot more now on the subject than I did this morning

I will chase up my complaint in due time, and in all likelihood end up with the ombudsman. I will update with any useful info that I can gather. I take the £100 as a challenge, and shall do my best to better it, I will happily test it in court if it seems wise.

Please feel no obligation to respond to the following, but just by explanation as to how I feel that I have been wronged. 

A modification of the supermarket example;

I pick up an item marked as £10, I go to the counter and pay £15 for it, I then go home and notice on the receipt that I have been charged £15 for an item that is still marked as £10. That email is the marked price, my bill when it arrives is the receipt.

I after all have been reassured that "current rates are locked in until the 30th of June 2022" ....

MWT

jmsgld said:

A modification of the supermarket example;

I pick up an item marked as £10, I go to the counter and pay £15 for it, I then go home and notice on the receipt that I have been charged £15 for an item that is still marked as £10. That email is the marked price, my bill when it arrives is the receipt.

I after all have been reassured that "current rates are locked in until the 30th of June 2022" ....

Just by way of a suggestion, just in case you planned to use this at some point in your compliant, this still doesn't really work.

Yes, in your modified version the store would owe you £5, because the contract was formed after the false advertising.

The tricky bit with this BG energy contract is that it is a deemed contract, so you were already in the contract and subject to the terms that BG agreed with Ofgem before you received an email from BG.

So what BG will say is that they misdescribed the contract that you were under and then subsequently corrected it.

You have a reasonable claim to damages to the extent that you were harmed by the misinformation and relied on it being accurate to your detriment.

So if, for example, you would have switched elsewhere or picked a different tariff had you known it was not guaranteed then your claim is the difference between that other tariff and where you are now.

What isn't available as damages is the difference between the contract you though you had and the one you actually had as the actual contract was legitimate and binding as a deemed contract.

Anyway, I'll leave this with you from here, good luck and do let us know how it turns out...

brewerdave

jmsgld said:

I will chase up my complaint in due time, and in all likelihood end up with the ombudsman. I will update with any useful info that I can gather. I take the £100 as a challenge, and shall do my best to better it, I will happily test it in court if it seems wise.


I after all have been reassured that "current rates are locked in until the 30th of June 2022" ....

I was also "misinformed" by various members of BG Customer Services and Complaints re my tariff being fixed until 31st July. I bartered with Complaints to finally accept £60 but I got the distinct impression that was as far as he was authorised to go as he was prepared to issue a deadlock letter so I could go to the E.O.
Just bear in mind , that if you go to the E.O you might get offered up to £100 by BG BUT if you decline this settlement figure, then that will be used in Court against you. 

jmsgld

Again, many thanks for your informative posts. It must be at least slightly frustrating discussing these topics with people who don't understand the legalities.

I will certainly explore this option, I have always previously been on a fixed tariff and in all likelihood would have changed to a 2 year fix had I realised that the BG tariff was in fact variable. 

I suspect that this might be something in which I need to instruct solicitors in order for BG to take it seriously. Are you aware of anyone who has already started proceedings?

Many thanks

MWT

jmsgld said:

I suspect that this might be something in which I need to instruct solicitors in order for BG to take it seriously. Are you aware of anyone who has already started proceedings?

No, everyone else who has posted on this so far has either settled through the BG complaints process or in one case that I am aware of took it to the Ombudsman with a somewhat confused final result but still no more than £100 as I recall.

With the way the court handles cases like this you will be expected to have exhausted the alternative dispute resolutions available before you get court time so in this case the Ombudsman is the path  to follow once you finish with the BG process.

Do try to quantify your damages before spending on legal advice though, unless you view this as something you want to do regardless of the expense vs the return...

jmsgld

I have just been on the phone to BG, and they stated that they will not issue a deadlock letter and that I cannot take the complaint to the ombudsman.

Surely all complaints where there a way forward is not agreeable can be taken to the ombudsman?

Thanks

Gerry1

jmsgld said:

I have just been on the phone to BG, and they stated that they will not issue a deadlock letter and that I cannot take the complaint to the ombudsman.

That advice is wrong.  The advisor obviously hasn't read their Complaints Procedure.

Escalate it to the Customer Services Director’s dedicated team on 0333 202 9802, or if it's been eight weeks then go directly to the Energy Ombudsman.

Mstty

I may have missed this answer but as of 1st April did the customers recieving this contradicting contract information move to the new Priced Capped variable tariff or are they still protected til end of June?