Fraud

racken

I was switched to British Gas when Britol Energy (Be) went into ... Their website confirms this. I received a request for meter readings from Be.
I sent them, contacted BGas. It wasn't them and of course they knew nothing. I immediately cancelled my DD to Be. 
I send this now as I have just received a bill from Be. If I am not alone then someone may be committing a huge fraud. If there are many others who have not cancelled their DD they will be getting ripped off.
I don't know where else to go go with this. Would the police be interested?

Verdigris

Would the police be interested?

No, you are part of a normal SoLR operation. Any credit you had with Bristol Energy will eventually be returned to you. It won't happen quickly.

QrizB

What exactly makes you think it's fraud?

[Deleted User]

Administrators work in different ways. Some deal with 'debtors' on a direct basis whereas others will pass any debit balance on to the SoLR. Why not send an email to Bristol Energy's Administrator and ask them if the bill that you have received is genuine? The danger of just ignoring it is that it will passed on to a debt collector. I doubt that the Police will be interested at this stage.

If you are not happy with the above, then give Citizens Advice a call.

jbuchanangb

Any credit balances with the failed companies will be processed by the Supplier of Last Resort appointed by OFGEM. Depending on circumstance this may be by applying a credit to the customer's new energy account with the SoLR, or by the SoLR issuing a cheque. The money for this does not come from the failed supplier but from a central fund into which we are all paying by our hugely increased standing charges! However it seems that debit balances do not necessarily go through the SoLR, so if the final bill from the failed energy company shows that the customer owes money, then the administrator is perfectly entitled to request payment.

Sapindus

I have also had meter requests from BE, and my direct debit has gone out to them as usual.  Since I haven't yet had a bill from BG, just welcome messages and access to an account which currently shows as me owing them 0.00, I just assume that this is the way it works while they are transferring everyone over.  The message from BG so far has been that I don't need to do anything, I didn't need to cancel my direct debit, so I haven't, I'm just keeping all the emails.  I was on a good tariff with BE and had persuaded them to reduce my direct debit just before they went under, so I'm making the most of it.

jbuchanangb

Bristol Energy (Together Energy) lost their licence to supply energy on 24 January, so they can't charge you for any energy after that date. Hopefully you read your meters then, and provided the readings to British Gas and to Bristol Energy to help a smooth transition. When my energy supplier (Symbio) failed, I read the meter, provided the data to them and the SoLR, and the transition was quite smooth.

Xbigman

I received my final bill from BE 2 days ago, billing me up to the 22nd Jan. So the OP's bill is probably legit. BG is my supplier from the 23rd of Jan onward. 
I gave meter readings on the 19th and 23rd of Jan and BE have estimated my usage up to and including the 22nd. Its only a few units of each out. IE Peanuts.
I cancelled my DD on the 19th and had an email from BE threatening to increase my charges to the non DD rate but this did not happen. 
To have a final bill from BE already is excellent customer service. I'm sorry to see them go. Mind you, I'm more sorry to see my cheap fix until August go.
As for the DD's still being taken, that is down to the administrators and the only sane thing to do is cancel any DD as soon as possible once a company goes bust.

Whether TE customers will get the same good service is debatable. 


Darren

Sapindus

I have now cancelled my DD to BE (and set one up with BG).  But this is what OfGem had to say about direct debits, so you can see why i left it...

Should I cancel my direct debit?

You can cancel your direct debit if you wish. However, you may find it is better to wait because:

• If we move you to another supplier your direct debit will be transferred to your new supplier and any credit balance you have will be protected (your new supplier will contact you with more information). If you have cancelled your direct debit this may take more time to set up.

• Alternatively, your supplier may continue to operate under an administrator and you will continue to be billed as normal (your existing supplier will contact you with more details). If you have cancelled your direct debit you would have to reinstate it with your existing supplier

The BE bill does only count energy up til 22nd Jan, so I'm not being charged twice, but them taking an extra DD payment has left me £140 in credit.  I will wait to see what happens next...

EssexHebridean

Your credit will just transfer across to your new supplier in time, and they will take it into account when they work out any charges they raise for you. We followed instructions to leave our UP DD in place and it transferred to EDF seamlessly after a few months. 

Sapindus

Sapindus said:

I have now cancelled my DD to BE (and set one up with BG).  But this is what OfGem had to say about direct debits, so you can see why i left it...

Should I cancel my direct debit?

You can cancel your direct debit if you wish. However, you may find it is better to wait because:

• If we move you to another supplier your direct debit will be transferred to your new supplier and any credit balance you have will be protected (your new supplier will contact you with more information). If you have cancelled your direct debit this may take more time to set up.

• Alternatively, your supplier may continue to operate under an administrator and you will continue to be billed as normal (your existing supplier will contact you with more details). If you have cancelled your direct debit you would have to reinstate it with your existing supplier

The BE bill does only count energy up til 22nd Jan, so I'm not being charged twice, but them taking an extra DD payment has left me £140 in credit.  I will wait to see what happens next...

10th May and the credit has just transferred across to British Gas.  I was on the pointing of ringing to ask when it was going to happen.