Confusion over nature of Octopus account

pjmendip

Got through again today (about 15 minutes wait). More efficient advisor who also consulted a supervisor before committing. The result was not really what I wanted to hear but my expectations were set from comments on here so not a total surprise.

Basically the Price Promise deal is explained here:

https://octopus.energy/price-promise-calculations/

They admitted in the call that early communications had confused customers with the intended meaning of term "fixed" being unclear.

I'll have a think over whether I'm going to go through their complaints system for this matter but at least I know where I am now.

Thanks again for the feedback and comments.

rossowheels

This is very interesting. I was moved from the failed Neon Reef to British Gas on a welcome to British Gas flexible tariff which states “Price guaranteed to 31/07/22”.  In March BG said my price would be going up!!! What’s going on? I had always believed that contracts meant something and yet BG choose to ignore its supposed “price guarantee” and rely on the price cap which is also mentioned at the bottom of its email contract. If the Bank of England printed money saying that it “promised” and they also had a condition revoking that promise on the actual note, how would the public be expected to ever trust that institution?

MWT

rossowheels said:

This is very interesting. I was moved from the failed Neon Reef to British Gas on a welcome to British Gas flexible tariff which states “Price guaranteed to 31/07/22”.  In March BG said my price would be going up!!! What’s going on? I had always believed that contracts meant something and yet BG choose to ignore its supposed “price guarantee” and rely on the price cap which is also mentioned at the bottom of its email contract. If the Bank of England printed money saying that it “promised” and they also had a condition revoking that promise on the actual note, how would the public be expected to ever trust that institution?

That is a somewhat different case and there has been a lot of discussion on this group about this issue with all of the recent SoLR tariffs.

The reason it is different is that you were on a deemed tariff which had been approved by Ofgem before BG became your 'Supplier of Last Resort' so there is nothing wrong with the contract itself from that point of view, it is and always was a variable tariff.

The error BG made was in the communication of the details to the customers, as their emails and the online information for these tariffs stated that it was both flexible and guaranteed, which is in conflict of course.

Some people who phoned CS were told it was a fixed tariff as even their own staff were confused.

Net result is there is scope for customers who relied on the belief that the tariff was fixed, and did n't change to a tariff that really was fixed, could claim compensation from BG for their loss.

BG have been settling claims at around £50-100 where people have been persistent.

Keep in mind that the loss suffered is based on the different choice you would have made had you known from the start that it wasn't fixed, it is not the difference between being fixed or not as the deemed contract was correctly formed after Ofgem approved it. 

Edit: Please see this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6349119/any-english-lawyers-out-there#latest

rossowheels

That’s very interesting. I found that the staff were confused since I received conflicting replies to my enquiries and Ineven emailed the MD and didn’t receive any response. I also complained to the ombudsman and am seeking views from lawyers on English contract law. Tempted to issue proceedings and see what a judge says!

MWT

rossowheels said:

Tempted to issue proceedings and see what a judge says!

Very unlikely to get any court time for something of this size without first completing the BG complaints process and taking it to the Ombudsman.

rossowheels

I have been through the BG complaints mill and received a final response. I have previously taken a complaint on another issue to the ombudsman who decided in favour of the company. I chose not to accept this decision which is within my rights and subsequently issued proceeding against one of the main banks. After the first hearing, the bank settled in full!!!

pochase

rossowheels said:

That’s very interesting. I found that the staff were confused since I received conflicting replies to my enquiries and Ineven emailed the MD and didn’t receive any response. I also complained to the ombudsman and am seeking views from lawyers on English contract law. Tempted to issue proceedings and see what a judge says!

Have you gone through the BG complaints process first and either waited 8 weeks without result or received a deadlock letter?

Without it Ofgem will not deal with your complaint.

MWT

rossowheels said:

I have been through the BG complaints mill and received a final response. I have previously taken a complaint on another issue to the ombudsman who decided in favour of the company. I chose not to accept this decision which is within my rights and subsequently issued proceeding against one of the main banks. After the first hearing, the bank settled in full!!!

This would probably be better in your other thread, but yes, there is nothing stopping you from taking it to court once you've completed the alternative dispute resolution process.

If you keep your claim reasonable, it can prove cheaper for the company to settle rather than contest a case, even if they would win, so do let us know how it goes for you.

rossowheels

for me, its about calling them out and opening the floodgates to similar claims

MWT

rossowheels said:

for me, its about calling them out and opening the floodgates to similar claims

Let's take this back to your own thread, it is going to confuse people having a BG debate in an Octopus thread.