FTB - Completion likely to be before October. What do I do?

maton91

Hello all,

As the title suggests, I am a First Time Buyer and I am looking to complete before October. As we all know, October is when energy bills are going to increase astronomically and I am not sure what I should do when I move in.

From the Property Information Form, I can see the current owners' energy firm (EON) but as the house is vacant the costs are currently negligible. I don't know whether I should arrnage to transfer to their current energy firm or whether I should register with a new one, but if I register with a new one, I don't know whether to fix or not. Am I in my rights to find out info on the current owner's deal, or would that be a non-starter due to GDPR etc...?

Any advise please, it would be welcomed!

[Deleted User]

You can do nothing until you become legally responsible for the property. E.oN is the deemed supplier and you will be in contract with them for your supply. When you move in, contact E.oN with the date that you became responsible for the property with meter readings. You are then free to initiate a switch.

When you call E.oN it may try to sell you a fixed tariff. All deemed tariffs are the supplier’s SVT: existing fixed tariffs do not transfer to the new owner so there is no point in trying to find out.

Alnat1

Take pics of the meter readings too, if it's been empty a while there might not have been final readings given to Eon. Pics will prove the readings should there be any problems

jimjames

Unlikely a different supplier will take you on even if you want to switch after registering with EOn. Market is very different to normal at the moment

maton91

[Deleted User] said:

You can do nothing until you become legally responsible for the property. E.oN is the deemed supplier and you will be in contract with them for your supply. When you move in, contact E.oN with the date that you became responsible for the property with meter readings. You are then free to initiate a switch.

When you call E.oN it may try to sell you a fixed tariff. All deemed tariffs are the supplier’s SVT: existing fixed tariffs do not transfer to the new owner so there is no point in trying to find out.

Alnat1 said:

Take pics of the meter readings too, if it's been empty a while there might not have been final readings given to Eon. Pics will prove the readings should there be any problems

jimjames said:

Unlikely a different supplier will take you on even if you want to switch after registering with EOn. Market is very different to normal at the moment

Thanks all

What is the general reccomendation in these times, stick with who I've got or look to switch? Either way I'm guessing I'm in a worse situation that those that have had time to shop around...

BUFF

maton91 said:

What is the general reccomendation in these times, stick with who I've got or look to switch? Either way I'm guessing I'm in a worse situation that those that have had time to shop around..

tbh I would suggest asking the question again once you move in, iirc you can't initiate a switch for 21 days so you will have time to investigate the market with information current at that time..

macman

You inherit the supplier under the deemed supplier system, but you don't inherit their tariff...
They will offer you either SVT only, or possibly a fix , if available at the time you register.
What the vendor is currently on is irrelevant.
You can commence a switch as soon as you register, but it's pointless at present.

pochase

You should ask who you can switch to.

For more than 6 months almost no supplier will accept new customers (except the ones forced on them by them moving into a property they supply). Exceptions are Octopus and EDF and you need to call them, and be prepared to do it repeatedly and you find an agent who will let you join.

So no, you are not worse off than others.

t0rt0ise

BUFF said:

maton91 said:

What is the general reccomendation in these times, stick with who I've got or look to switch? Either way I'm guessing I'm in a worse situation that those that have had time to shop around..

tbh I would suggest asking the question again once you move in, iirc you can't initiate a switch for 21 days so you will have time to investigate the market with information current at that time..

Where has this 21 day wait thing come from? It doesn't appear anywhere else, like the Citizens Advice site.  Once you start to move suppliers it can take this long but in my experience you don't need to wait 21 days before starting. Once you've registered with the current supplier you can initiate a switch.

pochase

Very good question. I also always told people about the 21 days until I was asked where this is regulated, and I could not find anything, 

It think it might not be 21 days before you can initiate the switch, it might be at least 21 days before it is happening. If you think about it there is a 14 day cool off and than the time for the switch itself.

BUFF

t0rt0ise said:

BUFF said:

maton91 said:

What is the general reccomendation in these times, stick with who I've got or look to switch? Either way I'm guessing I'm in a worse situation that those that have had time to shop around..

tbh I would suggest asking the question again once you move in, iirc you can't initiate a switch for 21 days so you will have time to investigate the market with information current at that time..

Where has this 21 day wait thing come from? It doesn't appear anywhere else, like the Citizens Advice site.  Once you start to move suppliers it can take this long but in my experience you don't need to wait 21 days before starting. Once you've registered with the current supplier you can initiate a switch.

I read it recently somewhere but I can't remember where. I too, had started wondering if there had been some misconceptions/misunderstandings.