Daughter's first flat energy advice.

beattock

My daughter has just moved into a new build flat in Edinburgh. It is her first time living away from home and at at time when the energy sector has gone crazy. It is a mid matket rental property and her management company has stongly advised/pushed her to get a deal with a company called Rebel energy. He told her lots of other residents are getting it including his boss etc. The builders had left it set up with Scottish Power and she originally tried to set up with them but firstly they couldn't as her postcode was not registered and then the wrong meter was registered to her account. So being stressed and fed up and just wanting to be sorted she signed up to Rebel energy yesterday. I am worried that she is being wrongly advised and will end up out of pocket.  The figures are as follows Electricity  69.02 per unit, standing charge 47.77 per day and 25.52 per kw and standing charge 21.61 per day.  This us a fixed rate for 12 months with a £60 exit fee and they would be charging £293 monthly initially.  Any advice would be much appreciated as not much online about this company. Thank you.

pochase

They seem to be rolling a dice for their unit rates.

For my property I get a 61p quote, while for a random property in Edinburgh (EH3 6RN) they are quoting 78p.

Add to that the 69p the OPs daughter is charged...

QrizB

beattock said:

 The figures are as follows Electricity  69.02 per unit, standing charge 47.77 per day and 25.52 per kw and standing charge 21.61 per day.  This us a fixed rate for 12 months with a £60 exit fee and they would be charging £293 monthly initially.  Any advice would be much appreciated as not much online about this company. Thank you.

Those second numbers are for gas, or for something else?

If gas, I wouldn't take that offer at this time. I'd stick with Scottish Power's standard variable tariff.

beattock

Sorry yes for gas. Thank you.

Ectophile

I'm sure that the management company will be grateful for the big fat commission that Rebel energy will pay them.  And guess who ends up paying that commission on their bills?

Dr_Tom

She should simply ask them if they will pay her the commission payment they get for the referral. If they will, it is more likely to be a legitimate recommendation. If not, she should look elsewhere.

beattock

That was my suspicion too, whereas my daughter thought they were just being helpful. However when you can't get a reply about a wrongly installed washing machine  and when they are slow to help regarding wrongly registered meter to enable you to sign up with Scottish Power but somehow have time to phone you daily to push you to sign up to this particular energy provider... you have to wonder. Not that Scottish Power were much assistance either.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

sometimes with new builds house/flat numbers and building plot numbers get jumbled, could try this LINK to verify supplier.

macman

She is in a deemed contract with SP, so the attempt to switch to Rebel will be rejected.

pochase

I would run from this company.

Seems they are exactly the type of company that went bust last year.

Case study: Rebel Energy
• The supplier used a preaccredited supply solution from Utilisoft and launched its investment round to the public via Crowdcube on 4 March 2021.
• According to Rebel Energy’s Crowdcube fundraising page, the supplier’s pre-money valuation stands at £6mn. It was targeting £150,000 for 2.73% equity, and, as of June 2021, the supplier had raised almost half a million pounds (£459,045) from 624 investors.
• The supplier has partnered with BluePrism to ensure industry leading automation powers all their backend processes. Not only does this reduce their cost to service but it also allows them to improve the customer experience and have extra time to help the most vulnerable customers. 

Capital seems to be about £1.3 million, and in 2021 they announced they will only start supplying in 2021.

They have set high goals