Is my energy provider allowed to change me from paying quarterly to monthly without my consent?

mmmmikey

Biscayne said:

This has just happened to me. My private pension is paid quarterly (I got a slightly better rate) and I have always paid for my Electricity quarterly from it. I moved to EDF from Eon next when the latter stopped quarterly payments.

They informed me of the change in a cheery email telling me what a great benefit paying monthly will be. Six days later they sent me an estimated bill for 43 days supply. I complained that it wasn't a great benefit and that they should have given me more warning. Their response beggars belief:

"we apologize if the changes are a disadvantage with the agreement you first signed up for but we assure you, the changes are beneficial and a success."

They then went on:

"If there is a resolution you would like to bring forward, kindly confirm and I will assist you further."

So I have gone back to them with a request for loss of interest caused by having to withdraw money from a savings account plus £50 for 'Time & Trouble'. Haven't heard back from them yet but the clock for the Ombudsman is ticking.

The redcued standing charges from paying monthly will likely more than offset any loss of interest, so probably no financial loss to compensate you for there. And as has been said before, it's perfectly normal for T's and C's to be changed over the years so it seems unlikely any complaint there will be successful. I do think it's fair to complain about the lack of notice, although I think the most you're likely to get as a result of that complaint is a token goodwill amount. Possibly worth a try if you feel sufficiently agrieved about it but I wouldn't burn up too much time, effort or emotional energy pursuing it as there's no guarantee of success.

BarelySentientAI

Biscayne said:

So I have gone back to them with a request for loss of interest caused by having to withdraw money from a savings account plus £50 for 'Time & Trouble'. Haven't heard back from them yet but the clock for the Ombudsman is ticking.

It isn't their fault that you have locked away money in a savings account, nor is there £50 of "Time & Trouble" in paying a bill two extra times per quarter.

Time and trouble are also not considered as eligible for compensation or penalty.  The supplier might give you a few quid of "goodwill" to make you go away, but that depends if they can be bothered to prepare any evidence for the Ombudsman or not.

The Ombudsman will only do something if the supplier has not followed the appropriate rules and procedures - which rule do you think they have broken in this case?

Rob5342

Surely complaining is going to be far more time and trouble than spending 20 seconds transferring the money. 

dunstonh

So I have gone back to them with a request for loss of interest caused by having to withdraw money from a savings account plus £50 for 'Time & Trouble'. Haven't heard back from them yet but the clock for the Ombudsman is ticking.

Don't you have better things to do?  
Sadly, other consumers have to cover the costs of people like you trying it on and creating trouble for no reason.

Biscayne

And I thought this might be a nice friendly place to discuss pushing back against big companies screwing the little guy.

To mmmmikey, the only polite respondent, I would just add that I should have been clearer in my original post - I pay by quarterly direct debit so there will be no reduction in standing charges.

Goodbye

BarelySentientAI

Biscayne said:

And I thought this might be a nice friendly place to discuss pushing back against big companies screwing the little guy.

So what you wanted were only posts that agreed with you.  Ok, make that clear in your question next time.

This forum isn't for "sticking it to the man", it's for helping people understand whether they have "been screwed", to use your terminology, and to help them work out what can sensibly and effectively be done about it.  The best for all the "little guys" is when the efforts are concentrated where they are relevant and useful and can get a decent outcome.

As I posted - the Ombudsman will usually instruct a supplier to put you back in the position you would have been had they not broken rules/guidance, made an error, etc.  Often with a goodwill payment of £50 - £100 if they've messed you about a lot.

If you can't elucidate the error or broken rule to us, and the quantifiable loss you have suffered as a result (which doesn't include time and effort) then you would struggle to explain the case to the Ombudsman to their satisfaction.  They don't investigate, they just consider evidence submitted by both sides.

Mobtr

There will have been thousands of customers with Eon & EDF who were unhappy at going from quarterly to monthly billing. 

Most will have contacted & raised complaints but they still get billed monthly whether they like it or not. 

This is because Kraken, while being designed for the energy market, does not have the capability of being able to bill quarterly, it was only designed for monthly. 

So go to the ombudsman by all means but the best you can hope for is a small goodwill gesture which EDF has probably already offered and it’s not going to change your billing frequency.