Bristol energy did not transfer my credit

RobinTik

I was transferred from Bristol energy to British gas, I had no choice  when they collapsed.  I had in a large amount off credit on my account. After 16 months of fighting I still do not have my credit.  Bristol energy's administrator say its been sent to British gas, British gas say they have never received it.  Ive been to ofgem, raised a case,  but they have found that British Gas is not at fault as they havent received it.  My only choice now is the take legal action, but who against???  is anyone else in the same sinking boat or has anyone else heard the same tale with other customers?

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

Anyone who was ever with a supplier that had BG as their SoLR should check that they haven't been double billed by BG.

I switched from Neon Reef to another supplier long before NR went bust. BG  became NR's SoLR and quietly brought forward my start date by a few months, i.e. BG were charging me for energy already paid for.

I complained, it was resolved but it kept recurring and they couldn't stop it.  This overcharging happened four times.

Eventually they gave me a credit equal to the overcharging plus £100 compo.

The only indication that of any problem was a revised BG bill that had a different start date with BG; there was never any warning or explanation.  I'd never have been able to spot BG's overcharging if I hadn't downloaded everything because BG deleted all superseded bills.

[Deleted User]

RobinTik said:

I was transferred from Bristol energy to British gas, I had no choice  when they collapsed.  I had in a large amount of credit on my account. After 16 months of fighting I still do not have my credit.  Bristol energy's administrator say its been sent to British gas, British gas say they have never received it.  Ive been to ofgem, raised a case,  but they have found that British Gas is not at fault as they havent received it.  My only choice now is the take legal action, but who against???  is anyone else in the same sinking boat or has anyone else heard the same tale with other customers?

Failed suppliers do not transfer any customer credit balances to a SoLR. Have you received a Final Bill from Bristol Energy? It would show how much you were owed when BG took over your account.

Your credit balance is protected by Ofgem. When it received confirmation of your final bill from Bristol Energy, the SoLR would add any debit/credit balance to your new account. The SoLR then makes a claim to Ofgem to recover the money that it has paid out in support of all the credit balances. Ofgem then recovers these payments from all consumers via the standing charge that we all pay.

Bristol Energy no longer exists: the company was dissolved in October 2022. Its parent company, Together Energy is still in administration. I doubt whether the Administrator will accept a claim. If it does, you would be treated as an unsecured creditor of a failed company. At best, you would only get back a few pennies in the £. 

Gerry1

[Deleted User] said:

RobinTik said:

I was transferred from Bristol energy to British gas, I had no choice  when they collapsed.  I had in a large amount of credit on my account. After 16 months of fighting I still do not have my credit.  Bristol energy's administrator say its been sent to British gas, British gas say they have never received it.  Ive been to ofgem, raised a case,  but they have found that British Gas is not at fault as they havent received it.  My only choice now is the take legal action, but who against???  is anyone else in the same sinking boat or has anyone else heard the same tale with other customers?

Your credit balance is protected by Ofgem.

============<snip>===========

At best, you would only get back a few pennies in the £. 

Spot the contradiction !

Sounds more like a Boris Promise...

[Deleted User]

Gerry1 said:

Dolor said:

RobinTik said:

I was transferred from Bristol energy to British gas, I had no choice  when they collapsed.  I had in a large amount of credit on my account. After 16 months of fighting I still do not have my credit.  Bristol energy's administrator say its been sent to British gas, British gas say they have never received it.  Ive been to ofgem, raised a case,  but they have found that British Gas is not at fault as they havent received it.  My only choice now is the take legal action, but who against???  is anyone else in the same sinking boat or has anyone else heard the same tale with other customers?

Your credit balance is protected by Ofgem.

============<snip>===========

At best, you would only get back a few pennies in the £. 

Spot the contradiction !

Sounds more like a Boris Promise...

There is no contradiction. Ofgem protects consumer credits (or more accurately, consumers protect the credit balances of other consumers). Prior to the introduction of the consumer levy, the only way that consumers could get back any of their credit would be by lodging a claim with the failed supplier’s Administrator. As consumer credits are not held in escrow, then all claims made to an Administrator would be as an unsecured creditor. Unsecured creditors sit at the back of the queue for payment. If a company had enough money to pay all its debts, then it would probably still be trading.

I would assume by now that the time period for making a claim against Bristol Energy (now dissolved) or its parent company, Together Energy, has elapsed. I feel for the OP but as he appears to have gone down The Energy Ombudsman route - and failed - possibly because it has no powers over a failed supplier: his options are limited. If he feels that going to Court is his only option then I suggest he takes legal advice from someone who understands insolvency.

Edit: this topic was discussed some months ago.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6393521/together-energy-final-bill

brewerdave

There are a huge number of ex Together Energy customers who in the same boat - they had credit on their accounts when T.E collapsed but BG claim to have not been informed by the administrators .
 In fact some of these customers have recently been chased by BSB re supposed debts on their account ,but when the final bill is dug out from the ashes ,the debt collectors have to admit that there was actually a credit due.
They then throw the customer back to BG, who won't act because the administrators of T.E (FRP) have effectively closed down all work on the remnants of T.E
There really should be prosecutions of former senior staff in T.E for failures in their duties as directors ,by allowing totally inadequate accounting systems to be employed in the Company. But they will all end up smelling of roses as is normal in the U.K