Problems with business energy supplier at new shop

Glass1970

Hello all,
Just wanting some quick advice. My wife's opened a new shop with high hopes, only to have them completely destroyed by her first energy bill.
She opened on the 1st April and our landlord (who isn't the easiest person to get hold of) confirmed he had told the suppliers (one of these little companies who provide all the utilities) about the tenancy change.
We get nothing until June when they contact her and we find out she's been on a deemed contract at an eye-watering £3 per day since April. I rush around changing suppliers and we get a final bill amounting to basically my wife's entire takings since opening which has made her lose all confidence in her shop.

I'm trying to get hold of our landlord as I think I can get proof they were informed of the tenancy change in early April but did not contact us thus keeping us on the deemed contact for longer.

However there are a couple of points I'd like your advice with.
Firstly we got the final bill dated 4th July and it arrived with us by post yesterday (12th July) however there are numerous mistakes and I've emailed them to correct this. I did notice the payment due date is the 13th July, that's only 1 day to pay which I find very odd. Can anyone clarify if there is any legal minimum time an energy company must give you to make full payment?

Secondly, and possibly most important. This company (who I won't name and shame until I've had chance to hear their responses to my complaints) isn't the biggest by any means but they offer all the services for a business like energy, water, broadband, phone etc. Each one is managed by a separate ltd company registered to the same address, and a check at Companies House shows they are overdue on all their accounts by over 6 months now and are close to having the entire lot struck off.

I think this might go some way to explaining why they are trying to get as much money out of their customers as possible. Can anyone tell me if they get struck off am I still responsible for the bills? I know this isn't the same as the company closing down.

Many thanks,
Glass1970

Robin9

Sorry to hear that your wife is having these problems.   Setting up new suppliers in the business environment is nothing to do with your landlord.

While the unit rates can be in the same order as domestic , standing charges can be very high -  my gas is over £9 a day. ; electric £1 a day.  

I was once with the all embracing supplies but steadily broke the arrangement down to have separate suppliers

PS to answer your question re payment dates - 14 days is the norm.

PPS How did you manage to change suppliers - your wife is under contract , often for a year, two is common, even three.  Business contracts are not like domestic - you can't simply change.

MattMattMattUK

Glass1970 said:

Hello all,
Just wanting some quick advice. My wife's opened a new shop with high hopes, only to have them completely destroyed by her first energy bill.
She opened on the 1st April and our landlord (who isn't the easiest person to get hold of) confirmed he had told the suppliers (one of these little companies who provide all the utilities) about the tenancy change.
We get nothing until June when they contact her and we find out she's been on a deemed contract at an eye-watering £3 per day since April. I rush around changing suppliers and we get a final bill amounting to basically my wife's entire takings since opening which has made her lose all confidence in her shop.

I'm trying to get hold of our landlord as I think I can get proof they were informed of the tenancy change in early April but did not contact us thus keeping us on the deemed contact for longer.

However there are a couple of points I'd like your advice with.
Firstly we got the final bill dated 4th July and it arrived with us by post yesterday (12th July) however there are numerous mistakes and I've emailed them to correct this. I did notice the payment due date is the 13th July, that's only 1 day to pay which I find very odd. Can anyone clarify if there is any legal minimum time an energy company must give you to make full payment?

That would depend on the deemed contract, unfortunately it is your responsibility to register with the energy and utility suppliers upon moving into a premises. Payment terms are subject to the deemed contract. They did not give you one day, they have you seven which is fairly standard, but the post obviously suffered delays, which seems to still be happening a lot at the moment unfortunately. 

Glass1970 said:

Secondly, and possibly most important. This company (who I won't name and shame until I've had chance to hear their responses to my complaints) isn't the biggest by any means but they offer all the services for a business like energy, water, broadband, phone etc. Each one is managed by a separate ltd company registered to the same address, and a check at Companies House shows they are overdue on all their accounts by over 6 months now and are close to having the entire lot struck off.

I think this might go some way to explaining why they are trying to get as much money out of their customers as possible. Can anyone tell me if they get struck off am I still responsible for the bills? I know this isn't the same as the company closing down.

Yes, you would still be responsible for paying the bills.

Glass1970

Robin9 said:

Sorry to hear that your wife is having these problems.   Setting up new suppliers in the business environment is nothing to do with your landlord.

While the unit rates can be in the same order as domestic , standing charges can be very high -  my gas is over £9 a day. ; electric £1 a day.  

I was once with the all embracing supplies but steadily broke the arrangement down to have separate suppliers

PS to answer your question re payment dates - 14 days is the norm.

PPS How did you manage to change suppliers - your wife is under contract , often for a year, two is common, even three.  Business contracts are not like domestic - you can't simply change.

Thanks for the reply. Yes we were a bit stuck at the start, Our landlord informed us they had told the suppliers of the tenancy change and to await their contact but didn't say who the suppliers were so we didn't know who to contact.
I agree in hindsight this could have handled better on our part but we were wrapped up in the excitement of opening the new shop. If the supplier was informed of the tenancy change in mid April but didn't contact us until mid June, I don't think that's right and goes along with my understanding of their own financial position.
As it was a deemed contract we were never in a contract so were free to move. We're now in a 3 year deal with separate water and electricity suppliers which actually proved far cheaper that the rates were were offered to stay. Now I just need to convince my wife to keep the shop open

QrizB

Glass1970 said:

We're now in a 3 year deal with separate water and electricity suppliers which actually proved far cheaper that the rates were were offered to stay. Now I just need to convince my wife to keep the shop open

Business energy is a different world to domestic. Businesses don't receive any of the consumer protections that domestic customers do.

Be aware that you could now be on the hook for water and power for three years, even if your wife never opens the shop again.

Robin9

@Glass1970  Make sure you read those meters every month - some suppliers have specific time slots.

Ectophile

Being a business is not like being a consumer.  You have no consumer rights.  There is no such thing as an unfair contract.

Keep on top of everything.  Don't agree to any contract until you have read every word of it - which means don't agree to contracts with cold callers.