UW - Refused to pay me back my accumulated credit from Energy bills to my bank account

Joyfulbee

I asked for my credit to be sent to my bank account but their finance team, decided on their own accord to ignore my specific wish and pay off my bill with my credit, though I have a standing DD. As this was my credit that I have accumulated, I counted on this money to be in my bank account.

Their one sided decision in contrast to my expressed wishes, caused me a serious issue.

Their customer advisors, though very pleasant, promised me in 3 occasions that the money will be in my bank account within 3-5 days. Each time this did not happen!!!!

I am now going to the Ombudsman and will try my best to fight them so this does not happen to anyone else!!

molerat

Your credit balance is only valid once you have been billed to the latest read and the supplier has acted correctly as far as that is concerned.  This is a common problem if not billed monthly.  Your only complaint is about the poor service from the CS reps.  It is very likely that any ombudsman complaint will agree with the provider but will award a token amount for the poor service.

Alderbank

Joyfulbee said:

I asked for my credit to be sent to my bank account but their finance team, decided on their own accord to ignore my specific wish and pay off my bill with my credit, though I have a standing DD. As this was my credit that I have accumulated, I counted on this money to be in my bank account.

Their one sided decision in contrast to my expressed wishes, caused me a serious issue.

Their customer advisors, though very pleasant, promised me in 3 occasions that the money will be in my bank account within 3-5 days. Each time this did not happen!!!!

I am now going to the Ombudsman and will try my best to fight them so this does not happen to anyone else!!

Welcome to the forum.

Utility Warehouse provide a wide variety of different services.
Which service do you have issue with? Is it Bulb Replacement Service, where if a light bulb fails at your house they come round and change it for you?

One of their T&Cs which you have agreed to is:

4.5.5. Both parties shall be entitled to offset any overpayment (or credit balance) on an individual Bill against any amount payable for a different Bill

Is that your issue, that they have offset a credit balance against an amount payable for a different bill? 

HillStreetBlues

Maybe I'm missing something? as OP seems to be complaining about a credit build up used to off a debt build up.

tightauldgit

Feels like there might be a lot of details to be filled in here but as a general principle if a business owes you money and you owe them money I would expect that to be netted out before either party pays the other. 

If they took your credit payment and for example another DD to build up a balance then you might have more of a complaint.

born_again

Not forgetting that this is the time when you should be building up a credit for the colder months.

Seems odd to expect your credit balance to be payed back, yet you still owe them money. Never know any energy co do that.

RefluentBeans

I’m confused by the initial post. 

Are you saying that you normally pay £X via direct debit which has lead to a build up of credit onto your account. 

You called them up and said I have £Y on credit - can I have that back please. They agreed - and promised to transfer the money to you. 

They instead took the bill from the accrued credit (£Y) and transferred (or promised to) the difference in this. 

If that’s the case, I’m not sure they’ve done anything wrong?

I assume that you’ve got a continuing relationship with this company - and as such the direct debit payments will continue. If that’s the case - contact them and ask if you can get a refund on the direct debit.
But as others have said, it may be worth building up some credit for the winter - we don’t know how energy prices are going to be affected. 

[Deleted User]

I asked for my credit to be sent to my bank account but their finance team, decided on their own accord to ignore my specific wish and pay off my bill with my credit, though I have a standing DD. As this was my credit that I have accumulated, I counted on this money to be in my bank account.

There isn’t a supplier in the land that will agree a credit refund with first checking that it isn’t owed money first. They will normally do this by asking for meter readings (if you don’t have a smart meter) and then raising a bill which shows an accurate credit/debit balance on the billing date. In many cases, a refund of credit is often followed by an increase in the monthly DD payment.

wild666

A bit off topic but I found UW to be one of the dearer providers unless you get multiple services from them like electric, gas, phone and BB then it brings down the price so they overcharge if you just want electric and gas but reduce the price with the more additional services you take from them. That's why I tell everyone who is thinking about going with them to stay clear if they only want electric and gas from them.

Alnat1

Your DD is put into a 'pot' and used to pay the bill when it is issued. When you ask for a refund from your 'pot' all energy companies will issue an up to date bill, take what they are owed from your 'pot' and if there is any surplus you may get a refund.

It seems that there wasn't any left over so no refund was given. Future DD payments will be used towards paying future bills.

MWT

Joyfulbee said:

As this was my credit that I have accumulated, I counted on this money to be in my bank account.

No, this was money you willingly sent to them to pay your bills, this isn't a savings account and it isn't yours to withdraw at will, unless the credit exceeds the amount you owe...

Joyfulbee said:

Their customer advisors, though very pleasant, promised me in 3 occasions that the money will be in my bank account within 3-5 days. Each time this did not happen!!!!

I am now going to the Ombudsman and will try my best to fight them so this does not happen to anyone else!!

You will have to complete the suppliers complaints process before you can go to the Ombudsman (or wait 8 weeks from the start of the formal complaint without a resolution, or get a deadlock letter).

All the Ombudsman will do at most, is award a token payment for poor customer service as you should have been told you would not be able to get your full credit balance refunded with out paying your bills first... (Probably £30).

The Ombudsman has been very clear in many decisions that money paid via DD is available to the supplier to pay the customers bills, and in fact if a refund is made and it is subsequently determined that there is a bill to be paid which should have been covered by that money, the refund can be reversed...