Any one know how to escape from Student energy group? Want to switch supplier in new flat

chris_n

QrizB said:

... and if it turns out that there is a deemed contract, it should be at the Ofgem capped SVT, not any fictitious tariff that TSEG might choose to impose.

Are you sure this isn’t a commercial supply that will have nothing to do with SVT?

GrumpyDil

chris_n said:

QrizB said:

... and if it turns out that there is a deemed contract, it should be at the Ofgem capped SVT, not any fictitious tariff that TSEG might choose to impose.

Are you sure this isn’t a commercial supply that will have nothing to do with SVT?

Unlikely as the supplier website includes a term that the students confirm the supply is for domestic use only.

Xbigman

cannugec5 said:

“If You did not sign up to Our services but We already supply energy to Your Property, We will begin treating You as if You’d entered into this contract when You become responsible for the energy bills at Your Property under a Deemed Contract.

In these circumstances, deemed tariffs will apply until either:

• You agree a new tariff with Us;
• You transfer to another supplier;
• Somebody else takes or has responsibility for Your property;
• Your supply is disconnected”

Taken from the TSEG energy terms and conditions. 

It reads to me that the tenants already have a deemed contract whether they signed up or not. In which case they need to acknowledge that, pay the bill and switch ASAP.  
It appears the same as moving into any other property when you have to deal with the incumbent supplier (although I acknowledge TSEG is not the actual supplier they are acting as such) 
In short the tenants and yourself might not want there to be any contract with TSEG but by moving in to the property one now exists. 

That looks correct. TSEG know they can't force their services on you and have stated that you will be on a deemed contract  until you decide what to do (in this case transfer). The problem is that the deemed contract would be with Tomato as they hold the supply licence. This confirms my initial thought that Tomato are the problem. You need to keep on at Tomato to set up an account. I would start an official complaint and keep pointing out that no one is currently paying the bills and this needs resolving.
For now keep taking date stamped photo's of your meter every week. The good news is that the cap rate is not going to penalise you much if at all, so their is no need to stress on this, just follow the complaints process through to the end.


Darren

P.S.  Keep all communication with Tomato in writing. 

born_again

rocklobster_2 said:

Daughter and her friend have moved (back in Aug!) into a flat at uni. Tenants, via an agent who hasn't been all that useful.

They haven't managed to get registered with an electricity provider yet - network check reports they are supplied by Tomato energy, but they don't provide energy to the area. Finally they've managed to find out that they are provided by "student energy group" (edited to correct this - it’s actually group not company) who are near impossible to talk to, and very expensive. (they give hilarious price estimates on their website!). Tomato won't talk to them beyond confirming they support "the student energy group" at that address. 

They claim to not be an energy provider (fine, that's tomato) but a "bill splitting service". My daughter doesn't want or need this service. Obviously there is an outstanding bill to pay, and an attempt to move to Octopus failed as the current supplier refused the switch - fair enough, there is a debt there, but given they can't pay Tomato directly, and Student energy group appear impossible to deal with or contact (they've been on hold for over an hour again - apparently first in the queue all that time) it's proving impossible to make progress.

Anyone dealt with them? Advice? Kinda stuck, and they are getting really worried about being landed with a massive bill. (They've taken to sitting in the dark to save energy until I pointed out how little the LED lights actually use :-( )

Is this one of the many student flat providers or a private landlord?

Might make a difference.

Jonboy_1984

Is there anything in the paperwork from their landlord when they moved in?

Our house was an ex-rental property and there was still a folder with all sorts of information from heating and appliance instructions to meter/isolation valves  locations to takeaway menus and taxi business cards, which would seem like a great place to hide such info, particularly if the landlord/letting agent are in a commission from the energy company.

Josh_TSEG

Hey Rocklobster!

I'm Head of Customer Experience at The Student Energy Group.  I think there's a bit of confusion here on this one.  

Firstly, we'll only bill the property on the SVT tariff.  We understand our customers are students, so any bill that they have with us, we can be flexible when it comes to payment arrangements etc.  The price estimates on our website will most likely be for our fixed-rate 12 month product. 

If your daughter has moved into the property, this won't apply to them as they'll fall under a deemed contract (which as mentioned, will be billed on the SVT tariff).

When it comes to our relationship with Tomato, The Student Energy Group have an OFGEM approved White-Label agreement when it comes to providing Energy via Tomato Energy.  

I'm sorry you've found it difficult to get hold of us.  I've sent you a DM with my personal email address so we can get this sorted for you.

Thanks!
Josh

rocklobster_2

All, we’ve finally got this sorted. 

Sorry I vanished, ended up in hospital having an elbow replacement rather unexpectedly after falling over!

anyway, we’ve finally got this sorted. Thanks Josh for the offer of help, sorry to not get back to you. 

After being told more than once that they should expect be paying around 600 quid they finally managed to get a bill for 134 pounds which they’ve paid and have now successfully moved to octopus. 

I must say, this company have been on of the worst to deal with ever in my experience. While I can see the benefits of what they offer, they seem impossible to get in touch with. Sorry Josh, but my experience is not good. 

Be wary of them and make sure you really understand what they are offering and at what cost. Getting this finally bill without signing up has been painful!  

QrizB

rocklobster_2 said:

All, we’ve finally got this sorted. 

I'm glad you got things sorted out, and thanks for coming back to let us know!

rocklobster_2 said:

Sorry I vanished, ended up in hospital having an elbow replacement rather unexpectedly after falling over!

Never mind energy billing, *that* sounds painful. Hope your recovery is going smoothly.