Do standard variable tarrifs have a cancelation fee?

Swipe

QrizB said:

Swipe said:

PaulDesmond said:

Hi. I am with Sainsburies energy and like most people have been on variable tarifs. I was told of a better deal as a fixed 12 month. I phoned them up and transfered to a fixed 12 month deal. They now want £63.80 fee from me. Need some help on this one. To the best of my knoledge standard variables can be canceled at any time and I can move to another provider if I wish.

Phone them up and challenge it. 

Unless the OP knows why they've been charged, they're not going to have much chance challenging it.

And OP hasn't yet been able to tell us the reason for the charge. They seem to be assuming it's a termination charge, but it could be any number of things.

Well they can find that out when the OP phones them

PaulDesmond

I have been told bty Sainsburies that the charge relates ro an estimate on my gas bill. They claim that they outsiurce the calerific value calculation to some other company. They are having dificulty getting the value so I can not be issued with a bill untill they get this reading. I looked over some new threads hear and there are people not getting there gas bill. till waiting.

PaulDesmond

Addition: Are theire any sainsburiesd customers in the north east who have received their gas bills?

ArbitraryRandom

PaulDesmond said:

I have been told bty Sainsburies that the charge relates ro an estimate on my gas bill. 

That makes sense - if you are switching plans/switching to a fix and they only have estimates for your usage, they'll generally ask you for a reading (so you can be billed at the correct rate before and after the switch). 

If you were up to date with your bills based on estimates, giving a reading can mean you're then in debit or credit... nothing to do with a fee for switching. 

Can't help with the estimates as I don't know anyone with Sainsbury's energy. 

QrizB

ArbitraryRandom said:

Can't help with the estimates as I don't know anyone with Sainsbury's energy. 

There are however a fair few people who were expecting routine gas bills in the past week or so but whose bills were delayed, due to (the forum believes) holiday interruptions to calorific value data.

See eg. this thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6496334/whats-the-delay-in-charging-me-for-gas

So it sounds consistent with other posters' experiences.