Tomato Energy (Electric Only Supplier) - Too Good To Be True ?

MWT

masonic said:

SJMALBA said:

Smeagal said:

I submitted a switch away last week to home energy and was given today the 6th for the switch to complete, presumably that would not go ahead now?

According to the MSE article:

'If you've already started a switch to another provider, your switch will continue. You don't need to do anything. If you have outstanding credit it will be paid to you by the supplier Ofgem appoints to take over Tomato Energy.'

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/11/tomato-energy-bust/

I guess we will find out in due course whether that includes credit Tomato owed in GSOP / EO compensation.

If it is showing on the account balance it should be an obligation transferred to the SoLR (if billing is up to date),  but if it had not already been added to the account balance then you are in unsecured creditor territory I believe....

I'm expecting this aspect to be a huge mess unfortunately due to the billing/meter reading issues. 

 

JohnPo

Well my Tomato energy account never showed an account balance or transaction list showing bills and payments.  All you get is an emailed bill and in the MyWatts App. a list of bills sent. Earlier in the year when I got an Omudsman compensation payment nothing showed online - just a credit to my bank after much chasing by the Ombudsman.

So it's going to be a huge mess !

MWT

JohnPo said:

Well my Tomato energy account never showed an account balance or transaction list showing bills and payments.  All you get is an emailed bill and in the MyWatts App. a list of bills sent. Earlier in the year when I got an Omudsman compensation payment nothing showed online - just a credit to my bank after much chasing by the Ombudsman.

So it's going to be a huge mess !

I'm not surprised, I've always thought that their failure to use fixed DD billing had more to do with the inadequacies of their billing/account platform than anything else. 

Glad they didn't for obvious reasons, but if what you've reported is typical then yes, it is going to be a real mess for sure.

JohnPo

I fully expect that whoever takes over as SOLR will draw a line in the sand and ask for manual meter reads and treat everybody as being on a non smart tariff on the day they are appointed.  Issues with back billing, alleged debts will be left for administrators to chase with non of the protections that customers of an energy company would normally expect from the moment the SOLR kicks in.  It would be wise to file away all bills received, download all the data from MyWatts as screenshots and half hourly .csv's and cross reference all payments made and know where you stand. Expect that once the low hanging fruit of outstanding bills have been chased, lots of catch up invoices issued whether valid or not the 'debt book' will be sold at pennies in the pound to debt collectors.  Be prepared !!

masonic

JohnPo said:

I fully expect that whoever takes over as SOLR will draw a line in the sand and ask for manual meter reads and treat everybody as being on a non smart tariff on the day they are appointed.  Issues with back billing, alleged debts will be left for administrators to chase with non of the protections that customers of an energy company would normally expect from the moment the SOLR kicks in.  It would be wise to file away all bills received, download all the data from MyWatts as screenshots and half hourly .csv's and cross reference all payments made and know where you stand. Expect that once the low hanging fruit of outstanding bills have been chased, lots of catch up invoices issued whether valid or not the 'debt book' will be sold at pennies in the pound to debt collectors.  Be prepared !!

Often the debt for the unbilled period up to the appointment of SOLR would be bought up and billed by them. However, in this case I'm inclined to agree no sensible SOLR is going to want to touch that. Whereas Ofgem will probably not want a cohort of customers falling through the regulatory cracks in a scenario where their usage might have to be estimated based on very suspect data, such as the difference between opening read recorded by Tomato and SOLR minus any already billed HH consumption.

JohnPo

masonic said:

JohnPo said:

I fully expect that whoever takes over as SOLR will draw a line in the sand and ask for manual meter reads and treat everybody as being on a non smart tariff on the day they are appointed.  Issues with back billing, alleged debts will be left for administrators to chase with non of the protections that customers of an energy company would normally expect from the moment the SOLR kicks in.  It would be wise to file away all bills received, download all the data from MyWatts as screenshots and half hourly .csv's and cross reference all payments made and know where you stand. Expect that once the low hanging fruit of outstanding bills have been chased, lots of catch up invoices issued whether valid or not the 'debt book' will be sold at pennies in the pound to debt collectors.  Be prepared !!

Often the debt for the unbilled period up to the appointment of SOLR would be bought up and billed by them. However, in this case I'm inclined to agree no sensible SOLR is going to want to touch that. Whereas Ofgem will probably not want a cohort of customers falling through the regulatory cracks in a scenario where their usage might have to be estimated based on very suspect data, such as the difference between opening read recorded by Tomato and SOLR minus any already billed HH consumption.

Expect the worse - where HH data is 'not available / lost / still sat in your meter but not accessed' - the administrators will simply point to a clause in the Tomato contract that allows them to bill at a flat rate based on meter reads these will helpfully be provided by the gaining supplier (the SOLR). Ofgem will have done their job as the rules are currently written in that credit balance were protected (because there were not any) and you have new supplier who provides energy going forward protected by the price cap.  All the rules about back billing, treating customers fairly etc etc. don't apply to administrators once the supply license has been revoked and any non contractual commitments made by Tomato management will be ignored.

JohnPo

I would also warn anyone who was a former customer of Tomato Energy where an agreed final bill was not issued - be mindful that administrators may go through those accounts looking for what they judge to be legally recoverable debt. If you have not got evidence to challenge a catch up bill - because you have been happily sat with a more professional supplier for last few months - then plan accordingly.

masonic

JohnPo said:

I would also warn anyone who was a former customer of Tomato Energy where an agreed final bill was not issued - be mindful that administrators may go through those accounts looking for what they judge to be legally recoverable debt. If you have not got evidence to challenge a catch up bill - because you have been happily sat with a more professional supplier for last few months - then plan accordingly.

I don't believe any bill they issued was marked as a final bill, and no bill I received contained meter readings. But I do have a complete set covering the period I was with them.

JohnPo

masonic said:

JohnPo said:

I would also warn anyone who was a former customer of Tomato Energy where an agreed final bill was not issued - be mindful that administrators may go through those accounts looking for what they judge to be legally recoverable debt. If you have not got evidence to challenge a catch up bill - because you have been happily sat with a more professional supplier for last few months - then plan accordingly.

I don't believe any bill they issued was marked as a final bill, and no bill I received contained meter readings. But I do have a complete set covering the period I was with them.

That is probably all you need - it is those folk that after several months of not being billed properly and then walked away that my comment was aimed at.  

Ildhund

GSV3MIAC2 said:

Smart meters use hh data for tou billing in most cases. 

Do you have evidence for this statement? I'm thinking of the millions of smart meters like mine, reporting day and night register readings for my ToU Economy 7 tariff.