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

lohr500

bristolleedsfan said:

£40 compensation if switch fails to complete within 5 working days.

Additional £40 compensation if initial £40 is not paid/credited within 10 working days of breach occurring.

Wait 11+ working days after breach occurred then put a complaint in to new supplier.

"breach occurring" I would suggest is working day after 5th working day that switch failed to complete on

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/get-compensation-problems-switching-energy-suppliers

The devil is in the detail. There is wriggle room in the legislation if the switch cannot take place due to circumstances outside of the supplier's control.
That being said, if the switch failures in certain regions are unique to TE, then perhaps The Energy Ombudsman would agree that the problem is due to something TE are doing wrong and would rule in favour of the compensation payment should it not be forthcoming from TE.

bristolleedsfan

WibbleBaaaaaa said:

Well TE may just have weathered the storm because Scottish gas are dropping their SC by 20p from 70p to 50p, and also offering 22p kwh for 16 months, and they are one of the most expensive up here in Scotland, so it looks like with the SC dropping so much of the SC, TE may just has become a bit more secure for the future if gas prices are going to cause one of the big greedy 6 to start dropping prices like this, so i am waiting to see what Octo and the rest are going to offer....but lower prices across the board are good news for TE longevity.

It is due to lower transmission costs in some regions, who would imagined British Gas have launched a new fixed version with lower SC, whilst Octopus who get a lot of credit for saying they favour lower SC have not as yet done so.

B.G - North East Region - 16 Month Fixed

Unit rate

22.962p per kWh (inc. VAT)

Standing charge

54.303p per day (inc. VAT)

Octopus - 16 Month Fixed Loyal

• Unit rate:23.51 p/kWh
• Standing charge:70.05 p/day

masonic

lohr500 said:

bristolleedsfan said:

£40 compensation if switch fails to complete within 5 working days.

Additional £40 compensation if initial £40 is not paid/credited within 10 working days of breach occurring.

Wait 11+ working days after breach occurred then put a complaint in to new supplier.

"breach occurring" I would suggest is working day after 5th working day that switch failed to complete on

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/get-compensation-problems-switching-energy-suppliers

The devil is in the detail. There is wriggle room in the legislation if the switch cannot take place due to circumstances outside of the supplier's control.
That being said, if the switch failures in certain regions are unique to TE, then perhaps The Energy Ombudsman would agree that the problem is due to something TE are doing wrong and would rule in favour of the compensation payment should it not be forthcoming from TE.

Not much wiggle room that I can see...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/116/regulation/5/made

Amended by https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/108/regulation/2/made to effectively reduce the time limit to 5 or 6 working days where the cooling off period was waived.

The only potential get-out would be not receiving the information in (3)(a), but accounts are that the MPAN is identified correctly and there is some glitch preventing them claiming it (not customer pulling out, existing transfer in progress, or old supplier objection).

masonic

WibbleBaaaaaa said:

Well TE may just have weathered the storm because Scottish gas are dropping their SC by 20p from 70p to 50p, and also offering 22p kwh for 16 months, and they are one of the most expensive up here in Scotland, so it looks like with the SC dropping so much of the SC, TE may just has become a bit more secure for the future if gas prices are going to cause one of the big greedy 6 to start dropping prices like this, so i am waiting to see what Octo and the rest are going to offer....but lower prices across the board are good news for TE longevity.

I don't see the main risk to TE being selling energy at a loss, which they no doubt have a plan to finance. It is the settlement and regulatory failings, which could see enforcement action taken in the short term.

WibbleBaaaaaa

bristolleedsfan said:

WibbleBaaaaaa said:

Well TE may just have weathered the storm because Scottish gas are dropping their SC by 20p from 70p to 50p, and also offering 22p kwh for 16 months, and they are one of the most expensive up here in Scotland, so it looks like with the SC dropping so much of the SC, TE may just has become a bit more secure for the future if gas prices are going to cause one of the big greedy 6 to start dropping prices like this, so i am waiting to see what Octo and the rest are going to offer....but lower prices across the board are good news for TE longevity.

It is due to lower transmission costs in some regions, who would imagined British Gas have launched a new fixed version with lower SC, whilst Octopus who get a lot of credit for saying they favour lower SC have not as yet done so.

B.G - North East Region - 16 Month Fixed

Unit rate

22.962p per kWh (inc. VAT)

Standing charge

54.303p per day (inc. VAT)

Octopus - 16 Month Fixed Loyal

• Unit rate:23.51 p/kWh
• Standing charge:70.05 p/day

Yeap, they may had caught Octo on the back foot with their drop in SC, but now we will see of Octo really were all for lower SC or was it all just bluster while hiding behind the safety net of high sc.

masonic

My Feb bill is now in. All as expected. However, I notice they've taken another "meter reading", which is exactly the last read plus Feb consumption, but way higher than what my meter says. I am not sure whether to flag this or not. I suspect they have just taken an inaccurate starting reading and have been adding on consumption. It might be a problem when it comes to switching again and they end up owing me for 1400 kWh.

WoB

QrizB said:

WoB said:

It turns out there is some work required in the meter cupboard (upgrading tails and installation of an isolator switch) which is the responsibility of the energy provider.

Just to note, everything after the meter (including the tails and any isolation switch) belongs to the householder. It's not the supplier's responsibility and whoever told you that was incorrect.

In my case the tails requiring upgrading are between the main fuse and the meter so it's the energy suppliers responsibility.  The isolator switch comes after the meter so is my responsibility theoretically, however this needs the main fuse pulling in order to fit which requires DNO approval.  Energy suppliers have this authority when swapping meters also.

Ended up moving back to Octopus in prefer to have this rectified.

tunnel

I joined TE on the 8th of feb and today had my first bill....a grand total of £31 for 21 days of energy. Not bad indeed for 320kWh usage.
Even better, now the sun is shining i have only "bought" 5kWh in the past 4 days
Absolutely no regrets with swapping to them

lohr500

masonic said:

Not much wiggle room that I can see...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/116/regulation/5/made

Amended by https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/108/regulation/2/made to effectively reduce the time limit to 5 or 6 working days where the cooling off period was waived.

The only potential get-out would be not receiving the information in (3)(a), but accounts are that the MPAN is identified correctly and there is some glitch preventing them claiming it (not customer pulling out, existing transfer in progress, or old supplier objection).

Possibly section 3e in this link may apply if TE can demonstrate the delay was outside of their control.
That being said, if other suppliers are able to arrange switches in the areas affected, then would this not suggest that the problem is unique to TE and therefore under their control?
Who knows!!

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1544/regulation/9/made

nikkijayne28

Thanks all re: the switch to TE not taking place as planned. Since they’ve not said why the switch didn’t take place, and because Octopus wasn’t initially informed, I’m assuming it’s their f up. I’ll wait 11 working days post the original switch date before contacting TE and asking where my compensation is, which will be this Friday. I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot of chasing!