Switching from business to domestic suppy

ladygaga12

We recently purchased a house, however the previous owners of the building used to run a business from the building.

I have since tried and failed with the current gas provider SmartestEnergy business Ltd to change the supply from business to domestic without any luck.

They are now sending me invoices with standing charges of 200p per day which is so much more than what a domestic standing charge would be.

At each correspondence I have had with them I have explained this is not a business, I have sent them the planning application that confirms the change of use of the building and confirmation I am owner of the building.

I have stated that I don’t accept their deemed contract and I don’t accept the invoices they have sent. 

Would anyone be able to give me some advice on how to proceed?

Regards
Rhys

Mark_d

I suspect you have to pay the high standing charges because you have a business-grade high-capacity gas connection.  I would contact your gas distribution network.  For me, it's Cadent:

https://cadentgas.com/our-services/household-customers/alterations

Robin9

Does Smartest also supply the electric?

FreeBear

ladygaga12 said: I have since tried and failed with the current gas provider SmartestEnergy business Ltd to change the supply from business to domestic without any luck.

They appear to be a business only supplier, so won't have any domestic tariffs to switch you to. Changing supplier to one that does may well be the only way out.

ladygaga12

Robin9 said:

Does Smartest also supply the electric?

No it was Opus, who transferred it over to EDF so this has been sorted

Robin9

I agree with @Freebear,  Apply to BG or anyone else that does Business and Domestic and sort with them, There may well be a financial hit

ladygaga12

Robin9 said:

I agree with @Freebear,  Apply to BG or anyone else that does Business and Domestic and sort with them, There may well be a financial hit

I’m not sure how I can apply to another service provider, given I don’t own a business so unsure how that would work 

Robin9

You don't have to be a business to have a business tariff,

FreeBear

Robin9 said:

I agree with @Freebear,  Apply to BG or anyone else that does Business and Domestic and sort with them, There may well be a financial hit

Electricity has already been moved over to EDF, so they would be the logical choice for gas as well.

MWT

ladygaga12 said:

I have stated that I don’t accept their deemed contract and I don’t accept the invoices they have sent. 

Would anyone be able to give me some advice on how to proceed?

You accepted the deemed contract when you used gas for the first time upon taking ownership of the property, and you do not have the ability to accept or reject the invoices, they are payable and due.

The details of who was supplying your gas would have been provided to you through your solicitor before you completed on the purchase, so this problem should have been anticipated.

Hopefully you have done nothing to accept a fixed term contract and if so then you just need to switch to a supplier that has both a business and a domestic supply licence, and then change to a domestic supply.