Tomato Energy goes bust - here's what you need to know

EssexHebridean

Please all ignore the post above (bboy2000) which is spam advertising an energy broker service. If you were with Tomato and are now being SOLR'd to B Gas the best advice remains to sit tight until you are confirmed to have been fully set up with BG - and THEN take steps to switch. 

pjmony

Have been switched to BG from Tomato.
BG phoned me and offered a 'special' tariff - 1 year fixed - no exit fee - std chg 35.75 - 24.39 per unit

Currently on variable st chg 51.15 - 27.10 per unit - so looks a decent saving.
Just need to check he was really from BG before I agree to it.
For some reason this tariff is not listed on their website - which raised my suspicions.

jadex

pjmony said:

Have been switched to BG from Tomato.
BG phoned me and offered a 'special' tariff - 1 year fixed - no exit fee - std chg 35.75 - 24.39 per unit

Currently on variable st chg 51.15 - 27.10 per unit - so looks a decent saving.
Just need to check he was really from BG before I agree to it.
For some reason this tariff is not listed on their website - which raised my suspicions.

You need to log into your account via link provided in the email from BG to be able to see this fixed offer.

MiM

Can anyone help me with my maths? I've been offered a "special deal" to stay with BG. It looks like they make them up on the spot! Mine is 23.93p per unit, 44.76p standing charge and £150 bill credit. I had started a switch to a company called Home Energy, offering 19.378p per unit and 57.557p standing charge. According to MSE Cheap Energy Club details I use 6791 kWh per year (all electric home, heat pump). Can anyone tell me which is a better deal? 

QrizB

MiM said:

 Can anyone tell me which is a better deal? 

Are both offers fixed for 12 months?

On the BG deal you'll save 12.797p/day on SC but will pay an extra 4.552p/kWh, plus the £150 credit 

Over 12 months that's £46.71 saved on SC, £309.13 extra on electricity, and a £150 credit. In total you'll be £112.42 worse off with BG.

WiserMiser

MiM said:

According to MSE Cheap Energy Club details I use 6791 kWh per year (all electric home, heat pump).

Apologies for a bit of finger wagging...  Firstly, it's not good practice for emails to ask you to click on a link, so look very carefully to make sure it's not a scam.  Does it mention you by name, show your account number or the last part of your postcode?  Look closely at the sender's mail address.  As BG is a big supplier it could easily be phishing, and it's quite easy for a scammer to find out who your supplier is.  If you accept it, don't give the sender any payment details, BG already has them, same if you get a follow up call claiming to be from BG.

The MSE CEC details may or may not be correct, ditto any estimated annual consumption on a bill. You need to take ownership by establishing your annual usage yourself (it's not difficult, especially for electricity where there're no conversion from volume to kWh problems).

From your paper bills or online account, find two 'real' readings 12 months apart, the more recent the better. That means Smart, Customer or Meter Reader but never Estimated.  Subtract the older from the newer and that's it.

Then there's a bit of crystal ball stuff.  Do you expect the next year or whatever the fixed offer period is to be warmer or colder?  Do you expect any any lifestyle changes, e.g. new sprog or existing ones going away to uni or returning, etc?  Do you expect world peace or WW3?

You can then do the sums.  Then look at the exit fee and consider how good Customer Service is (unlikely to be good with BG).

Good luck, please come back in due course and tell us how it went.

MiM

Thanks both. I just went through my bills for my last year with Octopus before going to Tomato and I make the actual usage 9280.4, so quite a bit above the estimated use.

I'm hoping usage will be down this year because we're learning how to use the heat pump far more efficiently.

Sounds like I'm better off going to Home Energy than taking the BG offer. Would you agree? Offer came via a phone call and I didn't give them any bank details, so pretty confident it's genuine.

I've run the new actual figure through the MSE Cheap Energy Club calculator and Home Energy still comes out best for me.

BG offer is 12 months fixed. Home Energy doesn't say but it says they have zero exit fees.

WiserMiser

I'm reluctant to say Yay or Nay because I wouldn't have to deal with the consequences if things went pear shaped.  As you've seen with Tomato, many small and very cheap suppliers have crashed and burned, but at least you know the risks.

BG are unlikely to go bust, but in my experience good BG customer service is equally unlikely.

Go to https://www.homeenergy.co.uk/ and check all the tariff details there.

Also try a few Ofgem approved comparison sites.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/switching-energy-supplier

MiM

Thanks WM, will do. 

JKS$(

I took out BG's Welcome Exclusive Dec 26 s/c 36.9p rate 25.24p (Wales) & have tried to set up a realistic direct debit - BG suggested £10.66 which doesn't even cover the s/c. The maximum d/d I could set up was £11.79. No doubt they'll be in touch when I run quickly into a debit balance.

 Is this standard practice with SOLR? I can't imagine where such a low d/d figure would come from - any ideas?

I signed up for PeakSave quickly, which is working & appears to have remained in place with my tariff switch. But I can't submit meter reads yet.