Rented Property - Letting Agent wants to "switch"

Jurg

Got a letter this morning from my letting agent saying:

In the interests of utility management we are proposing to transfer all our properties to Southern Electric giving you the opportunity to save money on your energy bills and simplify the settling of your bills when you vacate.

It then goes on about the savings compared to Powergen and British Gas.

My current home does not use gas, and it appears most of the "savings" would come from switching from both BG and Powergen to one single provider, a situation which doesn't apply to me as I only deal with Powergen.

They have enclosed a partially completed form to transfer to Southern Electric, and it also states on the letter that they want me to send it in by January 26th. My questions to anyone who can help are:

(a) Do I have to switch? The letter begins that they propose this move, but they also gave me an arbitrary deadline by which time I should have sent in the transfer form.

(b) Am I likely to save money by moving from a monthly direct debit with Powergen for my electric only (as I don't get gas) to a "Quarterly Prompt Account" (whatever that is) with Southern Electric?

The one thing which makes me fairly hesitant is that I currently get Tesco Clubcard points with Powergen.

Any help would be most appreciated.:o

earthmother

I would imagine a 'quarterly prompt account' is the old fashioned way where they send you a bill every three months and you pay it - so I would imagine it would cost you more than your current method, as there are usually discounts for paying by DD.


Our letting agents tried something similar about a year back - to be honest, I forgot all about it as other things were going on at the time, so they never had the form back etc, and they've never chased me for it.

Thinking about it, I think it was Southern then too - maybe they have some sort of incentive offer for LAs who can get them x-many new customers.

olly300

Jurg wrote: »

My questions to anyone who can help are:

(a) Do I have to switch? The letter begins that they propose this move, but they also gave me an arbitrary deadline by which time I should have sent in the transfer form.

No this is not legal. If your name is on the bill you are legally responsible for paying it and you can legally switch to or have any supplier you like.

The only reason the LA or LL needs to know what company you are with is so when you move out the new occupiers can easily contact the right utility company to set up an account. However this is not a legal requirement.

(b) Am I likely to save money by moving from a monthly direct debit with Powergen for my electric only (as I don't get gas) to a "Quarterly Prompt Account" (whatever that is) with Southern Electric?

The one thing which makes me fairly hesitant is that I currently get Tesco Clubcard points with Powergen.

Any help would be most appreciated.:o

Personally I would ignore the letter.

If the LA tries to switch you, Powergen will contact you by post asking if you really want to switch. You then just need to contact them on the number on the letter and say the LA fraudently tried to switch you and you want to stay with them.

BTW Southern Electric give you a discount on your next bill if you pay your current bill immediately. I've not worked out whether this is cheaper than their other DD tariffs simply because I'm not with them.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Jurg wrote: »

(b) Am I likely to save money by moving from a monthly direct debit with Powergen for my electric only (as I don't get gas) to a "Quarterly Prompt Account" (whatever that is) with Southern Electric?

The one thing which makes me fairly hesitant is that I currently get Tesco Clubcard points with Powergen.

Any help would be most appreciated.:o

Pop your usage into a comparison site and see what the figures look like.

It does sound a bit like the letting agents might have been convinced by a Southern Electric salesman that this would be the cheapest option.

Lorian

Mike_by_the_Sea wrote: »

It does sound a bit like the letting agents might have been convinced by a Southern Electric salesman...

Maybe there is a referral number on the partly filled form the OP mentioned, or am I a sceptic......:rolleyes:

Ignite

When we moved in to our flat, the electricity was with Southern (the local company) and the gas with British Gas. The agents didn't want us to switch but we did anyway as the contract is between us and the utility company. We haven't heard anything from the agents since switching, and they would have to do more snooping than it is worth them doing for what they are paid to make it worth their while finding out.

Just ignore the letter from the agent. It is worth having a look in your tenancy agreement, as if there is nothing in there to say anything about who the utility contracts are with, they can go ...........

ChumpusRex

Ignite wrote: »

Just ignore the letter from the agent. It is worth having a look in your tenancy agreement, as if there is nothing in there to say anything about who the utility contracts are with, they can go ...........

Whether there is, or isn't, anything in the tenancy agreement, the agent can't do anything - it's none of their business. It's unfair for a tenancy agreement to tie a tenant to a specific utility provider, and therefore the law would override such a term.

The only thing they can ask you to do, and can charge a fee for dealing with, is if you change and don't tell them when you move out. They are entitled to know who the supplier is when you move out, so they can check if the bills have been paid, and that the property is not at risk of disconnection.

Even though suppliers aren't supposed to chase landlords for tenants debts, they tend to have the upper hand. And if they disconnect the power to the property, then the landlord is in a difficult position - as the only way he's going to be able to relet the property is to pay someone else's debt.

Jurg

I decided to stay with Powergen (now e.on), so ignored the letter. Today I got a final statement through from e.on saying "We are sorry you are leaving us". Obviously the letting agents decided to take their own action, are they allowed to do this??

I rang e.on, and I was told that my account had been moved to Southern Electric. I told them that I never gave my consent for this to happen, and they advised me to call Southern Electric and notify them that I had been subject to an "erroneous transfer",at which point they should transfer me back to my original provider.

I'm going to do this, but my point is that I'm really angry at my letting agents for changing my supplier without my permission. I'm going to call them, but how should I approach the issue with them?

mute_posting

I would say it is illegal based on the (perhaps limited) knowledge I have.

As others said, the contract is with you not the letting agent. Imagine if they wrote to everyone and said they were transferring their phonelines to company x

I would also be turning the air blue with the Letting Agent!

I know you said you wanted to stay with e.on because of tesco points - but have you actually checked that for your usage they are the cheapest?

MP

Jurg

Thanks, I checked with uswitch and they have Southern Electric down as more expensive for me. Rang the letting agent and they seemed surprised that I had been switched without asking for it. The impression I got was that they were using some third party company to switch their tenants for them, and maybe it was them to blame.

Back to e.on then! Thanks to everyone who's helped me out on this thread.:T