FUSE UPFRONT PAYMENT TO SWITCH

wolfysmith

Email from Martin Lewis 16 April 2026 advising to get an energy fixed deal before they are withdrawn as July cap likely to be 15%. Signed up with FUSE only to find that once i had got to the end of the process, setting up Direct Debit etc., i was asked to xfer £100 as a pre payment (due to credit check red flag) to effect the switch from my current supplier using a 3rd Party to take the money from my bank account.

My bank states that FUSE cant demand a prepayment even for credit check problems. I did my own credit check. THERE IS NO PROBLEM, the 3rd Party is not a reliable service provider as per the FCA and my bank advised me not to use the FUSE's 3rd Party.

FUSE were unhelpful and ignored my request to remove the prepayment and it did not answer my questions re credit check evidence. I decided to switch elsewhere.

I have my own thoughts about why the £100 pre payment, any comments/similar experience?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Wolfy

QrizB

Many energy suppliers take a payment upfront. Octopus did this when I first joined them 4-5 years ago.

Xbigman

Unfortunately no supplier has to take you as a customer. If you failed their criteria for a credit account they can ask for a security deposit. This is perfectly normal. Your only recourse is to go elsewhere, which I note you have done.

Fuse use open banking to take any direct payments that are made, which is done by a third party. I've used it with them multiple times with no problems. My bank, Lloyds, also has no problem with the 3rd party (I forget their name). If you've never seen this before it can be a bit of a surprize but is fairly normal. I say fairly because I personally wouldn't use it with some random website, but with a large legitimate organisation I would not hesitate.

Darren

WiserMiser

Check what happens if Fuse go bust.

Normally you'd get all your security deposit refunded together with all your final credit balance under Ofgem's SoLR rules, but is this still 100% guaranteed if the deposit is held by a third party? 🤔

bristolleedsfan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966396#Comment_81966396

Prepayment requirement is not the same as a Security deposit.

https://www.fuseenergy.com/legal/energy-supply-terms-and-conditions

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bristolleedsfan

Fuse uses GoCardless to collect customers’ monthly bills, as does Octopus Energy

https://gocardless.com/stories/octopus-energy/

Xbigman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966651#Comment_81966651

But if you make a direct payment to your account they use a different company.

Whether its go cardless or the other company its Fuse that gets the money, the third parties involved don't hold anything. I did try to google the name of the other company but every question just returns GoCardless, which it isn't. I also checked my bank statement but it just says Fuse energy.

Darren

Mouldymeat3

When I joined Fuse in 2023, they were using London and Zurich for their back-office. Bill presentation has gone through several iterations but no up-front payment for monthly Direct Debit was required.

Bill raised on second working day of the month and DD on seventh day. Nothing like the battle I had with British Gas as SoLR for a year.

wolfysmith

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6664520/fuse-upfront-payment-to-switch

TO ALL THOSE OF YOU WHOO REPLIED: THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS. I SUSPECT THAT THE PREPAYMENT DUE TO CREDIT CHECK WAS JUST A REVENUE GENERATOR. I WOILDN'T SHARE MY PERSONAL/BANK DATA WITH ANYONE. IF THEY DONT WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH ME THEN TOUGH !!!!!! 😀

WiserMiser

Please don't SHOUT !