E.ON withdrew fixed tariff after home move, so going to the Energy Ombudsman

SamDude

I’m currently taking a complaint about E.ON Next to the Energy Ombudsman and wanted to share so people are aware (and get advice).

Short version:
E.ON confirmed in writing that my existing fixed tariff would transfer when I moved house. After a series of failed transfer attempts, E.ON eventually took over the supply, applied the tariff - then a week later withdrew the tariff.

Full version:
At the beginning of 2026 I was on an E.ON fixed tariff that was due to expire in May 2026.
I moved out of my old property in February, and used E.ON’s Home Moving service to take the tariff with me. I informed E.ON that there was a delay before moving in to the new place (so I was staying with family for a few months).

In April, I knew there would be a purchase delay until June so I let E.ON know. E.ON confirmed in writing (by email) that my existing fixed tariff would be carried forward to the new property for the remainder of the fixed term.

There were other E.ON issues between April-June, but fast forward to end of June and we finally moved in. I informed E.ON and they didn’t take over the supply. This meant I was on OVO’s (the other supplier) SVR until the end of July when E.ON actually managed to take over the supply.

When E.ON finally took over the supply at the end of July, it applied the fixed tariff that had previously been confirmed - and importantly, E.ON extended the tariff end date by around 40 days, to account for the period I'd spent on the other supplier's SVR.

The fixed tariff was showing on my E.ON account (as at early August), so I thought the whole thing had finally been sorted.

Why I’m taking it to the Ombudsman
In early August when I was expecting to close the complaint and discuss goodwill credit (for being on OVO’s SVR), E.ON told me that the fixed tariff was being withdrawn and that I'd need to choose a new fixed tariff at the current rates.

This was the first time E.ON had told me that it wasn't going to honour the tariff it had previously confirmed.

I refused to pick a new tariff (at the August rates, versus the early 2025 rate I thought I still had). The E.ON rep told me that E.ON would be "in trouble with the regulator" if it offered or honoured a historic tariff.

I still refused to pick a tariff so I am currently on their SVR, and they sent a deadlock letter.

Next:
I have written up a longer version with timeline and E.ON’s failures, and I have email proof from April that they were letting me keep the ‘unused’ term of the fixed rate after I moved from June-Sept (which was after the tariff ‘expiry’ in May).

Before I submit it to the Energy Ombudsman, I wanted to check for similar experiences and advice.

Questions:

• Can an energy supplier withdraw a fixed tariff after confirming it in writing and subsequently applying it to the account?
• Does the fact that E.ON actually applied the tariff make a difference?
• Is there genuinely a regulatory reason why E.ON couldn't honour the tariff?
• How successful is the Ombudsman route likely to be?

MWT

Just as a general comment, fixed tariffs are usually backed by the supplier hedging the forward price of the energy that they anticipate being used for each month of the fixed period, that is specific dates.

So a fixed tariff due to end in May '26 should have ended then even if they allowed you to move it to a new property.

You cannot usually suspend a fixed tariff and then later use the remainder of the fixed period, as there is no 'remainder' to be used. In fact you generally can't suspend a fixed tariff at all as the supplier has already paid for the majority of the energy you are now not using during the period of the suspension, this is why there are often exit penalties on fixed tariffs.

I'd suggest that the basis of your complaint is just that they did not tell you this and led you to believe it was possible to do this and not just the normal practice of moving a tariff direct from one property to another without a gap..

MattMattMattUK

The problem is you did not transfer from one property to another, you moved out, ceased supply, the set up a new supply many moths later.

In reply to your questions:

Yes they can withdraw a contract if it is a legitimate error or the contract would be in breach of their supply license.

No, the fact that they made an error in applying it makes no difference

Yes, there is a regulatory reason, SLC 22B (and others) prohibits them from offering tariffs which have ended (as well as bespoke on discriminatory tariffs) to consumers. A supply is not allowed you to offer a defunct tariff from last year.

My opinion would be zero chance of success at the ombudsman. You might get £50 as "a gesture of good will" or possibly for "distress and inconvenience" as E.On made mistakes with customer service, but you could and probably will get nothing.


You may be able to get them to offer £50-100 pre-Ombudsman for the customer service issue, if they do bite their hand off.

born_again

So fixed tariff expired MAY 26, yet you did not move in to the property till end JUNE.

In reality your lucky they refunded for the other suppliers SVT.

You knew when the fix ended, so why would you expect it to continue after that date? Just because were not using the fix, is not a reason to expect them to extend the end date.

In reality the issue is of your making by not moving in when you 1st advised them. Possible supplier move failed as pervious owner blocked them, as they still owned the house. As you were not paying for any energy supply, then they could have taken that the fixed was ceased by default of they were not suppling anything.

Fixed tariffs are withdrawn all the time. Especially when prices change.

Do they have to honor tariff. No, it's a internal process that regulator has no power over.

Odds on success slim to none.

SamDude

Thanks all. The email from E.ON in April (when I told them the move was delayed) confirmed the tariff would be applied from June - September. They would have known this was after May and therefore past the original end date.

It was not until August (a week after they had actually applied the tariff) that they withdrew it - so I did have the tariff applied after the original expiry.

Had I been informed that they would not honour it, I could have made an informed decision such as fixing in June or remaining/moving to a different supplier.

I have logged the case and will wait for the EO to review.