Changing supplier when in debt?

vix2000

I want to change supplier from eon as they have been a complete nightmare. Without going into detail 6 months ago according to their bills they owed me round £500 then in October they decided I owed them over £700. After many telephone calls and not much help from them I am paying £212 a month, about a third of my income, and am being harrassed for more.

I want out, but in all the comparison sites eon come up the cheapest, BUT the sites don't show the social tariffs for which I qualify due to being on DLA.

Can anyone help answer the following questions please:-

Can I move whilst I owe eon just over £300.00?

While I intend moving from eon whether they are the cheapest provider or not, would it be possible for another providers normal tariff to be less than southern electrics care tariff with 20% discount?

Thanks.

smartie1976

I think the care and social tariffs aren't widely published, so you'd have to contact each company separately - check their individual websites and see if they're on there. I'll give you a link to the BG one as I have it to hand, but it doesn't have the tariffs on it I see. I'm sure others can supply info for other companies so there isn't bias. (I don't work on the phones or accounts so I'm not well informed of the pricing).
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/about-british-gas/what's-important-to-us/customer-commitment/essential.html*

I'm pretty sure you can change if you are in debt - of course you take the debt with you (so effectively eon will be 'paid off' by your new supplier to take your account). Someone will confirm that for me.


*Essentials Tariff is available to all eligible BG customers (in receipt of appropriate benefit) on 0845 850 2207

mute_posting

smartie1976 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you can change if you are in debt - of course you take the debt with you (so effectively eon will be 'paid off' by your new supplier to take your account). Someone will confirm that for me.

I don't believe it is possible - it is something that is being "looked at" currently.

Although is not a legal thing, just a policy decision by the suppliers so they may allow you to switch, but don't count on it, they can (and probably will) stop the switch.

HTH

MP

earthmother

I always understood it that you would be expected to pay off your debt to the first company before moving to the next. And that the first company could block a move if they thought you were a payment risk(?).

It would be great if you could take your debt with you, but I doubt it will happen, as it's been 'looked into' for ages now (I remember hearing about it ages ago).

We're with Eon, paying £164 a month on their energy online tariff - I asked about a better tariff, and was told this was the best. When I queried the possibility of a social tarriff (husband on DLA), they couldn't/wouldn't provide me with any information, just quoting the same line that 'energy online is the best tariff'.

To be fair, this may be true - it is known that the social tariffs are not always the cheapest when you take online tariffs into account, but I would still be interested in the figures for their social tariff if you manage to get them.

vix2000

I have emailed southern energy for details of their tariff. It is stated that it is a 20% discount, but I don't know of what. I will let you know when I get a reply.

far

vix2000 wrote: »

I have emailed southern energy for details of their tariff. It is stated that it is a 20% discount, but I don't know of what. I will let you know when I get a reply.

It is off their standard gas and electric tariffs.

Cardew

You cannot move from one company to the next if the losing company objects; and, understandably, most will object. They reason, with justification that they will be low on the priority list for their debt to be paid.

Also you will probably find the gaining company unwilling to take on someone who would appear to have difficulty paying their bills.

What for instance is to stop someone running up debts with company A, moving to company B with that debt, increasing that debt and then on to company C etc etc.

stewie_griffin

vix2000 wrote: »

Can anyone help answer the following questions please:-

Can I move whilst I owe eon just over £300.00?

If the £212 per month that you are paying is by direct Debit then you will be able to switch without eon objecting. All that will happen is when you get your final bill the final balance will be automatically claimed from your bank account as a one off DD claim.

earthmother wrote: »

We're with Eon, paying £164 a month on their energy online tariff - I asked about a better tariff, and was told this was the best. When I queried the possibility of a social tarriff (husband on DLA), they couldn't/wouldn't provide me with any information, just quoting the same line that 'energy online is the best tariff'.

E.on don't offer any social tariffs which is why they couldn't tell you about them. Do you know whick version of EnergyOnline you are on?

earthmother

stewie_griffin wrote: »

E.on don't offer any social tariffs which is why they couldn't tell you about them. Do you know whick version of EnergyOnline you are on?

Thanks for that bit of information - I didn't realise that.

As far as I know we're just on the standard EnergyOnline tariff - we were on the Winter Saver that finished at the end of March, and the conversation I mentioned earlier came from me calling them to ask what the next best step was.

stewie_griffin

earthmother wrote: »

Thanks for that bit of information - I didn't realise that.

As far as I know we're just on the standard EnergyOnline tariff - we were on the Winter Saver that finished at the end of March, and the conversation I mentioned earlier came from me calling them to ask what the next best step was.

If you're just on the standard EnergyOnline then you will be better off switching on to the latest Extra Saver version. Just log in to your online account and click on the change tariff option. This will confirm your current tariff and allow you to switch on to another one without having to call.

earthmother

Thanks - I did have a look online, but couldn't see any significant difference between the majority of the tariffs - will go and take another look.