Cashback Price Comparison Services Discussion

teri_3

Karen

The references you quote are indeed correct but these are just part of the overrall rules to be applied. If you took what you noted as the full picture then we would not deduct income tax and national insurance from an employee.

It's all very well looking at part of the picture but you need to look at the full picture.

From what you suggest it would be okay for you to send me say £100 for doing nothing. This would be a fantastic loophole to make no profit and save tax, send your family and friends money! Unfortunately that's not so.

I have double checked and Inland Revenue rules are specific and a tax and, potentially a national insurance liability, does indeed exist.

As to where that liability sits this is the grey area - from a general chat with my colleagues we believe that it should remain with the organisation concerned.

For anyone who runs a cash-back service like this it would be wise to seek specific advice and written clarification from the officer responsible for your affairs at the revenue. This will ensure that no unnexpected liabilities exist when preparing your end of year figures.

Incidentally I did call your call centre this afternoon but you were unable to help as you do not offer Equipower who are the cheapest supplier for my particular circumstances - even with your cashback I would have been out of pocket from the supplier I have chosen through an actual Energywatch accredited price service.

Would it not be a good idea for you to offer a full comparison service or do you just include the suppliers who pay you fee in excess of your cashback?

Surely this must be manipulation of the market. People will think they have the cheapest price when you don't even include these suppliers.

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On a seperate note:

Martin, I came to you because you were seen as the best money saver - surely you have to say something when a company is not including the best deals and lets people think they are by offering cashbacks on higher priced products.

Its a bit like going in to Comet to buy a washing machine, being told its the cheapest in the market and comes with a £50 bonus, when next door Currys has it £200 cheaper.

mrtickle

First post. Has anyone had any problem getting the £10  cashback from Energyhelpline. Switched gas & elec. to Scot Pwr in April using the Energyhelpline cashback site but no cashback. Phoned, promised to phone back but didn't. Sent two emails but no response??? >:(

I had to phone them up for my cashback, which I received yesterday. I don't know how long it would have taken if I'd waited - but as the actual switch took a while I decided I wanted my money sooner rather than later and phoned them on Aug 6th, which was just over 2 weeks after my switch date. I used the number from Martin's original article - 0800 279 45 46. If you have been phoning a different number try this one! HTH

COS

Terri

I read your post with interest as questions have been raised on previous postings  regarding this price comparison service.

I would like to know which company they change you to to obtain a £50.00 cash back as I did phone but was on hold for ages. Also I never like the fact they record your call of which they do tell you before they keep you hanging on, sort of defeats the object even though it is a free number.

Karen_Darby

Teri

My friend's daughter got married on Saturday, I gave them £100 as a wedding gift - do they have to pay tax on that? I don't think so. There has to be a line drawn somewhere otherwise where would it end? Do you pay tax every time someone buys you a drink?! Perhaps Martin should pay the tax as we set aside the cash from our marketing budget and he very kindly promoted us for free, in effect giving our marketing cash to the customers but I don't think he'll appreciate that! Seriously -I have looked into this very carefully but I do note your comments and will get it triple checked.

I note also your comments regarding our service and energywatch - please be clear, the quote engine used by SIMPLYSWITCH IS ENERGYWATCH ACCREDITED.

We do offer a full comparison service which is completely visible when you log on to our website. Naturally we can only offer cashback for suppliers where we can actually switch the customer which is most but not all. The cashback is an incentive to encourage people to pick up the phone and get a free energy price check - it should not be your overriding consideration when choosing a supplier.

As I'm unable to regularly post comments please feel free email me directly with any questions, concerns or comments you may have.

X that applies to you too. (Moderator comment:- I have removed the real name of the person concerned. Please only use their screen name.)

Karen Darby
CEO
SimplySwitch

teri_3

Karen

Your note is interesting - the circumstances you note are gift related and the rules that apply here are very different when it comes to gifts. Yet even here we have limits.

However I am glad to see you are going to check out the tax situation with your local Revenue office.

I am now completely confused by what you say about Energywatch.

I have been to their website, assuming I have got the correct Energywatch, the address is https://www.energywatch.org.uk and they do not list your company at all.

At the same time I also came across the page:
http://www.energywatch.org.uk/help_and_advice/saving_money/price_comparison_services/code_of_practice.asp (sorry about the length of the website).

This page states the terms of the Energywatch Code of Practice and point 2 says that you must include ALL available tariffs.

Quite clearly your website does not, maybe that's why Energywatch have removed you from their pages.

I had a thorough look into this and it would appear that your site does not allow you to sign up to:

Atlantic Electric and Gas
Basic Power
Virgin Home Energy
Telecom Plus
Seeboard
Southern Electric
Ecotricity
Ebico

and you appear to miss out a company called Green Energy

This is contradictory to what you say about the suppliers you represent.

The user COS mentioned something about a some kind of warning - that's maybe a bit too strict but I think you need to consider changing your website and telephone service to say that you compare some suppliers, not all and that better deals may be available eleseehere.

Without this you could be effectively be seen to misselling and look what happened in the financial services industry.

When I spoke to someone last week at your company I was told that my cheapest quote was xxxx, which was clearly not true as my cheapest supplier was in fact Ebico.

Thinking this through had I changed to xxxx with you last week then your advice would have amounted to misleading information - I would be very interested to hear your comments on this.

Teri

Smartasss

Ebico.

teri mentions this supplier in her post, and there is one point to look out for with them.

They don't have any standing charges, so they are an immediate attraction for low users.

But they also only have a single rate (some other suppliers that don't have standing charges have a stepped system - higher rates for the first so many units, and then a lower rate for the remainder).

The point to look out for is when using their on site gas calculator.

It asks for the latest Kwh consumption from your last bill, then calculates the cost it would have been if they had been your supplier.

Most folks latest bills are for a very low usage period, and using this calculator may well suggest a big saving by switching - but you ought to input a years consumption to get a more realistic comparison.

COS

Karen Derby was priviledged to have me give the company she represents my personal details.Karen Derby took it upon her self to abuse this fact and released my real name on site of which the mod has deleted due to several complaints.

I warn all of you when dealing with the company she represents to take her actions into account when using her services as she is liable to break customer confidentiality and give out your personal details.

I have reported her to the appropiate authority to investigate her actions.

CabShiraz

I had to phone them up for my cashback, which I received yesterday. I don't know how long it would have taken if I'd waited - but as the actual switch took a while I decided I wanted my money sooner rather than later and phoned them on Aug 6th, which was just over 2 weeks after my switch date. I used the number from Martin's original article - 0800 279 45 46. If you have been phoning a different number try this one! HTH

mrtickle

Thanks for the phone number. I had tried this without success as they simply referred me to a London number who didn't phone back after promising to do so. Two emails also went without reply. Anyway following your post I phoned your number again and today received the cheque. It's taken 4 months so it pays to be persistent. Cheers

mrtickle

Cool, no probs! ;D