People who have left or leaving please be aware that oftm have vastly overestimated energy used on the final statement thus keeping credit owed to you.. Please check your final statement from them to make sure it has not happened to you.
Outfox the Market is only allowed to block a switch if there's been debt on the account for more than 28 days.
But a debit balance on your account when you pay by direct debit is not a debt.
Suppliers are allowed to block transfers if "at the time the request is made Outstanding Charges are due to the licensee from that Domestic Customer;" (SLC 14.4(a))
Outstanding Charges are defined as "the amount of any Charges for the Supply of Gas [or electricity] which are due to the licensee from a Domestic Customer, have been demanded of that Domestic Customer by the licensee in Writing at least 28 days previously and remain unpaid;" (SLC 1.2 Definitions)
In my view, a statement of account is not a demand for payment - unless, of course, the supplier habitually refunds any credit balance when any statement is issued having a credit balance.
Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Thank you Martin Lewis for taking the time to highlight this dreadful company. I now find myself checking my bank daily for any direct debits that could unlawfully have been taken. The worst experience of my life!
Thank you Martin Lewis for taking the time to highlight this dreadful company. I now find myself checking my bank daily for any direct debits that could unlawfully have been taken. The worst experience of my life!
Not only that, the apparent ease with which companies can “re-instate” a cancelled Direct Debit has surely rung alarm bells with a lot of people. I thnk the banks will need to take a long hard look at the Direct Debit system after this. Perhaps all banks could be compelled to advise their customers WHENEVER a Direct Debit is set-up? It would appear that relying on the Originator to notify customers is not always enough.
1) I prefer to pay different prices seasonally rather than running up a debt in the winter and a credit in the summer
2) Even after the price increases their variable tariff is one of the cheapest on the market for me
3) It is better that they increase prices more frequently as spot prices increase rather than putting prices up in bigger steps to get ahead of the market and thus charge more overall
4) I got through to CS this afternoon after about 30 mins on hold on their free number and was then able to make an extra payment as my DDs had been much too low so far.
5) They have got in a real mess over their direct debit notifications and amounts which is concerning that their systems may be in a mess.
Bulb is overpriced ... they have one of most expensive high standing charge, and tarif is variable so ... it can be story again with (already medium rates) to becaome high rates per unit. ( them 100 credit vanish in 10 months - so NO thank you :cool:
I have just switched to Utility Point. Everybody should do your own calculation
I switched to OFTM from Bulb in November, I think I got the first email about rate hikes just before my cooling off period ended.. but thought, hey they're still fairly cheap... Then just after the cooling off period is over I get the emails about direct debit changes (that were miscalculated and higher than they should have been) and then the further hikes.
Luckily my initial payment of £56 went out on the 21st, before they had hiked everything. Anyway, the confused way they handled the DD stuff set my alarm bells ringing, so initiated switch to Octopus, this has gone smoothly so far and is set to complete on the 20th December. But my super big DD to OFTM is due on the 21st.... I suspect the £56 I paid as first payment will not quite be enough to cover my usage, but the next direct debit of around £96 will be WAY too much.. obviously what OFTM should do is not take this big amount, calculate my final bill, and take whatever small amount is needed. What I expect them to do is take the full £96 and take forever (if at all) to refund me...
So do I cancel the direct debit or not? I hear they are randomly deducting "fines" from people who are attempting to cancel direct debits ...
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Suppliers are allowed to block transfers if "at the time the request is made Outstanding Charges are due to the licensee from that Domestic Customer;" (SLC 14.4(a))
Outstanding Charges are defined as "the amount of any Charges for the Supply of Gas [or electricity] which are due to the licensee from a Domestic Customer, have been demanded of that Domestic Customer by the licensee in Writing at least 28 days previously and remain unpaid;" (SLC 1.2 Definitions)
In my view, a statement of account is not a demand for payment - unless, of course, the supplier habitually refunds any credit balance when any statement is issued having a credit balance.
Not only that, the apparent ease with which companies can “re-instate” a cancelled Direct Debit has surely rung alarm bells with a lot of people. I thnk the banks will need to take a long hard look at the Direct Debit system after this. Perhaps all banks could be compelled to advise their customers WHENEVER a Direct Debit is set-up? It would appear that relying on the Originator to notify customers is not always enough.
2) Even after the price increases their variable tariff is one of the cheapest on the market for me
3) It is better that they increase prices more frequently as spot prices increase rather than putting prices up in bigger steps to get ahead of the market and thus charge more overall
4) I got through to CS this afternoon after about 30 mins on hold on their free number and was then able to make an extra payment as my DDs had been much too low so far.
5) They have got in a real mess over their direct debit notifications and amounts which is concerning that their systems may be in a mess.
cheap energy club comment For months you've been ignoring the fact that the membership fee was based on ESTIMATED usage, not actual usage.
Now I guess you're going to ignore that they've started charging an exorbitant standing charge, NOT A MEMBERSHIP FEE.
Bulb is overpriced ... they have one of most expensive high standing charge, and tarif is variable so ... it can be story again with (already medium rates) to becaome high rates per unit. ( them 100 credit vanish in 10 months - so NO thank you :cool:
I have just switched to Utility Point. Everybody should do your own calculation
Luckily my initial payment of £56 went out on the 21st, before they had hiked everything. Anyway, the confused way they handled the DD stuff set my alarm bells ringing, so initiated switch to Octopus, this has gone smoothly so far and is set to complete on the 20th December. But my super big DD to OFTM is due on the 21st.... I suspect the £56 I paid as first payment will not quite be enough to cover my usage, but the next direct debit of around £96 will be WAY too much.. obviously what OFTM should do is not take this big amount, calculate my final bill, and take whatever small amount is needed. What I expect them to do is take the full £96 and take forever (if at all) to refund me...
So do I cancel the direct debit or not? I hear they are randomly deducting "fines" from people who are attempting to cancel direct debits ...