Am I liable to pay debit balance for mis-sold tariff?

Neil_Jones · 5 December 2019 at 11:42PM

You've used the energy, you still have to pay for it. Whether you paid £13 a month of 13p a month, you've used it. No such thing as a free lunch.

I'd suggest taking the £150 compensation, stop sticking your head in the sand so to speak and arrange to pay what you owe this supplier (either maybe via the larger direct debits, or instalments or a prepay meter) and learn from the experience for next time,. £13 a month debit was a ridiculous starting figure in the first place.

matelodave · 5 December 2019 at 11:49PM

Better still, raed your meter once a month and check your bills once a month then you'd know if your bill was correct and if you DD was covering it. If you didn't bother to do either then I'm sorry but it's you that's at fault, so not a lot of sympathy here I'm afraid

Take the £150 because it's a very generous offer for something you should have sorted out. |Get your affairs in order and pay what you owe because you've used it and why should anyone else foot your energy bill because you couldn't be bothered to check your bills.

Streaky_Bacon · 6 December 2019 at 2:50AM

As the above posters point out, you have used the energy and so will have to pay something for it.

My question would be, what is a reasonable amount for you to pay?

I would suggest that you should pay at least the amount that you would have paid under the cheapest available tariff on the market (or at least the cheapest tariff available from the provider that you were induced to move away from). If you have paid more than that, because you were induced by mis-selling then that difference is arguably the your loss due to the mis-selling.

Do you have:

1) The details of the tariff you were mis-sold (unit rates and standing charge)
2) The same details for the tariff you switched from?
3) Your usage for gas and/or electricity during the contract?

Mr.Everready · 6 December 2019 at 9:25AM

Your normal usage was £90 a month and you thought that £13 would be enough on a new contract ?

When the "salesman" said you'd now pay £13 I bet you could hardly contain the smile. Thinking he's f*&%$d up here and I'm going to be quids in.

btr30 · 6 December 2019 at 12:47PM

It is a sharp practice that sales agents reel people in with the promise of low payments, and thereafter build up a big debt. However the tariff details will have been provided, and you agreed to the tariff, used the energy so the debt is yours.
The sales agent is only interested in their commission and will tell you anything to get that DD set up.
You then have a 14 day cooling off period to research and decide if the deal is right for you.
As others have said the £150 compensation appears to be a decent result, and you will have learned from the experience

RelievedSheff · 6 December 2019 at 1:58PM

Ogeybogey wrote: »

At the time, £13/month did not ring alarm bells because I have never had the responsibility of paying these bills directly. This was my father's responsibility and I lived with my parents to care for my father. Following his death, I supported my mother to sort out the estate and bills that we now both shared responsibility for. I contacted the provider following recommendations from friends and the fact they were the winner on Which provider of the year, at that time. They made arrangements for one of their agents to visit me 2 weeks after my father's death and discuss their services because they could amalgamate our utilities and other household bills into one and for this we would get further reductions as a 'gold customer'. I provided 2.5 years of monthly meter readings during the appointment as well as bills from the previous (and at that time, current) provider. So no, it wasn't a doorstep sale, no, it didn't raise alarm bells, no this wasn't down to greed and no, our first bill or subsequent bills did not tell us that! As I mentioned, the Ombudsman have found the provider breached their obligations to me as a consumer and have indeed significantly mis-sold me the tariff/contract. I'm asking, is it fair that I have to settle this debit balance when it has been mis-sold even though the Ombudsman has upheld my complaint and has only reccomended that the provider allow us early exit of the contract with no exit fees?

Yes it is fair that you have to pay the debit balance.

You have used the energy now you have to pay for it.

You should really be checking your bills and energy account on a regular basis to check that the amount you are paying covers what you are using. Clearly in this case what you were paying was a long way short of what you were using.

You are as much at fault as the supplier in this case. The £150 they have offered is a very generous offer. Take it and get the debt paid down and make sure you are also paying enough to cover your use as well as the debt payments.

SeeMe · 6 December 2019 at 2:21PM

Mr.Everready wrote: »

Your normal usage was £90 a month and you thought that £13 would be enough on a new contract ?

When the "salesman" said you'd now pay £13 I bet you could hardly contain the smile. Thinking he's f*&%$d up here and I'm going to be quids in.

It sounds like a corbyn offer and after all it is coming up to gift time, but where does he say £90 a month or are you just throwing out a figure.

Robin9 · 6 December 2019 at 2:27PM

After 12 months he owed £910, having paid 12x£13 = about £89 / month

Gerry1 · 6 December 2019 at 2:31PM

SeeMe wrote: »

where does he say £90 a month or are you just throwing out a figure.

It can be worked out quite easily from the first post. ((12 x £13) + £910.64)/12 = £88.89

Cardew · 6 December 2019 at 2:33PM

Ogeybogey wrote: »

At the time, £13/month did not ring alarm bells because I have never had the responsibility of paying these bills directly. This was my father's responsibility and I lived with my parents to care for my father. Following his death, I supported my mother to sort out the estate and bills that we now both shared responsibility for. I contacted the provider following recommendations from friends and the fact they were the winner on Which provider of the year, at that time. They made arrangements for one of their agents to visit me 2 weeks after my father's death and discuss their services because they could amalgamate our utilities and other household bills into one and for this we would get further reductions as a 'gold customer'. I provided 2.5 years of monthly meter readings during the appointment as well as bills from the previous (and at that time, current) provider. So no, it wasn't a doorstep sale, no, it didn't raise alarm bells, no this wasn't down to greed and no, our first bill or subsequent bills did not tell us that! As I mentioned, the Ombudsman have found the provider breached their obligations to me as a consumer and have indeed significantly mis-sold me the tariff/contract. I'm asking, is it fair that I have to settle this debit balance when it has been mis-sold even though the Ombudsman has upheld my complaint and has only reccomended that the provider allow us early exit of the contract with no exit fees?

It would appear that this is Utility Warehouse.(UW) and seems like their tactics!

UW have never been 'winner on Which provider of the year, at that time.'. Which run a reader's survey where readers vote. Given that UW have literally hundreds of thousands of 'salesmen', all with a vested interest! they always do well on this type of survey.

The ombudsman has decided you were mis-sold the contract, but an offer of £150 compensation is way above the average for this sort of case - where a lot of the blame lies with you for not checking. Incidentally don't UW do monthly billing?

Am I liable to pay debit balance for mis-sold tariff?

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