erroneous gas transfer and lack of a legally binding contract

Investigator · 11 June 2019 at 1:39PM

I have seen other forums on erroneous energy transfers and would like to share my experience and views. Essentially Npower incorrectly took over my gas supply in August 2017 instead of my neighbours but this did not come to light properly until January 2019- Npower did not set up an account in my name until October 2018 (without my knowledge or agreement incidentally). In the meantime i switched suppliers to Eon who took over my neighbours gas supply by mistake and this was not realised until February 2019!
I have gone to the Energy Ombudsman who have ruled i should pay Npower with some adjustments and allowing for compensation for the inconvenience- i am in the meantime still waiting for Eon to refund me for gas i paid for but they never supplied and waiting for Npower to transfer the gas supply to a new provider i switched to in February!
Fortunately i have an understanding and qualification in contract law which means there is no contract between me and Npower (this has been confirmed by 2 solicitors i have been in contact with). This should mean that i have no contractual duty to pay Npower and the supplying of gas to me could be regarded as free (its a bit like someone giving you something without charging you for it and then deciding 14 months later that there is a charge!), yet the Ombudsman is saying that i should pay them and that Npower have the right to refuse the transfer to my new supplier. This goes against my understanding of contract law and i wonder if anyone has taken the step of refusing payment to the company that has taken over the supply in error and gone to court over it?
It may be of interest to others that the executive office complaint handler did not know anything of contract law and the Ombudsman case handler said she was no lawyer. I am not either but understanding of the basics of contract law i would have thought should be an essential part of their training!
I would be keen to hear from anyone who has gone through similar circumstances and what the outcome was?

Benight · 11 June 2019 at 1:55PM

Investigator wrote: »

I have seen other forums on erroneous energy transfers and would like to share my experience and views. Essentially Npower incorrectly took over my gas supply in August 2017 instead of my neighbours but this did not come to light properly until January 2019- Npower did not set up an account in my name until October 2018 (without my knowledge or agreement incidentally). In the meantime i switched suppliers to Eon who took over my neighbours gas supply by mistake and this was not realised until February 2019!
I have gone to the Energy Ombudsman who have ruled i should pay Npower with some adjustments and allowing for compensation for the inconvenience- i am in the meantime still waiting for Eon to refund me for gas i paid for but they never supplied and waiting for Npower to transfer the gas supply to a new provider i switched to in February!
Fortunately i have an understanding and qualification in contract law which means there is no contract between me and Npower (this has been confirmed by 2 solicitors i have been in contact with). This should mean that i have no contractual duty to pay Npower and the supplying of gas to me could be regarded as free (its a bit like someone giving you something without charging you for it and then deciding 14 months later that there is a charge!), yet the Ombudsman is saying that i should pay them and that Npower have the right to refuse the transfer to my new supplier. This goes against my understanding of contract law and i wonder if anyone has taken the step of refusing payment to the company that has taken over the supply in error and gone to court over it?
It may be of interest to others that the executive office complaint handler did not know anything of contract law and the Ombudsman case handler said she was no lawyer. I am not either but understanding of the basics of contract law i would have thought should be an essential part of their training!
I would be keen to hear from anyone who has gone through similar circumstances and what the outcome was?

Under the Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter, where a supplier has taken over your supply erroneously, you can request the supply is transferred back. You will be put back into the position you would have been in as though no transfer ever took place.

If you decide to switch supplier instead, then you can't expect to be switched back to the existing supplier. Obvs.

It's not for us to comment on your claimed understanding and qualifications in contract law. This is an open forum, you can post what you want (within the site rules) and no one will check the accuracy or authenticity of what you post.

We are unable to provide legal advice here.

Investigator · 12 June 2019 at 10:24AM

it would hardly make sense to switch back to the supplier from August 2017 since i have changed suppliers twice since then! I do however consider it right and proper that Npower should transfer the gas back to the latest supplier i changed to in February 2019. The purpose of me writing on this forum was to highlight the potential legal position (forget what the charter says ) and to establish if anyone else has been in the same position and has taken legal advice or gone to the extent of going to court.

kapum · 12 June 2019 at 12:43PM

Investigator wrote: »

it would hardly make sense to switch back to the supplier from August 2017 since i have changed suppliers twice since then! I do however consider it right and proper that Npower should transfer the gas back to the latest supplier i changed to in February 2019. The purpose of me writing on this forum was to highlight the potential legal position (forget what the charter says ) and to establish if anyone else has been in the same position and has taken legal advice or gone to the extent of going to court.

We were in the exact same position as you now find yourself in.
Yes we did take legal advice. Despite that, we still took the decision to go to court.

Investigator · 14 June 2019 at 7:24AM

did you win the case?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc · 20 June 2019 at 2:18PM

Investigator wrote: »

I have seen other forums on erroneous energy transfers and would like to share my experience and views. Essentially Npower incorrectly took over my gas supply in August 2017 instead of my neighbours but this did not come to light properly until January 2019- Npower did not set up an account in my name until October 2018 (without my knowledge or agreement incidentally). In the meantime i switched suppliers to Eon who took over my neighbours gas supply by mistake and this was not realised until February 2019!
I have gone to the Energy Ombudsman who have ruled i should pay Npower with some adjustments and allowing for compensation for the inconvenience- i am in the meantime still waiting for Eon to refund me for gas i paid for but they never supplied and waiting for Npower to transfer the gas supply to a new provider i switched to in February!
Fortunately i have an understanding and qualification in contract law which means there is no contract between me and Npower (this has been confirmed by 2 solicitors i have been in contact with). This should mean that i have no contractual duty to pay Npower and the supplying of gas to me could be regarded as free (its a bit like someone giving you something without charging you for it and then deciding 14 months later that there is a charge!), yet the Ombudsman is saying that i should pay them and that Npower have the right to refuse the transfer to my new supplier. This goes against my understanding of contract law and i wonder if anyone has taken the step of refusing payment to the company that has taken over the supply in error and gone to court over it?
It may be of interest to others that the executive office complaint handler did not know anything of contract law and the Ombudsman case handler said she was no lawyer. I am not either but understanding of the basics of contract law i would have thought should be an essential part of their training!
I would be keen to hear from anyone who has gone through similar circumstances and what the outcome was?

Hello Investigator and welcome to the Forums.

This sounds like a bit of a nightmare. We've a specialist Erroneous Transfer team who deal specifically with accounts taken over by mistake. Please talk to this team if you still haven't received your refund. They'll be happy to let you know what's happening. They're available from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and between 8am and 6pm Saturdays.

Thanks Investigator.

Malc

Investigator · 21 June 2019 at 9:32AM

i have already been in touch with your company and due to the length of time it has taken- almost 4 months- i have raised a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman who have told me it could take them 6-8 weeks to reach a resolution! i have told them today that if i am not refunded in 4 weeks i will take Eon to court for breach of contract.

ekeitout · 21 June 2019 at 9:32PM

Scottish Power sent a Welcome Pack dated 17th June 2019 to my address with the correct postcode, but in some fictitious name. I had NOT asked to transfer from my existing supplier, so I opened the letter. It said 'Thank you for choosing Scottish Power and joining us to support Cancer Research UK' . I was worried, and rang Scottish Power number on the letter whereupon they said they had to establish MY identity and wanted my meter number. Alarm bells rang at this, so I refused, and then rang my existing supplier who said 'don't worry, it was probably just a typing error in the address by Scottish Power but as a precaution we will put an objection marker on your account to ensure no transfer is made'. However, the very next day at 7.30pm I received an email from my existing supplier saying 'Sorry to hear you are leaving us'. .I rang them the next day, and referred to my previous conversation with them, repeating that I most certainly did not want to leave and transfer to Scottish Power.
I now have to wait until after the weekend to ring and check again with my existing supplier, to make sure that they HAVE successfully halted the 'transfer'. I wonder, is this just a catalogue of errors or is somebody selling off people's addresses. Are there incentives to sign people up to switch their supplier, and someone has come up with this method.. It's scary to think that had I just binned it, I could have found in a few days time that I had been transferred to Scottish Power even though my actual name is not given anywhere on the letter.

erroneous gas transfer and lack of a legally binding contract

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