Add your feedback on energy supplier Iresa

macman wrote: »

Either way, why have Ofgem never gone public on this? It's hardly a secret.

I would guess that Ofgem are playing politics and trying to cover their own @$$es and keep things behind closed doors.

Ofgem can't afford for another supplier to go bankrupt as the negative publicity associated with that happening could reflect very badly on Ofgem for not carrying out appropriate due diligence and financial checks before issuing the Operators Licenses allowing Iresa to sell energy to the British public.

I can't understand is why Ofgem haven't fined Iresa for non-compliance over the CV Value calculation issue. It's a clear cut case and evidence in the form of copy statements has been provided to Ofgem which proves beyond doubt that it has happened and is still continuing to happen.

This started out as a simple error which required a simple fix but after all this time Iresa are still continuing to breach the terms and condition of their Operators License and to date Iresa have changed nothing in order to comply.

Despite Ofgem being made aware of this error some 4 months ago and being provided with the necessary evidence they have chosen to take no action against Iresa and have made no public comment about it.

After this length of time with no action being taken most people would consider that Ofgem are now condoning what could possibly be seen as quite a large scale fraud. Even a modest guesstimate would put the value of it at around £175,000 per year but the true value could anything up to double that depending on the number of gas customers Iresa have.

It has been done in such a devious way that most customers will never even realise that they are being overcharged for their gas each month. Granted it's only by a very small amount each month but spread over a large number of customers it all adds up to a considerable sum of extra income for Iresa over a year.

The only reason the regulations covering this exist and specify exactly how the Calorific Value is to be calculated by all suppliers is to prevent this very thing happening.

The last 'official' mention of the CV Calculation issue being fixed was in a post by Hengus where Ofgem stated to him that Iresa had assured them the issue would be fully resolved by the end of April. Obviously given that we are nearly at the end of May this turned out to be another load of hogwash by Iresa.

I surprised that the press haven't picked up on this and started asking Ofgem some searching and possibly very embarrassing questions.

macman wrote: »

Since they have now been banned from taking on new customers....

Source? :huh:

They are currently not taking on new customers, but I don't know of any source suggesting that was as a result of any ban.

footyguy wrote: »

Why would you want to move to a more expensive tariff??? :huh:

But if you really do want to pay more for the same energy (:cool:) at least you won't suffer any exit frees from Iresa, as they don't charge any! :T

If you are being billed by Avro, depite having been switched to the supplier of your choice, then your issue is with Avro. Follow their complaint procedure if necessary.

I've just got a 12 month fixed electricity with Iresa (Flex 4) and it was definitely cheaper than Avro when I signed up to switch. I believe that Iresa has since increased its prices but I am on the older, cheaper tariff.

If I switch away from Iresa now I am worried that I will be paying 3 separate suppliers for a while. I will try and contact Avro but, helpfully (not!), they don't seem to want to offer telephone assistance to people that work for a living as they have no evening or weekend phone coverage.

Edit: Just done a search on MSE Energy club and I am on the cheapest fix available in my area. Interestingly, the Energy club comparison calculator can't find any tariffs from Iresa

zolablue25 wrote: »

I've just got a 12 month fixed electricity with Iresa (Flex 4) and it was definitely cheaper than Avro when I signed up to switch. I believe that Iresa has since increased its prices but I am on the older, cheaper tariff.

If I switch away from Iresa now I am worried that I will be paying 3 separate suppliers for a while. I will try and contact Avro but, helpfully (not!), they don't seem to want to offer telephone assistance to people that work for a living as they have no evening or weekend phone coverage.

Edit: Just done a search on MSE Energy club and I am on the cheapest fix available in my area. Interestingly, the Energy club comparison calculator can't find any tariffs from Iresa

No, Iresa have not increased their prices (yet)

But they are not accepting any new customers at present
http://www.iresa.co.uk/not-taking-new-orders/

which is why they are not shown on the CEC at present

icharus wrote: »

I have sent an e-mail to Ofgem re the breach in licensing conditions. Am I now locked in for the next 8 weeks, until I can initiate a formal complaint to Ofgem, and the time taken thereafter?

Just to correct you slightly eight weeks after you raise the formal complaint with Iresa if it still remains unresolved you can then take it to the Ombudsman Energy for a resolution although if Hengus's ongoing case is anything to go by it would appear the Energy Ombudsman has also been 'nobbled' by Ofgem to take no action in cases involving Iresa. If you don't want to wait 8 weeks you can ask Iresa to provide you with a deadlock letter/email to enable you to take it straight to the Energy Ombudsman. Ofgem do not get involved in any individual disputes between customers and energy companies.

In regards to anything involving Iresa at the moment Ofgem also seem to be unable or unwilling to provide the necessary consumer protection which they exist to do. I may be wrong but I get the distinct impression that with an election due shortly their lords and masters in the current government are pulling Ofgem's strings harder than normal to try and prevent another energy supplier going bankrupt at all costs and to avoid the negative publicity which would accompany that.

I can't think of any other possible reason for Ofgem not to have already issued a fine to Iresa for non-compliance other than if they do it would almost certainly force Iresa into immediate bankruptcy .

As a consumer you really do begin to wonder why Ofgem exist at all.

If it was me Mr. Exceedingly Bloody Angry would have been sat in Iresa's phone queue yesterday (2 hours wait or not) stamping my feet and demanding an explanation. Given the circumstances I honestly don't see that you have any alternative but to wait until Monday morning and phone them. :mad:

If Iresa goes under your switch would still be blocked and the supplier of last resort who take over (always assuming they can find one) would then be responsible for providing you with an explanation or allowing the switch to proceed.

Cancelling your direct debit is not an option. If you did it would not change anything, your switch would still be blocked and doing it would almost certainly negatively effect your credit rating.