EBICO to go bust?

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Karhut
Karhut Posts: 34 Forumite
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in Energy
Hello,
I am about to renew my energy through the MSE energy club however I have just read that Robin Hood Energy the company that supplies the energy for Ebico
is in debt to Ofcom 9.5 million and needs to pay it by 31 October 2019
Nottingham city council has helped Robin Hood to the tune of 5 million but not enough to rescue it.
Has anybody heard what will happen ? Very worried as I am Ebico customer.
«1

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  • Biscuit_Tin
    Biscuit_Tin Posts: 782 Forumite
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    edited 21 October 2019 at 1:03PM
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    Karhut wrote: »
    Hello,
    I am about to renew my energy through the MSE energy club however I have just read that Robin Hood Energy the company that supplies the energy for Ebico
    is in debt to Ofcom 9.5 million and needs to pay it by 31 October 2019
    Nottingham city council has helped Robin Hood to the tune of 5 million but not enough to rescue it.
    Has anybody heard what will happen ? Very worried as I am Ebico customer.

    I read on here some time ago that Bulb are about £26m in debt.

    Please use the search function to identify this together with previous threads about Robin Hood Energy.

    If you want, you can also look at Ebico too. I think there were suggestions over a decade ago they would go bust.

    According to accounts filed last month by Ebico for the year ended 31 Dec 2018, they made had a surplus of £1.8m, just up from the previous year of £1.75m
    The directors have made an assessment of the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and have identified no material uncertainties that may cast a significant doubt on the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern in the foreseeable future.
    Dated: 20 September 2019
  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 9,937 Forumite
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    Biscuit_Tin wrote: »
    Dated: 20 September 2109
    Good to know they will last another 90 years ! ;)
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,104 Forumite
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    In the event of Ebico going bust a supplier of last resort will be appointed by the regulator and you will be a customer of that supplier. That process is seamless - your electric won't be switched off. They may or may not honour the tariff you are on.

    Any credit you have will be safe.
    Never pay on an estimated bill
  • Biscuit_Tin
    Biscuit_Tin Posts: 782 Forumite
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    Gerry1 wrote: »
    Good to know they will last another 90 years ! ;)
    Thanks for highlighting the typo. :)

    It's nice to see at laest one person has read my response so far, as the OP disappeared as soon as tthey posted. All the more surprising (or perhaps not ;)), seeing as it was the first post by the OP in 12 months.:cool:

    Anyway, I have corrected my post now, should the OP return at some point to read the answer to his/her query
  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 9,937 Forumite
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    Hmmm... they've hardly gone AWOL, the first post is barely an hour old !

    More seriously, is there any reason to suppose that Ebico will go bust because of Robin Hood's difficulties? Ebico used to use SSE, so presumably they can just switch to another supplier if necessary. I don't know who holds the customers' credit, but in any case it should be safeguarded if a SoLR is appointed.

    The OP's main problem is likely to be that any new supplier may not be so competitive (and may not offer Warm Home Discount, if relevant), and so it may be necessary to shop around again for a good deal. Their bank balance may suffer a temporary hit if a new supplier takes the first direct debit immediately but the old company is slow to repay.
  • UnclaimedEnergy
    UnclaimedEnergy Posts: 574 Forumite
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    edited 21 October 2019 at 2:36PM
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    If Ebico go bust and Robin Hood don't then the customers will automatically go to Robin Hood, due to them being the licensed supplier for a white label.

    Robin Hood thought they could pay a supply bill (their ROC bill) in installments, however Ofgem have decided it needs to be paid by the 31st October, or they risk loosing their license.

    Should this happen, all 10 of their white labels would be affected, however what exactly happens with the white labels and SoLR of them I'm not sure.

    I would assume all of the customers would be put into one pot for the SoLR, with the white labels then having to find a new supplier for themselves, but potentially start from scratch. (unless an agreement is struck up with the SoLR)
    Biscuit_Tin wrote: »
    I read on here some time ago that Bulb are about £26m in debt.

    That was for their year end of March 2018, over 18 months ago. Plus it was a reported loss for the year, they could had been in debt because of it, however they had a lot of investment at the time to keep themselves going.

    The difference with Robin Hood is that they owe Ofgem £9.4m cash by the end of the month. If they fail to pay this, then Ofgem have made it clear their license could be stripped.

    You also need to bare in mind that OVO energy operated at a loss every year they've been active until 2017
  • Karhut
    Karhut Posts: 34 Forumite
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    I am most grateful for your reply, thank you.
  • Karhut
    Karhut Posts: 34 Forumite
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    Karhut wrote: »
    Hello,
    I am about to renew my energy through the MSE energy club however I have just read that Robin Hood Energy the company that supplies the energy for Ebico
    is in debt to Ofcom 9.5 million and needs to pay it by 31 October 2019
    Nottingham city council has helped Robin Hood to the tune of 5 million but not enough to rescue it.
    Has anybody heard what will happen ? Very worried as I am Ebico customer.

    Further to this post, I wrote to Ebico this morning to ask about the Robin Hood debt to Ofcom ,I have just received a reply from Ebico to say Robin Hood will pay the debt in full by instalments.
    More info on this on RobinHoodEnergy website.
    Thanks for all your reply’s.
  • Talldave
    Talldave Posts: 2,002 Forumite
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    Biscuit_Tin wrote: »
    Thanks for highlighting the typo. :)

    It's nice to see at laest one person has read my response so far, as the OP disappeared as soon as tthey posted. All the more surprising (or perhaps not ;)), seeing as it was the first post by the OP in 12 months.:cool:

    Anyway, I have corrected my post now, should the OP return at some point to read the answer to his/her query

    What is the relevance of when the OP last posted?

    And how can you state that the OP has "disappeared"? Do you have access to all their connected devices so you can track what web pages they're browsing?
  • LeeCox
    LeeCox Posts: 4 Newbie
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    Talldave wrote: »
    What is the relevance of when the OP last posted?

    And how can you state that the OP has "disappeared"? Do you have access to all their connected devices so you can track what web pages they're browsing?

    I see you're stiil a member of the "obsessing about those who you consider are obsessing about membership duration" club, or the "obsessing about those who highlight suspicious posting activity" club, as I prefer to call it. :cool:
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