Re: Energy company switched me to a different company without consent or contract.

by 123 Wed Aug 21, 2019 2:47 pm

Timeline was as follows:

1. Supplier A going bust
2. Ofgem transferring to appointed supplier B
3. Had to stay with appointed supplier B for 1.5 months before being able to transfer to chosen supplier C

Appointed supplier B has no say in forcing any meters on me at this point in time as they're not current supplier anymore.

Supplier B simply ignored the disputed bill and now apparently handed over all remaining accounts / former customers from supplier A in bulk to the DCA to make their life easy.
Apparently Ofgem has been made aware of this due to numerous complaints, it has hit the news and Ofgem still hasn't acted on it further.

by 123 Wed Aug 21, 2019 3:14 pm

daveiron wrote:I would send by Recorded Delivery a letter to appointed supplier informing them ' The account is in dispute'
' I am not refusing to make payment ,and will make said payment upon production of an accurate
and correct bill '.

letter to debt collector; " This debt is in dispute . take notice ,any payment due to xxxxx will be paid to xxxx
directly and under no circumstances will any payment be made to you. Any further contact from you will
be recorded and ignored".

Thanks ever so much, that sounds straight forward - is there a template for such letter on here?

In the letter to the DCA - any reference to the Prevention from Harassment Act if they contact me further?

daveiron wrote:I presume you have a closing meter figure from your original supplier and an opening figure for your present
supplier ? If not demand them from those making the claim.

By original supplier you mean the Ofgem appointed one or the one that went bust?

All readings were supplied by me, other than that they based their final bill on estimates for the exact start and finish dates between readings.

123 wrote:

The Ofgem assigned supplier stated that their "tariff is only 3.5% more than the most recent [old suppliers] tariff." - not sure what tariff they refer to, but definitely not the one we were on before.

Going by what has been commented above, the no consent or no contract aspect has no bearing, as Ofgem is entitled to move customers?

Would the 3 letter process help and breach of contract regarding the claim of 3.5% price increase vs effectively 77% increase?

What about the breach of contract aspect regarding their maximum 3.5% promise (it actually states there that it should be just about £3 for the switching period between supplier A and supplier B) - just found that statement published again on supplier B's website?

by **daveiron** Wed Aug 21, 2019 3:42 pm

Ok, so you have your final reading from the supplier who went bust ,you also have the final reading
from the appointed supplier .
Work out the total used for the time you were with the appointed supplier ,add 3 .5% to that and that
is what you owe. 3.5 % is their figure so they cannot argue with that.

Demand an accurate & correct bill from them. Inform them the account is 'in dispute' and no payment
will be forthcoming until you receive one. Its important that you let them know that you are not refusing payment.

When they do supply a correct bill ,you should then inform them that your account which they took over
from the original supplier was in credit & you require this is returned .

by 123 Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:25 pm

Thanks very much! - Regarding wording of the letter - are there any similar templates which can be adapted to suit on here?

daveiron wrote:Ok, so you have your final reading from the supplier who went bust

- No final bill from the supplier that went bust - that happened over night, customers where subsequently notified by the appointed supplier.

Yep will check again also regarding start readings of new supplier [C].

Will emails to supplier and DCA suffice as a first resort before sending the recorded letters to both or via recorded letters only?

by **daveiron** Wed Aug 21, 2019 6:30 pm

Hi yes you could email if you want. Dont worry about the 3 letters as they are not designed for a dispute
of this kind.

Just stick to the important facts 1. account in dispute 2 . requirement for a correct bill based on true figures
not an estimate. 3. not a refusal to pay. 4. allowance made for credit on original account (either a deduction
on the amount they claim you owe or via a payment to you).

Finally respond to the debt collector as in my first post ,then ignore them ,there is nothing at all they can do.
The ball is then in their court ,they cannot make a claim of any sort as they have not provided an accurate
bill .Nobody in their right mind would pay an amount based on guesswork .

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