zoothorn Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Hi Chaps, having only a few years electric Co tarrif experience (my 1st house) I was a bit -shocked- to get email saying my Co had gone tlts up. Green Network Energy. I used moneysavingexpert compare site to switch providers each year, possibly easing 1st concerns with reassuring emails "dont fret for now, we've put you on another Co, you don't need do anything" etc. But nothing since about 2 months I think, so I'm starting to fret. My dd payments still going out to Green Co. I wonder if anyone else might be in same situation with this Co? or can advise. Much appreciated- zoot. -- [Apologies for my long extention thread, & my stress twds end: I packed too many subjects in one thread & got myself castled, I've been suffering from stress recently from a few things colliding partly the cause I think: sincere apologies & thanks to all for their time to reply]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 5 minutes ago, zoothorn said: [Apologies for my long extention thread, & my stress twds end: I packed too many subjects in one thread & got myself castled, I've been suffering from stress recently from a few things colliding partly the cause I think: sincere apologies & thanks to all for their time to reply]. Sorry I can't help with the 'Green Network Energy' query but hope you are feeling better now. Building works can cause a lot of stress, you're not the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) Your account will almost certainly be transferred to one of the Big 5 suppliers. Once that is done you can change supplier again. Takes a few weeks to sort it all out. In the mean time, start taking weekly meter readings just in case you have problems. Looks like EDF are dealing with it. https://www.edfenergy.com/content/welcoming-green-network-energy-customers If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Edited March 28, 2021 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I think a few Energy Co's have gone bust recently, and there are lots of errors. There was a piece on Radio 4's Money Box last week: One chap had had his account transferred from now defunct Tonik to Scottish Power and had randomly been charge £1000 in a week. He was very stressed! My uncle has had a similar worrying debacle, but all was resolved when he went to the Ombudsman, plus a promise of £75 compensation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoothorn Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 minute ago, PeterStarck said: Sorry I can't help with the 'Green Network Energy' query but hope you are feeling better now. Building works can cause a lot of stress, you're not the only one. Thanks Peter, kind to say that. I think admitting I have a stress problem (not seeing or speaking to anyone for 14 months esp elderly parents, one with bigC is mostly the cause, & n'bors stress too) is 1st step/ then manage any Q's on this fine site better.. not run off up pickle street. is my aim. thx zH 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Zoot the Hoot. Don't worry about upsetting people on here fella. Most of us have thick skins, and we all wind each other up, every now and then. Good to see you back, and try and ease off the stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob99 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) This happened to me a couple of times over the past 6 years and the regulator just gets customers transferred to another provider. Key thing, as Steamy Tea says, is to take frequent meter readings and, if you had an online account without paper bills try and download all your bills and info as sites can be just shut down with no notice (ask me how I know!!) I religiously take meter readings every few weeks, and especially at the time my monthly bill is due. In the 5 years I've been monitoring mine and my in-laws energy bills, I've never had an entirely accurate bill from any of them...!!! Oh, and until you have confirmation of new provider, cancel your DD so they can't take any more money. They can always send you a bill if they think you owe them anything. Edited March 28, 2021 by Rob99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 32 minutes ago, Rob99 said: In the 5 years I've been monitoring mine and my in-laws energy bills, I've never had an entirely accurate bill from any of them is that because you are on estimated monthly billing? If so, they won't match your physical readings, why would they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoothorn Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 2 hours ago, Jilly said: I think a few Energy Co's have gone bust recently, and there are lots of errors. There was a piece on Radio 4's Money Box last week: One chap had had his account transferred from now defunct Tonik to Scottish Power and had randomly been charge £1000 in a week. He was very stressed! My uncle has had a similar worrying debacle, but all was resolved when he went to the Ombudsman, plus a promise of £75 compensation. Oh bloomin eck that sounds concerning. Not what i want to hear Id better keep an eye on my bank acc. Ombudsman sounds stressful too.. Id be hopeless if I had to go this route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 2 minutes ago, zoothorn said: Not what i want to hear Id better keep an eye on my bank acc As Rob99 says, cancel the direct debit. It's only their for convenience (and likely theirs in particular once the administrators are appointed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoothorn Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 2 hours ago, SteamyTea said: Your account will almost certainly be transferred to one of the Big 5 suppliers. Once that is done you can change supplier again. Takes a few weeks to sort it all out. In the mean time, start taking weekly meter readings just in case you have problems. Looks like EDF are dealing with it. https://www.edfenergy.com/content/welcoming-green-network-energy-customers If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Hi ST. Thats useful info thanks.. I had completely forgotten that this edf co has indeed taken over my account, so thx you've jogged me back into gear. Dammit tho I havent taken meter readings. I took one at the time, so moneysavingexpert emailed us to do. So just write them down you mean? Afaict I dont have an edf account.. yet.. so I can't go on there to put any readings ' in' anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoothorn Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 minute ago, MJNewton said: As Rob99 says, cancel the direct debit. It's only their for convenience (and likely theirs in particular once the administrators are appointed). Hi MJN back here. Actually edf say not to cancel my dd I see on their site (might i get my leccy going off if I were to I would wonder). I think just keep a close eye maybe. Perhaps this isnt the catastrophe I 1st anticipated. Hope so. Thx zh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob99 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) 23 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: is that because you are on estimated monthly billing? Nope. Sometimes my readings are a day or two late but they seem to often ignore my readings anyway and then, instead of applying a sensible past usage reading they just use some random number. I manage my elderly in-laws bills now as they got into a terrible mess a few years back with estimated readings and, being of a certain age, just kept paying the bill when it arrived. Edited March 28, 2021 by Rob99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoothorn Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 54 minutes ago, Rob99 said: This happened to me a couple of times over the past 6 years and the regulator just gets customers transferred to another provider. Key thing, as Steamy Tea says, is to take frequent meter readings and, if you had an online account without paper bills try and download all your bills and info as sites can be just shut down with no notice (ask me how I know!!) I religiously take meter readings every few weeks, and especially at the time my monthly bill is due. In the 5 years I've been monitoring mine and my in-laws energy bills, I've never had an entirely accurate bill from any of them...!!! Oh, and until you have confirmation of new provider, cancel your DD so they can't take any more money. They can always send you a bill if they think you owe them anything. Hi Rob. Useful info thanks especially having experience of this. Ok now Im reminded edf energy have taken me over, their homepage actually gives good info to us. Bodes well, reassuring. 1 st time Ive read it. Now they say don't cancel my dd, & Ive noticed the same ( estimated) monthly figure/ bill has gone out as usual, to green energy which confuses me if they're bust, but they say this is to be expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 20 minutes ago, zoothorn said: Oh bloomin eck that sounds concerning. Not what i want to hear Id better keep an eye on my bank acc. Ombudsman sounds stressful too.. Id be hopeless if I had to go this route. It was just a case of writing down what had happened and sending a letter off. It was ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 23 minutes ago, zoothorn said: So just write them down you mean? Yes, date and meter readings. I assume you do not have an Economy 7 meter now, so just the unit number, but just in case you have not changed from E7, you will have 3 numbers to write down, usually denoted as T, 1 and . Write them all down, with the date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 22 minutes ago, Rob99 said: Nope. Sometimes my readings are a day or two late but they seem to often ignore my readings anyway and then, instead of applying a sensible past usage reading they just use some random number. They are probably trying to even out the usage so that you pay the same every month, regardless of usage. This is what monthly billing is all about, the energy companies cash flow, not accurate monthly billing for the user. This is why you get a discount compared to the standard variable rate. I have always stuck with variable rate and at the end of the year, it is within a tenner of the best deal I can get. Too many people have been suckered by the energy companies, and the mortgage companies with their long term fixed rates. Neither of them are doing the consumer a favour, and don't think they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 As @SteamyTea says just jot them down weekly if possible so that you have a full history of readings if needed. I’ve just switched to EDF. They gave me a reasonable rate for my set up although they’ve just increased the price by 0.5p as it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 minute ago, newhome said: I’ve just switched to EDF. They gave me a reasonable rate for my set up although they’ve just increased the price by 0.5p as it happens. EDF have a habit of increasing prices, then dropping them again. Mine go up quite a bit next week, but I suspect by June they will be dropping again. EDF are in a bit of a corner as they cannot easily increase their nuclear capacity (and god knows they are trying to), and I am not sure they have spare cash to invest in OSW and PV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob99 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 23 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: They are probably trying to even out the usage so that you pay the same every month, regardless of usage. This is what monthly billing is all about, the energy companies cash flow, not accurate monthly billing for the user. This is why you get a discount compared to the standard variable rate. I have always stuck with variable rate and at the end of the year, it is within a tenner of the best deal I can get. Too many people have been suckered by the energy companies, and the mortgage companies with their long term fixed rates. Neither of them are doing the consumer a favour, and don't think they are. Yes, I'm familiar with the utility market and it's tricks. I often find I change 2 or 3 times a year to make sure I'm on the best current deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob99 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 19 minutes ago, newhome said: just jot them down weekly I just take photos of my meter readings. That way there's no arguments about misinterpretation and photos are date stamped. Also means I don't have to remember where I wrote them down !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Hiya zoot, glad to see you back, sorry to hear of your stress (welcome to the club!!!). I concur with the above. It’s done all the time so nothing to stress about ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, zoothorn said: Actually edf say not to cancel my dd I see on their site (might i get my leccy going off if I were to I would wonder). I think just keep a close eye maybe. My advice is to cancel - regain control of your money. Settle your final bill with Green manually when the time comes. Any credit you might be due will be passed to EDF and they can either credit your new account, refund via a new DD with them or, if you move to a new supplier, send you a cheque. Just been through all this with Tonik and Scottish Power. Took about 3 months to conclude (and I think I was one of the luckier ones) but just let it run its course. Edited March 28, 2021 by MJNewton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 57 minutes ago, Rob99 said: I just take photos of my meter readings. That way there's no arguments about misinterpretation and photos are date stamped. Also means I don't have to remember where I wrote them down !! I do too but last we heard Zoot had a box brownie ?. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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