Energy company gone bust

[jim8flog]

Last time I changed (May this year) all companies were very much of a muchness, no more than about £50 a year between any of the lower prices. I reckon the price cap had a lot lot do with it.

I was with Tonik and when they were forced to close down by Ofgen I could not find any deal near the price I was paying. I was originally put with Scottish Power and had to wait until the credit balance I had with Tonik was credited to SP to make the change.

OVO was my choice at that time mainly because they pay interest on credit balances and the rate was better than leaving the money in savings account.

 

[Tashyboy]

Evening all

I'm in a rented house, been here 7 months with gas and electric supplied by Avro energy - who went bust last Wednesday.

Email today from octopus energy advising that ofgem have put them in charge of all the Avro customers..... We don't have to stay with them, but have to at least wait until they have taken over supply.

I compared the electric and gas rates to my current deal and this is what I found:

Electric is 50% more expensive
Gas is DOUBLE the price.

We currently pay a combined £83 per month for a 3 bed house, 2 adults and a child with us at work/school 5 days a week.

I know gas is at a premium at the moment... But surely not everyone is paying £150ish a month for energy?

Me and Missis T are in exactly the same boat. Missis T is not worried so neither is Tash. Why?
We have our bills though “ Look after my energy dot com”. They have “said go with the energy provider you have been given/Octopus, BUT DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING.
Lookaftermybills will chase up a cheaper company if there is one out there. ?

 

[rosecott]

I was with Green which went under. Just had an email from Shell Energy telling me that Ofgem has transferred me to them as of today.

 

[Miller]

Same. I’ll stick with them until the prices settle down I think.

 

[chrisd]

I've had an email from Octopus takingnover from Avro. I thought Avro were a decent company and always got a good deal from them.

 

[backwoodsman]

Surely I can't be the only one to notice that the companies going under are (generally) those who charged low, low prices for their energy? A link between the two perhaps?

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Surely I can't be the only one to notice that the companies going under are (generally) those who charged low, low prices for their energy? A link between the two perhaps?

With Avro it would be worth reading what their owners were up to .... It wasn't low prices that caused it for them.

 

[Smiffy]

We were with Green Energy. They've now gone, and we've received an introductory email from Shell Energy who have taken over our account.

 

[rulefan]

Surely I can't be the only one to notice that the companies going under are (generally) those who charged low, low prices for their energy? A link between the two perhaps?

The issue seems to be that those companies simply hadn't got the financial resources to cover the difference between what they were charging customers on fixed price deals and the price they were having to pay on the wholesale gas markets.
They were buying at X and selling at X + A. But the market price is now significantly higher than X + A. And they can only charge their customers the fixed X + A. The big boys have cash in the bank, the minnows haven't.

 

[rulefan]

I've had an email from Octopus takingnover from Avro. I thought Avro were a decent company and always got a good deal from them.

They were but simply hadn't got the cash in the bank.

 

[PJ87]

They were but simply hadn't got the cash in the bank.

Because their owner was taking money out the buissness to fund his other ventures

 

[rulefan]

Because their owner was taking money out the buissness to fund his other ventures

Isn't that what owning a business is about?

But

Avro Energy's latest published accounts, for the year ending June 30, 2019, showed a £2.25m payment to Sentido Marketing for "management charges".

Sentido's directors are listed as Jake Brown, Philip Brown and a third man, William Brown. The company is classed as an advertising agency on Companies House.

Avro's finances will be scrutinised by administrators in coming weeks as concerns mount about the resilience of the retail energy industry.

 

[jim8flog]

Surely I can't be the only one to notice that the companies going under are (generally) those who charged low, low prices for their energy? A link between the two perhaps?

Simple really, as I understand it the companies with low prices do not forward buy as much as the big companies so are now having to buy at a higher price than they are allowed to sell it for.

 

[Maninblack4612]

The issue seems to be that those companies simply hadn't got the financial resources to cover the difference between what they were charging customers on fixed price deals and the price they were having to pay on the wholesale gas markets.
They were buying at X and selling at X + A. But the market price is now significantly higher than X + A. And they can only charge their customers the fixed X + A. The big boys have cash in the bank, the minnows haven't.

If you examine the balance sheets of some of the smaller companies the only have £100 of share capital, large borrowings & only manage to trade by getting customers to pay in advance for their fuel. The smallest draught & they catch pneumonia.

 

[Maninblack4612]

I'm not a socialist by any means but believe firmly that utilities should be re-nationalised. It's the same gas & electricity you use whoever you buy it from. How can it be efficient to have dozens of companies, all with their own overheads, premises etc. negotiating to buy relatively small volumes of gas & electricity. It's an artificial market in something nobody can do without. Our government should be negotiating the best deals possible & regulating the price & smoothing out peaks & troughs.

 

[williamalex1]

I'm afraid my energy provider Igloo has just melted.
Now waiting to see what provider we will be transferred to

Will we be allowed to choose a different supplier from the one on offer ? .
BTW , I didn't know the misses had moved us from Bulb last month .
Bulb will probably go bust next

 

[Deleted member 18121]

I'm afraid my energy provider Igloo has just melted.
Now waiting to see what provider we will be transferred to

Will we be allowed to choose a different supplier from the one on offer ? .
BTW , I didn't know the misses had moved us from Bulb last month .
Bulb will probably go bust next

You have to wait until you're transferred to the one appointed. I just had an email from octopus advising that they expect that to be around the end of November.

 

[Smiffy]

I'm afraid my energy provider Igloo has just melted.
Now waiting to see what provider we will be transferred to

Will we be allowed to choose a different supplier from the one on offer ? .

We are with one of these comparison companies who check around for the best price and automatically transfer you should they find a better deal.
We've been told that we're with Shell energy initially, but they will check once we're up and running and if they find a better deal with us they will set a transfer up on our behalf.
We've also been assured that we won't have to pay an "exit fee".
We'll wait and see....

 

[PJ87]

Why is it the gov are happy to line up loans to big energy companies to help them take on failed companies customers

Why not just loan money to the smaller companies to stay afloat?

 

[rudebhoy]

Bizarrely got an email from igloo yesterday morning saying they were increasing my direct debit from £101 to £132, 2 hours later they went bust.

Next payment was due on Monday so have cancelled the DD. I know the government have said credit will be transferred, but would rather not take the chance.