Bulb energy - UK's biggest green supplier - becomes Octopus energy

[peterkro]

Warm homes discount of £140 at risk for those with a company that folds:

Most vulnerable could lose £140 winter discount if their energy firm collapses

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has refused to rule out whether the Warm Homes Discount will remain in place for those forced onto another supplier because their energy company has stopped trading - through no fault of their own

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[l'Otters]

I’ve got gas and electricity supplied by Bulb, switched a couple of years ago.

I send them meter readings for the gas & adjust the monthly payments myself.
Electric is on a prepay meter.

What happens with my prepay meter if they go bust?
Should I be finding an alternative supplier pronto??

I think I put about £50 on it a week or two ago... no one else living there & been away a fair bit...

 

[farmerbarleymow]

To be on the safe side I've asked for £450 of my credit balance to be returned to my bank account. I hardly ever log in so was surprised it'd built up to such a level.

 

[moose]

To be on the safe side I've asked for £450 of my credit balance to be returned to my bank account. I hardly ever log in so was surprised it'd built up to such a level.

Let us know if it happens - I've heard people saying they've waited months for refunds.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Let us know if it happens - I've heard people saying they've waited months for refunds.

Any delay will be a good sign of them being in financial trouble.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

i am with Green energy. They upped my monthly direct debit by 100% and I now have nearly £400 sitting in my account.

energy companies are all thieving cunts IME.

Am I missing something? Why do you have a DD for energy? I take a meter reading and pay them. Sometimes I forgot but at least I owe them money rather then the other way round.

 

[trashpony]

Am I missing something? Why do you have a DD for energy? I take a meter reading and pay them. Sometimes I forgot but at least I owe them money rather then the other way round.

It’s cheaper and I’m really disorganised and don’t read my meter or open my post very often

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Am I missing something? Why do you have a DD for energy? I take a meter reading and pay them. Sometimes I forgot but at least I owe them money rather then the other way round.

It evens out the monthly cost over the year, in theory anyway. So you pay a bit more in summer than you use, so you don't pay a fortune in winter. I pay just over £50 a month.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Am I missing something? Why do you have a DD for energy?

I'm fairly sure that when i started being a householder, the 'choice' was monthly DD or pre-pay meter

to be honest, i find it simpler to have a set amount going out every month along with the other bills rather than a big bill every quarter or however they do it.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Octopus to take on failed Avro Energy’s 580,000 stranded customers

Supplier appointed by Ofgem also at centre of speculation that it could bid for rival challenger Bulb

www.theguardian.com

 

[Chz]

Am I missing something? Why do you have a DD for energy? I take a meter reading and pay them. Sometimes I forgot but at least I owe them money rather then the other way round.

You get a fair old discount for doing so (several quid a month, iirc), and if you have a smart meter you're not likely to be over/underbilled.

 

[two sheds]

I do DD but don't have a smart meter - I send monthly readings and record my usage so shouldn't get over/underbilled either.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I pay quarterly in arrears, costs a little more, but as UnderAnOpenSky says, if they go down, they don't have money I need to try and recover.

 

[tommers]

Any delay will be a good sign of them being in financial trouble.

Not necessarily. Their business model will take into account having that money (which is why they encourage you to do it). If everybody suddenly asks for it back then that might well put them into trouble.

(I'm not saying this is a good way to be run or that you shouldn't obviously)

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Not necessarily. Their business model will take into account having that money (which is why they encourage you to do it). If everybody suddenly asks for it back then that might well put them into trouble.

(I'm not saying this is a good way to be run or that you shouldn't obviously)

Their site prompted me to ask for the money back to be fair - with a big notice suggesting I do it. Granted, that might just be the standard coding of the site and it doesn't take into account the current instability - and I know credit balances are protected. But given my usage I was effectively a year in credit so it's better in my account than theirs.

I doubt my refund will cause them to collapse into administration.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

No refund yet...

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Still no refund.

 

[Elpenor]

Presumably Bulb are the unnamed large supplier in the news who are in talks about survival?

Wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve put an embargo on refunds

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Presumably Bulb are the unnamed large supplier in the news who are in talks about survival?

Wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve put an embargo on refunds

Thankfully I'm not with them. Hopefully it'll turn up next week.

 

[tommers]

Energy firm Bulb under fire for monthly bill rises of up to 80%

Many Bulb customers are being forced to pay much higher direct debit payments, despite being hundreds of pounds in credit

www.theguardian.com

 

[Badgers]

Energy firm Bulb under fire for monthly bill rises of up to 80% | Energy bills | The Guardian

amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[Badgers]

Energy company Bulb has come under fire from its customers who say it is using them like a bank. It is forcing them to pay higher bills even when many of them are hundreds of pounds in credit to the supplier.

The bumper increases – by as much as 80% – could be an indicator of what is in store for customers of other suppliers grappling with record gas market prices following a week in which three more firms went to the wall. Igloo Energy, Symbio Energy and Enstroga all went bust last week.

Not ideal

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Refund has arrived.

 

[Badgers]

Bulb Energy at risk as doubts grow about rescue deal

Fears are growing that Bulb is on the brink of collapse amid rising doubts that the energy supplier can secure a rescue deal.Bulb, which has about 1.7 million h

www.thetimes.co.uk

 

[Riklet]

Place ive just moved into has gas and leccy with Bulb. Looks like theyll be going bust this week unless something amazing happens. Oh well how sad nevermind etc.

Unlikely other energy companies will want to take their users on at the mo. So I guess some vaguely dodgy deal is inevitable where the tax payer props up some failing company in order for it to keep ripping us off/making a profit.

 

[l'Otters]

Bulb just sent me an email asking if I need help with my payments because they think it's been a while since I topped up my meter. It's fine, I've got enough credit to be going on with.

Think I probably should have applied to change provider a month ago but meh, life got in the way.

 

[Riklet]

You literally cant change at the moment barely cos no company wants more people on its variable rate subject to the govermment cap. I tried Octopus with a referral link before but no cigar. We are stuck with Bulb.

Cunningly I am refusing to give them my bank details however. Fuck off with yer wild abuse of direct debit bullshit overcharging!

 

[kebabking]

We were with Pure Planet - I know, I'm a hippy, eat me - which folded a few weeks ago. We've been transferred to Shell Energy - I'm told our credit will transfer to them...

We shall see.

 

[MickiQ]

Am I missing something? Why do you have a DD for energy? I take a meter reading and pay them. Sometimes I forgot but at least I owe them money rather then the other way round.

I pay my electric and gas by DD, It's an excellent idea for gas since we build up a debt over winter which I pay off over summer. They're essentially giving me an interest free loan. Electric is a bit more even but we will still use more over winter than summer. Last statement I got was I was £28 in debt for Gas and £48 in debt for Electric so they're obviously pretty good at getting the numbers right. (Not Bulb though)

 

[a_chap]

I pay my electric and gas by DD, It's an excellent idea for gas since we build up a debt over winter which I pay off over summer. They're essentially giving me an interest free loan. Electric is a bit more even but we will still use more over winter than summer. Last statement I got was I was £28 in debt for Gas and £48 in debt for Electric so they're obviously pretty good at getting the numbers right. (Not Bulb though)

The interest-free loans were back in the days of customers being billed quarterly in arrears - the utility companies were paying for your fuel and then hoping you'd pay them back. That's why they were so keen on people paying by direct debit.

They adjusted the repayments so that now there are times when you're subsidising their cash-flow...