An unsolicited cold caller has locked an unsuspecting business electricity customer into a contract on uncompetitive prices but they have been informed by the regulator OFGEM that they cannot formalise any complaint against the new business electricity supplier until they have been on supply for eight weeks, according to Energy Advice Line.

Unfortunately, the business electricity prices quoted by the cold caller were 30% higher than prices they could have obtained from an online prices comparison and switching service such as Energy Advice Line.

Julian Morgan, Managing Director of the leading business electricity price comparison service Energy Advice Line said that this is unfortunately the consistent approach from a supplier or agency that cold calls commercial electricity customers. They typically buy lists of customers who have just moved premises, call and lock them into a contract with as much commission built in as possible. Our advice as an impartial service is for business energy customers not to engage with this type of approach but more importantly go online to compare the market as soon as possible after they have moved in. The cold caller will play on the fact that a new business occupant will be very busy setting the business up and if someone calls you out of the blue promising that the rate they are offering is the most competitive the unsuspecting customer can be pressurised into taking the callers advice and agreeing the contract. Only then to find out that the business electricity rates offered were not competitive after the business move has calmed down and if they lodge a complaint to the regulator OFGEM, the customer will have to stay on supply on the high rates for at least 8 weeks until a complaint can be formalised.

If you are called out of the blue by an agency or supplier stating that they can save you money, please do not agree to anything over the phone but obtain the business electricity prices and go online and compare the market using a reputable business electricity price comparison service such as Energy Advice Line. It only takes 5 minutes to compare business electricity prices using Energy Advice Line.

The UK’s leading business energy price comparison and switching service for business electricity rates called on all business consumers to say no to cold callers and to compare the market using a reputable online business electricity prices comparison service.

For further information on the business energy Say No to Cold Calling Campaign please contact Energy Advice Line on 0800 915 1800 or visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk/say-no-to-cold-calling.php

Business Electricity and Domestic Energy company Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), which trades as Scottish Hydro, Swalec and Southern Electric, will increase its domestic gas and electricity prices by an average of 9% from 15 October.

SSE blamed the increases on the extra cost of using the gas and electricity networks and rising costs in energy wholesale markets. 3.4 million gas and 5 million electricity customers will unfortunately be affected by this increase.

Julian Morgan, Managing Director from leading business electricity price comparison service Energy Advice Line said that this could be the first supplier of the big six suppliers to start to react to recent rises in the wholesale market triggered mainly by increases in oil prices from uncertainty in the Middle East as well as the planned investment program in the UK’s transmission and distribution networks.

The forthcoming increases mean that a customer with an average standard dual-fuel bill will pay an extra £102 for the year, or £1,274 in total.

SSE’s chief executive Ian Marchant, said the forthcoming increases were regrettable but unavoidable.

“We pledged last summer to cap our energy prices for as long as possible and until at least August 2012, and then in January extended this pledge to October 2012,” he said.

As reported in a recent Energy Advice Line blog we said that if you look forward to 2020, £22 billion is required to spent across the transmission and distribution network which will result in high bills as network charges account for 20% of business electricity bills. All of the suppliers, according to British Gas Managing Director Phil Bentley “are having to make larger investments”.

Julian Morgan continues “Unfortunately the larger the investment the more business energy customer’s bills will be going up. It is reported by industry regulator Ofgem that bills could rise by up to 25% by 2020.”

It has never been more important to check what business electricity prices you are paying and compare with what is available on the market.

The Energy Advice Line is the UK’s leading energy price comparison and switching services for business, and enables firms to compare the market for the best possible business energy deals at the touch of a button.

The service has a team of business experts who can give advice about business electricity rates and how to avoid expensive contract rollovers. For further information visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk

An unsolicited cold caller has deliberately tricked a business electricity customer into a contract by claiming that they were calling from their current business electricity supplier, according to Energy Advice Line. The customer was literally bombarded by calls from this cold caller and quoted to Energy Advice Line that she “could not get anything done in between calls” as the frequency was so high. The customer admitted that she was “badgered into submission” and eventually agreed to sign up.

Unfortunately, this is where the real issues started for the business energy customer as when she contacted the supplier in response to a significant increase on her businesses bills she was told that she had been miss-sold the contract by the agency and the liability did not rest with them as the supplier.

Julian Morgan, Managing Director of the leading business energy price comparison service Energy Advice Line said that the customer was not just tricked into the contract but then found out that the bills had increased as a result. This is unfortunately the big problem with unsolicited cold calling as the customer is literally forced into contracts with high pressure sales techniques and no business electricity rates transparency whatsoever. The sheer number of calls that the cold callers make is staggering but is purely designed to wear down the unsuspecting customer into agreeing a contract that is usually very heavily commission weighted. This unsolicited and pressurising approach simply has to stop as this particular customer was then subjected to months of wrangling with the supplier and agency negotiating a release from the contract in order to safeguard her business.

If you are called out of the blue by an agency or supplier stating that they can save you money, please do not agree to anything over the phone but obtain the business electricity prices and go online and compare the market using a reputable business electricity price comparison service such as Energy Advice Line. It only takes 5 minutes to compare business electricity prices using Energy Advice Line.

The UK’s leading business energy price comparison and switching service for business electricity rates called on all business consumers to say no to cold callers and to compare the market using a reputable online business electricity prices comparison service.

For further information on the business energy Say No to Cold Calling Campaign please contact Energy Advice Line on 0800 915 1800 or visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk/say-no-to-cold-calling.php

If you are approaching your renewal as a business electricity or gas customer always check the standing charge on the renewal letter as Energy Advice Line are being contacted by a number of customers who complaining that their standing charges have gone up by as much as 30 times.

Further analysis with customers by Energy Advice Line has proved that this increase to the standing charge particularly applies to users that only consume small amounts of business energy on an annual basis.

Julian Morgan, Managing Director of Energy Advice Line said business electricity customers need to be particularly vigilant around the renewal period and always check the business electricity prices that the supplier is offering them on renewal. However, if you are a small consumer of business energy please pay extra attention to the standing charge quoted as this is where the supplier will look to increase their margin. As this is the fixed element of your commercial electricity bill a much higher standing charge will detrimentally affect your bottom line as a small business but adversely allow your supplier to increase their margin and ensure that this is realised every month given that it is a fixed and not a variable cost.

Business electricity suppliers will look to increase their price on renewal with the aim that their customer lets the contract roll over onto business energy prices that are usually significantly higher than what is available on the market. It has never been more important for business electricity consumers to compare the market and agree a contract that helps protect them from future price rises.

Julian Morgan continues “Using our service is incredibly quick and simple – just a few clicks of the keyboard will enable you to search the market and generate the best available business energy deals from our panel of suppliers,” Mr Morgan said.

“But our service isn’t just about saving our customers money. We offer a free contract management service that means our team of business energy experts is on hand to help with problems for the duration of the contract.

“We’ll even give you a reminder when your fixed-contracted is about to come to an end.”

The Energy Advice Line is the UK’s only impartial business electricity price comparison and switching service exclusively for business. It has campaigned for utility companies to change their business energy contracts and billing arrangements to make it easier for firms to switch suppliers to get the best business electricity rates and gas deals.

For further information visit www.energyadviceline.org.uk