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Energy supplier has went bust


hmfcbilly

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12 hours ago, SwindonJambo said:

Here’s an update for those previously with Tonik as I was. They are still collecting Direct Debits from customers so log into your bank account ASAP and cancel yours. A further monthly payment was collected from my account yesterday. Whether I ever see it again is uncertain. I’ve just cancelled mine.

 

Tonik’s administrators have created a website so that customers can log into their old accounts and view all history held. I was about £100 in credit before yesterday’s DD unexpectedly went out.

Cheers for the update on this Swindon. I've just logged in and checked my account...£224 in credit so glad I could see it to screen shot it! I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that Tonik have set this up to allow old bills and balances to be checked. As I said previously, I never had any issues with them at all in the 2 stints I had as a customer so I'm gutted they've went under. Be interesting to see what SP put me on but I'm guessing it will be nowhere near my old tariff. I just want it sorted ASAP so I can get my credit balance back and transfer to someone offering a competitive tariff. I see utility point is up near the top price wise. I left tonik to go to them (cheaper) but after 5 months I shut my account, paid exit fees and went back to tonik. Utility point were a pain for me....always sending out estimated bills even though I answered meter read requests within a day or 2. They were OK at answering phone tbf but anytime I asked them to reissue a bill with correct reads it would show up as the following months bill online! They also take a much higher amount in the winter months and much lower in the summer. Didnt like that. Much preferred spreading the cost over the year. On cost alone, it seems EDF or E-ON for me. Think ill stay away from the smaller companies after this unless the cost saving is significant.

 

Edit...I haven't heard anything about my new SP account either and I gave my details over the phone to them a week past Monday 

Edited by hmfcbilly
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The Mighty Thor

The energy market is going to be pretty tough in the next wee while.

 

Wholesale Electricity futures have gone up 300% in the last few months. 

 

Two nuclear stations are offline and the majority of our Electricity is produced from gas. Gas prices are at a multi year high too.

 

So in short, prices up up up. 

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24 minutes ago, The Mighty Thor said:

The energy market is going to be pretty tough in the next wee while.

 

Wholesale Electricity futures have gone up 300% in the last few months. 

 

Two nuclear stations are offline and the majority of our Electricity is produced from gas. Gas prices are at a multi year high too.

 

So in short, prices up up up. 

 

I'm with Bulb and mine's have went up 3 times this year already, probably time to look elsewhere and change, if cheaper.

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4 hours ago, Dirty Deeds said:

Four suppliers have now gone but in the last week. 2 today including Peoples Energy who employ several hundred people locally.

 

Very bad news.

Thanks for the warning! I'm with People's Energy being a bit of a rate tart and changing suppliers pretty regularly.

Here's a link to useful info on the MoenySavingExpert website

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/09/utility-point-ceases-trading---here-s-everything-you-need-to-kno/

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1 hour ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

I'm with Bulb and mine's have went up 3 times this year already, probably time to look elsewhere and change, if cheaper.

Bulb still cheapest for me by over £100 per year on USwitch when I checked last week - Don't know if Uswitch had their latest price increase loaded yet though.

 

 

Edited by Spellczech
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All of those in credit should make sure the reads are accurate and up to date (oh and take a note of your meter serial number/MPAN elec/MPRN gas numbers)

 

There are too many thinking they are in credit at the end of Summer and it's all because readings are not actual but estimated

 

I can remember many on here hammering the major suppliers but sad to say exactly what many thought is happening and the smaller suppliers just could not run the business at a profit or even break even

 

The esteemed governments of the day, in this pandering to the press re excess profits, have caused the markets to contract and they are missing out on tax revenues that once flowed from profits never mind the jobs lost

What we are seeing is exactly what was told but ignored in recent years

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The Ultimate Worrier
On 12/10/2020 at 08:14, hmfcbilly said:

Hi folks, I found out via an email yesterday from money-saving expert cheap energy club that my current energy supplier (tonik energy) stopped operating 6th October.  I then went to log in to my account to see what previous meter reads were and what my credit balance was exactly but I was unable to do so . The website basically has a statement saying Scottish Power will be taking over their customer base but I was unable to log in to my account.  I know for a fact that I was about £200 in credit from checking last month so my question is have any of you been through a similar experience and did you get your credit balance OK? The statement did say OFGEM will ensure the new supplier refunds the credit balance but I'm unsure how long that is likely to take so if anyone knows that would be great. Finally, I've deleted Tonik Direct Debit as it was due to debit my account in 3 days and I intend to sign up to a new supplier myself (have looked at Scottish Power tariffs and there are cheaper 'big 6' options). Would it be advisable to wait until Scottish Power get in touch first to save any confusion? Obviously its not a simple change of supplier like before. Bit gutted as I've used Tonik for a few years and always found their system and site accurate and good value too. Seems even the 'bigger' smaller players are not safe 😔

 

On 12/10/2020 at 09:19, jonesy said:

Good luck with SP, that's all I can add. Keep records of absolutely everything (communication, reads, etc). They don't respond to emails very well, but do to facebook messages. I had to set up a facebook account just to get some customer service out of them.

 

Having a nightmare with SP at the moment. Had my gas and electricity with them for over ten years but got an email in March saying they were sorry I was transferring my gas to another supplier, which was news to me. Phoned them to ask what it was about and that I hadn't requested it. 

 

Spoke to a spiv sounding weegie who said it was up to me to contact the "new" company as they wouldn't take SP's word for it. Every phone call since has been with a weegie or scouser who either does nothing or says it's all sorted when it then transpires that it's not.

 

To cut a long story short, went through their complaints process which is a joke so emailed the chief exec. That seemed to spark a reaction but then just fizzled out as well.

 

To cut a long story short, six months on and it's still not sorted. Wouldn't touch SP with a barge pole.

 

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The Ultimate Worrier
39 minutes ago, jonesy said:

Don't bother phoning them. Their staff either don't care or aren't paid enough to be competent.

 

The only way I got anything sorted with SP was to create a Facebook account specifically to message them. Things got going after that. Now get regular, accurate bills and pay what I think is a reasonable price.

 

Cheers mate! I'll give that a try.

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4 hours ago, Spellczech said:

Bulb still cheapest for me by over £100 per year on USwitch when I checked last week - Don't know if Uswitch had their latest price increase loaded yet though.

 

 

I was with Bulb, never had any issues with them. Was convinced to move to People's Energy as they were cheaper. They weren't, couldn't fit a smart meter and are now bust. Wished I never moved and will probably go back to Bulb when I get the chance. 

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1 hour ago, Jamdub said:

Octupus are the best I have had.

I was with Ovo for five years before switching to Octopus in 2019. However, their last pricing offer was disappointing, so I switched to SO Energy in May.   I've signed up to Money Saving Expert's, automatic annual review so, in theory, I should always be on a competitive deal.

 

I can't say that I've had any serious issues with any supplier in the last 10 years.  Before then First Utility was probably the worst in terms of facilitating a switch of supplier, as it took months before I had a credit balance refunded. 

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Jeffros Furios

It's going to be a shite winter for those who's income is less with U/C reduced and furlough ending ,

 

Working hours reduced due to covid and now rising energy prices .

 

Pretty pish .

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On 21/10/2020 at 10:06, hmfcbilly said:

Cheers for the update on this Swindon. I've just logged in and checked my account...£224 in credit so glad I could see it to screen shot it! I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that Tonik have set this up to allow old bills and balances to be checked. As I said previously, I never had any issues with them at all in the 2 stints I had as a customer so I'm gutted they've went under. Be interesting to see what SP put me on but I'm guessing it will be nowhere near my old tariff. I just want it sorted ASAP so I can get my credit balance back and transfer to someone offering a competitive tariff. I see utility point is up near the top price wise. I left tonik to go to them (cheaper) but after 5 months I shut my account, paid exit fees and went back to tonik. Utility point were a pain for me....always sending out estimated bills even though I answered meter read requests within a day or 2. They were OK at answering phone tbf but anytime I asked them to reissue a bill with correct reads it would show up as the following months bill online! They also take a much higher amount in the winter months and much lower in the summer. Didnt like that. Much preferred spreading the cost over the year. On cost alone, it seems EDF or E-ON for me. Think ill stay away from the smaller companies after this unless the cost saving is significant.

 

Edit...I haven't heard anything about my new SP account either and I gave my details over the phone to them a week past Monday 

The reason they were cheap is they could not run at a profit

 

All this chat is great but you were benefiting from second rate companies who were not run with an ability to pay their way and guess who has to dig them out of a whole

 

Too many took digs at the major suppliers who at least charged their customers on a more realistic cost basis........you might not like that but these little loss leaders were simply trying to make a quick buck on the back of the wonderful media and government who bowed to pressure instead of telling it as it is.

There was also a wider impact on pensions etc when shares dived in many of them due to these here today and gone next week companies

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/19/majority-of-uk-small-energy-suppliers-could-be-left-to-collapse-this-winter

 

Losing all the challenger suppliers cannot be good for the market.  I'm guessing the 10 tipped to survive all have separate generation capacity so they'll make big profits from that while the supplier side of the business suffers.

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On 12/10/2020 at 15:29, Mysterion said:

If you are looking to get out of Scottish Power the. I’d recommend a company called Avro - they have been great for the last 2-3yrs. They keep it simple, 1 fixed tariff on offer.

 

I found their unit charge was competitive but their daily standing charge was a fair bit cheaper than some providers (14p per fuel compared to some charging 20-25p per day).

 

Good luck having to deal with refunds etc.


Aw man. This didn’t age well.

:facepalm:

 

Gonna have to ride out the transfer to a new provider if (when) Avro go bust. Got a fair whack of credit with them too ahead of winter. 

 

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3 hours ago, CJGJ said:

The reason they were cheap is they could not run at a profit

 

All this chat is great but you were benefiting from second rate companies who were not run with an ability to pay their way and guess who has to dig them out of a whole

 

Too many took digs at the major suppliers who at least charged their customers on a more realistic cost basis........you might not like that but these little loss leaders were simply trying to make a quick buck on the back of the wonderful media and government who bowed to pressure instead of telling it as it is.

There was also a wider impact on pensions etc when shares dived in many of them due to these here today and gone next week companies

Christ I wrote that nearly a year ago CJGJ...some bump mind, I'll give you that! 

Tbh, I never looked into the inner depths of a utilities company too much when it's time to change. I check they are not completely awful for getting hold of and take the prices they charge as legit. I neither have the time nor the inclination to delve that deep in to whether they are affecting folks pensions etc.  If I'm honest, I couldn't really give a toss, more so now more than ever primarily due to the fact I tragically lost my wife, best friend and mother of my 2 and 6 year old children to a very short, aggressive cancer almost 4 weeks ago.  If you want to talk to me about unjust, my kids Being robbed of their 34 year old mother and my wife being robbed of not only being able to continue a role she was born for (natural mother) but also given absolutely no time to make any sort of meaningful memories, that's way higher up the scale for me than a few poxy companies going bust.  As a side note (you seem quite angry folks pensions are affected by the energy prices), my wife contributed for 20 years to the system (including very considerably the past 3 or 4 years when she was doing really well in her job) is entitled to **** all state pension wise yet my mother has a family friend who worked a year here after leaving school in the early 70s, emigrated back to Germany and currently receives a percentage of a UK state pension. How unjust does that seem?? The system is completely wrong IMO but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never change it. Best I can hope for is to provide my children with as happy a life as they could hope for without their rock and constant, their beloved mummy 

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8 minutes ago, hmfcbilly said:

Christ I wrote that nearly a year ago CJGJ...some bump mind, I'll give you that! 

Tbh, I never looked into the inner depths of a utilities company too much when it's time to change. I check they are not completely awful for getting hold of and take the prices they charge as legit. I neither have the time nor the inclination to delve that deep in to whether they are affecting folks pensions etc.  If I'm honest, I couldn't really give a toss, more so now more than ever primarily due to the fact I tragically lost my wife, best friend and mother of my 2 and 6 year old children to a very short, aggressive cancer almost 4 weeks ago.  If you want to talk to me about unjust, my kids Being robbed of their 34 year old mother and my wife being robbed of not only being able to continue a role she was born for (natural mother) but also given absolutely no time to make any sort of meaningful memories, that's way higher up the scale for me than a few poxy companies going bust.  As a side note (you seem quite angry folks pensions are affected by the energy prices), my wife contributed for 20 years to the system (including very considerably the past 3 or 4 years when she was doing really well in her job) is entitled to **** all state pension wise yet my mother has a family friend who worked a year here after leaving school in the early 70s, emigrated back to Germany and currently receives a percentage of a UK state pension. How unjust does that seem?? The system is completely wrong IMO but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never change it. Best I can hope for is to provide my children with as happy a life as they could hope for without their rock and constant, their beloved mummy 

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, I really don't know what to say, I'm so sorry.

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7 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, I really don't know what to say, I'm so sorry.

Thankyou jimbo 

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1 hour ago, hmfcbilly said:

Christ I wrote that nearly a year ago CJGJ...some bump mind, I'll give you that! 

Tbh, I never looked into the inner depths of a utilities company too much when it's time to change. I check they are not completely awful for getting hold of and take the prices they charge as legit. I neither have the time nor the inclination to delve that deep in to whether they are affecting folks pensions etc.  If I'm honest, I couldn't really give a toss, more so now more than ever primarily due to the fact I tragically lost my wife, best friend and mother of my 2 and 6 year old children to a very short, aggressive cancer almost 4 weeks ago.  If you want to talk to me about unjust, my kids Being robbed of their 34 year old mother and my wife being robbed of not only being able to continue a role she was born for (natural mother) but also given absolutely no time to make any sort of meaningful memories, that's way higher up the scale for me than a few poxy companies going bust.  As a side note (you seem quite angry folks pensions are affected by the energy prices), my wife contributed for 20 years to the system (including very considerably the past 3 or 4 years when she was doing really well in her job) is entitled to **** all state pension wise yet my mother has a family friend who worked a year here after leaving school in the early 70s, emigrated back to Germany and currently receives a percentage of a UK state pension. How unjust does that seem?? The system is completely wrong IMO but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never change it. Best I can hope for is to provide my children with as happy a life as they could hope for without their rock and constant, their beloved mummy 

Thoughts are with you and your family

 

I think this issue is different but it fades into insignificance given your circumstances.....please take care of yourself and the family

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Dennis Reynolds

I was with Bulb at my last home for about three years and they were excellent. Customer service was amazing and it would be a shame if they go. Was working my way into credit with Scottish Power and planning on moving back to Bulb before all this started. 

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5 hours ago, Mysterion said:


Aw man. This didn’t age well.

:facepalm:

 

Gonna have to ride out the transfer to a new provider if (when) Avro go bust. Got a fair whack of credit with them too ahead of winter. 

 

I'm in the same boat.

Probably not too bad as my start month was December.

Are they going to fall?

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1 hour ago, JackLadd said:

If the supplier goes bust I assume any credit or debit is kaput with it?

No, new suppliers must honour credit and customers owe new supplier for any not paid for. 

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On 14/09/2021 at 18:18, The Mighty Thor said:

The energy market is going to be pretty tough in the next wee while.

 

Wholesale Electricity futures have gone up 300% in the last few months. 

 

Two nuclear stations are offline and the majority of our Electricity is produced from gas. Gas prices are at a multi year high too.

 

So in short, prices up up up. 

All that Oil , gas and Renewables , and yet Scotland have massive energy bills. 

 

Aye, but at least we don't need Scottish independence for a blue passport. :jambobanana:

 

Sigh!

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I'm with Bulb and if it goes tits up it goes tits up, not worried in the least as I'll be moved to another supplier, even my credit balance is protected so I've nothing to worry about.  I have all my statements over the last year+ and this morning took screen shots & photos of my account balance, just in case.

 

The days of cheap energy are I'm afraid over, we are all going to have to pay significantly more from now on for our gas & electricity, oh well it was good while it lasted.

 

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10 hours ago, Tommy Brown said:

I'm in the same boat.

Probably not too bad as my start month was December.

Are they going to fall?

 

Avro have been asked a couple of times for financial information to meet their license obligations. 

They've not complied. 

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-orders-avro-energy-provide-financial-information

 

The general info i can work out is that 4 providers have indicated they need to be shuttered and customers migrated to other providers. 

 

As another poster has commented - the only small positive is that consumers should have their credit balance transferred to the new provider. 

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1 hour ago, Mars plastic said:

Get signed up with the SNP’s non profit energy company they promised to set up 4 years ago. 

 

Looking at how things have panned out and the view that the number of energy companies will shrink significantly I wonder if this is one  reason (not the main reason though - the main reason is probably a lack of skilled people working on the project) that this hasn't happened. Too many companies undercutting to make it viable ? 

 

Could be an argument that in a market where the number of companies operating decrease could make a government backed Non Profit work ?

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15 hours ago, hmfcbilly said:

Christ I wrote that nearly a year ago.....

 

Hey, I just wanted to pass on my sincerest condolences to you and your kids. I am sorry to hear about what happened to your wife and I hope that you are all as well as you can be.  

 

Keep talking, keep the head up. 

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57 minutes ago, Mysterion said:

 

Could be an argument that in a market where the number of companies operating decrease could make a government backed Non Profit work ?

 

BoJo Energy, does have a certain ring about it, it has to be said, as does One Nation Energy or even The Britannia Power Company.

 

That would sent some people absolutely apoplectic, and as for the name of a Scottish government owned energy company, well I'll leave others to give a name to that one.  I can imagine there'll be a few good ones.  :laugh:

Edited by Jambo-Jimbo
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22 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

BoJo Energy, does have a certain ring about it, it has to be said, as does One Nation Energy* or even The Britannia Power Company.

 

That would sent some people absolutely apoplectic, and as for the name of a Scottish government owned energy company, well I'll leave others to give a name to that one.  I can imagine there'll be a few good ones.  :laugh:

*exludes NI

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5 hours ago, Mysterion said:

 

Avro have been asked a couple of times for financial information to meet their license obligations. 

They've not complied. 

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-orders-avro-energy-provide-financial-information

 

The general info i can work out is that 4 providers have indicated they need to be shuttered and customers migrated to other providers. 

 

As another poster has commented - the only small positive is that consumers should have their credit balance transferred to the new provider. 

 

Not only that but they should get to remain on their existing tariff for a few months at least, we were with one of the Eco friendly suppliers that went bust last year, our account was ported over to EDF who are only now looking for us to change to an EDF tariff

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Dean Winchester
6 minutes ago, Ribble said:

 

Not only that but they should get to remain on their existing tariff for a few months at least, we were with one of the Eco friendly suppliers that went bust last year, our account was ported over to EDF who are only now looking for us to change to an EDF tariff

Green Network I presume? I'm the same... Just started a switch to Bulb last week because of this so not sure where I'll stand if they go bust 😂

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46 minutes ago, Dean Winchester said:

Green Network I presume? I'm the same... Just started a switch to Bulb last week because of this so not sure where I'll stand if they go bust 😂

 

Tricky one, I don't know what would happen, I'd guess you'd be transferred to another supplier, if Bulb went bust.

 

I'm with Bulb and I'm doing nothing, I'll wait and see what happens, if they go bust then they go bust, but in the meantime I'll just hold fire and ride this out for now and see where things are in 6 months time come the spring time.

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1 hour ago, Ribble said:

 

Not only that but they should get to remain on their existing tariff for a few months at least, we were with one of the Eco friendly suppliers that went bust last year, our account was ported over to EDF who are only now looking for us to change to an EDF tariff

 

Chancing my luck and asked for a credit refund.

Don't expect to get one but you never know. 

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20 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

That would sent some people absolutely apoplectic, and as for the name of a Scottish government owned energy company, well I'll leave others to give a name to that one.  I can imagine there'll be a few good ones.  :laugh:

 

Just heard on the radio - the SG dropped the public owned energy company development a few weeks ago. 

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Malinga the Swinga
On 19/09/2021 at 18:48, hmfcbilly said:

Christ I wrote that nearly a year ago CJGJ...some bump mind, I'll give you that! 

Tbh, I never looked into the inner depths of a utilities company too much when it's time to change. I check they are not completely awful for getting hold of and take the prices they charge as legit. I neither have the time nor the inclination to delve that deep in to whether they are affecting folks pensions etc.  If I'm honest, I couldn't really give a toss, more so now more than ever primarily due to the fact I tragically lost my wife, best friend and mother of my 2 and 6 year old children to a very short, aggressive cancer almost 4 weeks ago.  If you want to talk to me about unjust, my kids Being robbed of their 34 year old mother and my wife being robbed of not only being able to continue a role she was born for (natural mother) but also given absolutely no time to make any sort of meaningful memories, that's way higher up the scale for me than a few poxy companies going bust.  As a side note (you seem quite angry folks pensions are affected by the energy prices), my wife contributed for 20 years to the system (including very considerably the past 3 or 4 years when she was doing really well in her job) is entitled to **** all state pension wise yet my mother has a family friend who worked a year here after leaving school in the early 70s, emigrated back to Germany and currently receives a percentage of a UK state pension. How unjust does that seem?? The system is completely wrong IMO but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never change it. Best I can hope for is to provide my children with as happy a life as they could hope for without their rock and constant, their beloved mummy 

Just catching up on thread. Very sad news and condolences to you and kids. 

 

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16 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Tricky one, I don't know what would happen, I'd guess you'd be transferred to another supplier, if Bulb went bust.

 

I'm with Bulb and I'm doing nothing, I'll wait and see what happens, if they go bust then they go bust, but in the meantime I'll just hold fire and ride this out for now and see where things are in 6 months time come the spring time.

I'm in the same boat JJ.  Just waiting to see how it pans out with Bulb.  Annoying thing is, I've really liked their service.

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The energy supplier Green which serves about 250k customers is facing adminstration, this looks to be the first of the 4 that was expected to fold this week going bust.

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