The Bishop Auckland Golf Club
David Perriss, the club secretary at Bishop Auckland Golf Club, is potentially entitled to £20,000 in compensation from the gas supplier TotalEnergies Gas & Power.
The French energy company were given until the end of March 2024 to respond or reach a settlement. If not, Mr Perriss is prepared to pursue the matter in court.
“We agreed a five-year deal in 2017, so we were lucky in that we did avoid the worst of the energy price rise following Russia’s invasion in Ukraine,” said Mr Perriss.
“We went through a broker who I subsequently discovered was making our bill twice as much as it should have been with its hidden fees.”
The golf club was placed on a gas rate of 5.99p/kWh, with 3p of that amount going to the broker as fees, which accounted for 50 per cent of the total charges.
“Needless to say these charges have really hurt the golf club over the last few years,” added Mr Perriss.
“We were never told how much the broker fees were, and had we known we’d have never signed up to the deal."
The money would really help a club like ours. We’re not one of those expensive golf clubs like in the south of England, we’re very much a club for everyone.”
“We try to keep our charges as low as possible, especially for our members who have been with us for decades who are now in their 80s and for children to encourage them to play golf.
“This is a community golf club and we could do a lot with £20,000.”
The Peterlee Italian Bistro
n 2022, an energy broker contacted Kelly Petter, the assistant to restaurant owner Masoud Farrahi, to arrange the electricity supply for Luciano Bar & Bistro in Peterlee, near Sunderland.
The business entered into an agreement recommended by the broker, with an electricity rate of approximately 70p/kWh.
“The broker was clear on the phone that we would be able to cut the rate when energy prices fell, but when we saw there were much cheaper deals around we were told we were locked into the contract,” said Ms Petter.
Despite this, the restaurant attempted to secure a new energy deal with another supplier at a significantly lower rate. However, when the original supplier became aware of this, it demanded a payment to terminate the contract early, even before it had begun supplying energy to the restaurant.
In a letter from the energy supplier, the energy giant informed Luciano’s owner, Mr Farrahi, that ending the contract would cost his business £74,762.70.
This figure, according to the company, was an estimate and subject to further reconciliation should the restaurant withdraw from its contract with the firm.
As a result, Mr Farrahi stated that last summer his restaurant’s electricity bill rose from around £1,800 a month to more than £10,000.
“This has harmed the business so badly,” said Mr Farrahi. “They just don’t care about businesses like us. They’re in it for themselves.”
Mr Farrahi added: “We’re delaying payment of our other bills like VAT so we can pay our electricity bill. It’s incredibly hard, and we’re fighting to survive.”
The Kent Hairdresser
A Kent hairdresser, who fears she may have paid thousands of pounds in secret energy broker fees, has begun legal action to recoup her money.
Fiona Russell, who runs McQueen Hair & Beauty in Orpington and Tunbridge Wells, Kent could now recoup secret broker commissions from the energy company.
Ms Russell, 58, had originally turned to advice from brokers in the hope of getting the best deal on her energy costs, but feels let down.
“It seems it was the best deal for them, but not the best deal for me,” she said. “I was never told about the commission and I must have paid thousands over the years.”
Like most small businesses, Ms Russell said her salons have been hit hard by the energy crisis.
“It’s an industry that I’m really not comfortable with at all. I find them very misleading. Quite honestly, I’ve lost all confidence and in future, I’ll do the research myself.
“The cost of just turning on the lights and heating has gone up by 400 per cent over the last couple of years,” she said.
Last year, she relocated her Tunbridge Wells salon from a standalone shop into a department store, saving about 20 per cent on energy costs.
“We’ve looked at all the ways of reducing costs, but these are essentials you have to have. I can’t turn the heating off. It eats up all my profits. From a £50 haircut, once I’ve paid the heating and light and the wages, it doesn’t leave much.”
“We have to look at different ways of doing business,” she said.​​
Text Attribution: these stories are sourced from inews, 20 March 2024. Image Credit: courtesy of inews.
WHAT ARE BUSINESS ENERGY CLAIMS?
Business Energy Claims (BEC) refer to the process by which businesses, charities, sports, social clubs and places of worship seek compensation for being overcharged or mis-sold energy contracts by suppliers or brokers.
This process addresses the undisclosed energy commissions scandal, which encompasses issues such as receiving incorrect rates, not being informed about commissions included in the price, entering into unfair contracts and even data breaches...
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