Is Electric Ireland notifying you about end of contract?

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Laramie

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My electricity provider is Bord Gais. My yearly contract with them ends in November. I got a notification from them to remind me that my contract was ending shortly and offered me some options of renewal.

My Gas provider is Electric Ireland. My contract is due to end shortly. I have received no reminder of this nor offered any options on renewal.

I think that this has happened before also.

Has anyone else found this to be the case and are we required to get a reminder from them?
 
I get an email from Electric Ireland every year to advise that my contract will be ending and that somebody will be in contact with me to discuss my renewal options. Phone call comes in always about 1/2 weeks after the email without fail for me.
 
Some or all energy providers notify customers that their fixed term contract is about to end but I don't think that they're obliged by any regulation to do so.
 
Laramie said:
Has anyone else found this to be the case and are we required to get a reminder from them?
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I think you should be required to get an email, my email from them is always captioned Regulatory Message from your Energy Supplier


Thank you for being a customer of Electric Ireland.
We are writing to inform you that your current Gas fixed term contract will expire on 08/09/2025. Now and in the future we're here for you.
How your bill is calculated:
Below is a quick rundown of the charges you are currently paying (excl. VAT):
Energy Unit Rate: 7.692 c/kWh
Annual Standing Charge: 143.08 €/annum
On average consumers use 11000 kWh per year. If you use this average amount we estimate that the annual bill cost for your current price plan would be €1215.84 inclusive of all charges. However, your actual annual bill cost is unlikely to be the same as the average and will depend on how much energy you actually use.
For further information regarding your estimated annual bill visit: http://www.electricireland.ie/EAB (www.electricireland.ie/EAB)
What happens next?
At the end of your current fixed term contract, you will move to our ValueReward price plan, with ongoing savings for direct debit and online billing and no contract. You will continue to enjoy the savings this year, next year and every year. For an average customer, we estimate that the annual cost for your new price plan would be €1504.05 inclusive of all charges.
From the energy you use, to how you use it, we're here to guide you. If you need to discuss any of our products and services, call us on 1800 30 50 90, our team will be happy to help.
We are committed to giving you a discount rate that doesn't disappear, but we understand that you can shop around for a better deal. Is this the right tariff for you? There are no penalties for switching when your contract expires. Visit www.cru.ie/home/switching-supplier for more information on accredited price comparison websites.
Thank you again for choosing us. We hope to be your trusted energy partner for many years to come. We're Brighter Together.
 
Yes, but I don't think that there's any regulatory requirement for them to notify customers of the imminent ending of their fixed term contract.
 
Taken from here:

Before your contract comes to an end​

In the lead up to your contract minimum term expiry date, the service provider must let you know that your contract is coming to an end and tell you how you can cancel the contract. The end of contract notice must be sent to you in a durable medium and in a prominent and timely manner.

At the same time, you should also receive ‘best-tariff advice’ from your provider relating to your service. This should address the best tariff, price plan or bundle that suits your needs. This may or may not be the package that you’re already signed-up to. Best tariff information must be provided at least annually. The best tariff advice and information provided will be based on your past usage and so it ensures that you’re better informed to choose the service that meets your specific needs.



I have been receiving end of contract notices in the past few years from El Irl, Bord Gais and Virgin Media.
 
ClubMan said:
regulatory requirement
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Perhaps Electric Ireland have to send a regulatory message due to their association with the ESB Commercial semi-state Body etc blah blah blah.

It's the only plausible explanation to having an email sent out with the term regulatory on it.
 
Yes you should get a notification from them. I'm with EI for both Gas and Electricity. Fixed-term contract ends tomorrow. I received an SMS on Oct 6th to let me know they'd be in touch to discuss my contract due to it ending soon (I missed a call from them later that day). I also got two emails from them on Sept 3rd with the subject 'Regulatory Message from your Energy Supplier" (One for the Gas account and the other for Electricity).

The Email detailed what I'm currently paying (Unit rate and Standing Charge), it also stated what would happen once the contract ended i.e. the plan I'd move to and the average cost of that plan.

I'm moving to FloGas tomorrow for both. Tried ringing EI but can't get through to see if they can beat the FloGas savings but doubt they'd meet it. The Welcome bonus of €210 from Flogas is doing the heavy lifting on savings as not much between them otherwise.
 
Laramie said:
My Gas provider is Electric Ireland. My contract is due to end shortly. I have received no reminder of this nor offered any options on renewal.
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As mad as it may seem I still feel that they issue the reminders for electricity accounts expiring but not for gas. This has come before on AAM.

Just double checked my emails now and have some from El Irl, Bord Gais for electricity and broadband etc from VM.
 
Update.

I wrote and asked them about receiving reminders coming toward end of contract and this was their response to me.

"Thanks for your email.
Information on when your contract is up for renewal can be found on page two overleaf of any bills issued on one of the top line entries."

It seems it is up to the consumer to be aware of this. I certainly have received no reminder (my contract is due to expire in early November), nor have I been offered any incentives to stay with them.
I think that many consumers might not be aware that their contract is ending and also be unaware that they will be switched to a standard tariff after their renewal date.
 
I phoned EI after receiving the contract ending notification. I asked what the new unit rate charges would be. I was told that an ongoing 18% discount was being applied.

The new customer discount is slightly higher than this and includes €100 euro credit (standard meter)

My wife applied for this as a new customer and this was accepted.
 
Laramie said:
I think that many consumers might not be aware that their contract is ending and also be unaware that they will be switched to a standard tariff after their renewal date.
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I get the feeling that if your one of the many that looks for the best deal on your utilities you'd have a relatively good idea when your contracts are ending but it still is nice to get that reminder

Last year my brother in law, who used to earn a huge salary but now earns a much smaller big salary asked who we were with as he's feeling the pinch, turns out he's been with EI since he bought the house in '95 and never once questioned rates or discounts :rolleyes:
 
In my opinion it's not that difficult to stick a reminder in your electronic calendar so you don't have to depend on service providers telling you when your contract is up.
 
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