Third Party Intermediaries (TPI's) otherwise known as energy brokers have been operating in the commercial energy market for over 15 years, but most people don't realise that it is an unregulated market and that mis-selling is rife.
Legally, brokers act as your Agent and by law must adhere to strict rules designed to ensure that their position of trust and confidence is not abused. These duties include (but aren't limited to):
- Not to make a secret profit out of their trust
- Declare any conflicts of interest
- Act with reasonable skill and care
However, a lack of regulation and the complexity of the energy market has enabled suppliers and brokers to collude to ensure that their legal duties are regularly breached and mis-selling goes undetected in the vast majority of cases.
Brokers regularly lie about how they are paid, often stating the suppliers pay them, or often not even discussing fees with clients. But brokers add a hidden charge onto the prices of your contract (which is often not set out on the contract, and not disclosed on bills) meaning that the brokers are earning a secret commission which is paid from the supplier via the clients bill. This often results in customers unwittingly paying higher prices over a prolonged period of time. True impartiality is rare with some of the biggest brokers working closely with Tier 1 suppliers, and recommendations of which supplier to move to often depending on which supplier will pay them the most in the fastest period of time.
And if you thought that these amounts would be a modest amount, unfortunately it is common practice to find anything from 15% to 50% of a clients bill to be hidden broker commission meaning that claims are often for 5 figure sums. Our team have uncovered claims where over a million pounds has been included into contracts which has gone undetected by the client.
In the vast majority of cases, the Energy Ombudsman does not deal with energy brokers and hidden commissions, and the suppliers will not resolve these complaints, and even OFGEM (who regulate the suppliers) have limited powers to address TPI mis-selling, but don't get involved with hidden commissions.
Our business is a collaboration of ex-energy brokers, claims managers and legal experts working together to obtain redress for mis-sold contracts, and challenging brokers to do better. We are staunch advocates of broker regulation. Our highly skilled team will use our energy knowledge and legal experience to audit your contracts and dealings with the broker, and put you on a path to obtain redress whilst helping you to avoid it happening again in the future.
With over 15 years of experience of the energy market we are able to easily identify mis-sold contracts, detect hidden commissions, spot misrepresentations, and prove fraud and broker negligence. As a result our success rates are very high, proving that we are a devastating force for brokers and suppliers to contend with.
