UTILITIES
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Hauliers warned to keep an eye on utilities contracts
Operators are being urged to keep a closer eye on their utilities contracts and their staff expenses. Meanwhile, the construction industry is still in a slump, and farmers are calling for a change in the wet harvest rules.
ROAD TRANSPORT operators must take great care to have a proper review policy for their utilities contracts, now that regulator Ofgem (www.ofgem. gov.uk), the regulatory body for the electricity and gas markets in the UK, has stepped back from banning rollover contracts.
Utility companies must send out a letter warning businesses that their contract needs renewing, as well as telling them the tariff they will pay if the contract continues.
However, the Forum for Private Business (FPB)
(www.fpb.org) says many of its members have claimed not to have received any such communication, and have found themselves tied into a further fixed-term contract with higher tariffs since non-response is seen as compliance.
Roll-over contracts can extend for a further year.
A spokesman for the FPB says: “It’s essential that small and medium-sized businesses have a proper business process for reviewing their utility provision, and start to shop around long before their contract comes up for renewal. Those of our members who do shop around save thousands – and sometimes tens of thousands – in utility costs.” Ofgem had originally recommended banning rollover contracts, but, having faced opposition from the major suppliers, has since backed down. The utilities providers said they were concerned about “the potential impact on the dynamics of competition in the targeted segment and about the impact on costs”.
Ofgem has promised to review the situation should problems persist for business owners, so if you feel you have been unfairly subjected to a rollover contract, inform the regulator.
For more on Ofgem’s market report, see http://bit.ly/15AnjJ