Hidden Charges & Business Rebates: Unmasking the UK's Energy Brokerage Industry

The shift from a state-controlled energy sector to a competitive marketplace in the UK brought with it a wave of energy brokers, promising businesses cost-effective solutions. Hidden beneath these promises were undisclosed charges that many unsuspecting businesses bore.

With these concealed fees, a revelation emerges: numerous contracts might not only be ethically dubious but also legally questionable. For many UK businesses, this means there is the potential to claim significant rebates.

How did this happen and what can you do about it?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the government, through OFGEM the energy regulator, decided that the monopolistic electricity industry in the UK should shift from a state-controlled system to a more competitive market structure.

This was achieved through the Electricity Act 1989 and then the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA). In the UK we are extremely good at finding ways to make money and to take advantage of change.

The deregulating electricity market is no exception. Competition in the supply of electricity allowed energy brokers to fill the gap between suppliers and consumers to provide a service that made the changing of suppliers as easy as possible.

The brokers should have offered expertise in market trends, usage analysis, and contract terms, aiming to secure cost-effective and tailored energy solutions.

Unfortunately, many of those brokers that you thought were assisting you, were in fact generating money-making schemes that allowed them to claim commissions from the suppliers.

Typically a broker would negotiate a deal with a supplier guaranteeing to sign new contracts worthy of significantly more usage than an individual client would use. In effect, the broker became a super customer.

In the electricity supply world, the more electricity you use the cheaper your tariff. The broker then had the flexibility of how much they quoted their customers and the difference between their quote and the supplier wholesale cost was their fee.

In UK law, if you purport to represent your client's best interests and you make a fee without disclosing that fee to your client, you are breaking the law, which invalidates the contract. When a contract is invalid the money the companies made from that contract can be claimed back.

You can check if you are owed thousands right now in a few simple steps. Go to my website: tialoc.co.uk and fill in an energy claim form to see how much you are owed. It could be the smartest click you make all day!