These terms and conditions apply if you are a customer using our electricity and/or gas services at your domestic premises. Domestic premises are premises at which a supply is taken wholly or mainly for domestic purposes. Please read the terms and conditions carefully so that you fully understand your commitments and our obligations. Once we have received your completed signed contract (this includes contracts submitted via the internet or agreed over the phone) we will seek to carry out a credit check and decide whether the tariff type and payment arrangements you have chosen are correct. If information provided under the contract is incomplete, incorrect, or unclear, your supply may still be given but only on terms that we consider to be the most appropriate for your situation. If there is a problem with your credit check, chosen tariff type or payment arrangements, we will seek to resolve these with you where possible. If we cannot resolve these problems, we will notify you and your contract will end automatically on that date. In the interests of maintaining the highest sales standards, and for your own protection, we may seek to contact you within 28 days of receipt of your contract to verify that you are happy for us to proceed with the contract. If we are unable to contact you within this period we reserve the right to not accept or progress your contract. Once we have verified that you wish to proceed with the contract, we will accept your contract, and except for our obligation to supply your premises (and your obligation to pay for such supply) which will only commence on the supply start date (see below), each of our rights and obligations under this contract will come into effect at that time. Other terms may need to apply if your premises are not directly connected to the pipeline network operated by National Grid Gas plc or any of its companies.
Note: References below to 'energy' should be read as references to residential gas or electricity, or both, and references below to 'services' should be read as residential gas, electricity, or both services, depending on the options you have chosen.
1. Our Obligations To Each Other
1. EDF Energy is a trading name used by us for the provision of the services you have requested. You are entering into a contract with us for the services you have requested. We will ensure that services are supplied at the premises. This is on condition that you do not already have a contract with anyone else for the supply of those services at the premises (unless you will have ended that contract before this contract with us starts).
2. We will tell you the date on which the supply of each of the services under this contract is expected to start ('supply start date'). You accept that we cannot guarantee that that date will be within 30 days of the date on which you agreed your contract with us.
3. You agree that you are the owner or occupier of the premises (or will be on the date that you require the services to start) and that the premises are currently connected to a mains gas network and your local electricity distributor's distribution network.
4. You agree to pay any part of our charges due under these terms that are not genuinely in dispute.
5. You agree that for so long as we are registered with the local metering point administration service as the supplier responsible for the supply of energy to your premises all energy passing through your meter and/or supplied to the premises shall be deemed to be supplied under our contract even if you have a contract for the supply of energy to your premises with any other person.
2. Access To Premises And Meters
1. You confirm that you have the necessary authority and capacity to grant access to the premises in the way required by these terms.
2. You agree that you are responsible for all pipes, fittings, plant, wires and cables, equipment, and apparatus used in connection with the supply of energy on your side of any energy meter and you will maintain them in good working order and safe condition at all times.
3. You agree to allow your gas transporter, your local electricity distributor and/or us, (and/or relevant employees, agents and sub-contractors) to have safe, full and free unobstructed access to your premises and metering equipment:
• At any time if there may be danger to life or property, or if powers in relation to the delivery or supply of energy are being exercised under an Act of Parliament or any regulation or similar law made under it
• At all reasonable times for the purposes of installing, maintaining, or replacing any lines, pipes, wires, cables or any other equipment, plant or apparatus connected with the delivery of energy
• At all reasonable times for the purposes of installing, maintaining, testing, removing, replacing or reading any energy meter or associated metering equipment that is used to enable us to perform our obligations under this
contract
4. You confirm that the premises are equipped with, and you are authorised to use, metering equipment capable of providing the information required to operate your chosen tariff type and which complies with relevant industry standards as to safety, accuracy and reliability. If you are in doubt as to whether the metering equipment installed at the premises is of a satisfactory standard, you should contact us. If the premises are not equipped with metering equipment of a satisfactory standard, we may replace your tariff type with one that we consider appropriate for your meter, in which case there may be a price increase (see clause 3), or you may need to replace your meter. (this may also involve an additional charge).
5. You are required to keep all metering equipment (whether belonging to us or another person) on or at the premises free from loss or damage. You will refund to us any costs we may incur (either directly or indirectly) in respect of replacing or repairing such metering equipment (including any call out charges) unless such loss or damage is caused by fair wear and tear or as a result of any act or omission on our part.
6. We will not be responsible for any defect in or relating to a meter or other fitting not owned or provided on our behalf nor for any consequences arising out of such defect.
7. Where you take a supply of energy through a prepayment meter, and you use an electronic or token meter, you are required to ensure that sufficient units are purchased and you are required to retain and look after the plastic card or other device, keeping it clean, safe and free from damage and we may charge you any costs we may incur (either directly or indirectly) as a result of your failure to do so.
8. Where your supply contract in relation to either services ends, we may:
• (a) Recover any energy meter owned or leased by us and
• (b) Authorise any of our officers, employees, agents, contractors and/or invitees to enter your premises for the purpose of removing any such meter.
We will not exercise this right of recovery if another supplier agrees, prior to the end date of your contract, to purchase or otherwise acquire that meter on terms that ensure we receive appropriate compensation having regard to the value of the meter.
3. Prices and/or Tariff Structures And Changes To Terms
1. The price we charge you or the structure of your tariff we charge and the methods of payment available are set out in the pricing information and the options provided to you by us. The payment rate, payment method or the structure of your tariff you have chosen from those options each form a part of these terms and conditions.
2. We will be allowed under this contract to change any of these terms (including the price we charge you or the structure of your tariff we charge you) at any time. If this change is to your significant disadvantage (such as a price increase), we will notify you in accordance with the requirements of our supply licence ("Variation Notice"). If you do not wish to accept this change to your terms, you must advise us in writing within 14 days from the date on which we told you of the change. If you do that, you will also need to appoint an alternative supplier to take over the supply of your services within 28 days of telling us that you wish to end our contract. If, within this 28 day period, your alternative supplier applies to be registered with the local metering point administration service in relation to the supply of services to your premises, our contract with you for such service will end when your new supplier takes over the supply and we will not apply the change to our terms during the intervening period. Otherwise, the change to your terms will be implemented and we will continue to supply in accordance with the terms as revised.
3. There may be times when we need to change the price we charge you or the structure of your tariff we charge you other than in the circumstances described in clause 3.2 above. We would need to do so where we have to comply with any relevant matter which has the effect of materially changing our business costs in a manner that is beyond our reasonable control. Examples would be a relevant unforeseen change in the law, government or regulatory instruction, to any tax or duty affecting our businesses.
4. We shall publish any change of the price we charge you or the structure of your tariff that we must make for any of the reasons given in clause 3.3 above.
5. If you ask for any service other than that provided as the standard service by your gas transporter or local electricity distributor, or if you cause them to incur costs beyond those which they would normally incur in carrying out our obligations to you, we reserve the right to charge you any costs we reasonably incur as a result.
6. If your method of payment is changed under this contract (for whatever reason), the price we charge you may have to change to reflect this. Also, if the change in your energy payment method requires any energy meter or associated equipment to be changed, there may be a charge to cover this.
7. All charges are subject to any tax, duty or levy on energy (including VAT) or on the processing, distribution, transportation, sale or supply of energy whether payable by us or by someone else and refunded by us. Charges for gas may be subject to transportation adjustments within the meaning of standard condition 42 of the gas supply licence.
4. Your Rights To End This Contract And Our Rights To Stop Your Supply
1. You can end these arrangements to have energy supplied at your premises by giving us notice in any of the following ways (note you must give notice in relation to each service you have requested):
• By telling us in writing or by telephone on 0800 096 9000* within 12 days from the date you entered this contract (which will then end immediately).
• By telling us in writing within 14 days from being told of any proposed change to your terms (including price) which is to your significant disadvantage (see clause 3.2 above). Our contract for the services affected by such change will then end 28 days after you have told us, provided that an alternative supplier has registered with the local metering point administration service in relation to the supply of services to your premises.
• By telling us in writing, or by telephone, at least two working days before you want this contract to end, if you are permanently leaving the premises being supplied.
• By telling us in writing, at any other time, at least 28 days before you want this contract to end, provided you have agreed a contract with an alternative supplier to commence from the date you want this contract to end. If you are being provided with more than one service by us, ending one service will not automatically end the contract for the other service(s).
2. When we have received notice under clause 4.1 above, we shall prepare a final bill or statement for you. We may need to get a final energy meter reading before we can do this.
3. If you do not give us proper notice under clause clause 4.1 above, this contract will remain in force and you will continue to be liable for all charges arising under it until the contract ends. If you have permanently left the premises, this will usually be when a new owner or occupier becomes responsible for the supply, or when the next actual meter reading is taken - whichever happens first.)
4. We can end our arrangements with you under this contract by giving you not less than three months' notice in writing, except where we are acting under clause 4.5 below in which case no notice is required. Where we act under this clause 4.4, you can require us to offer you new terms for energy supply.
5. We are entitled to end this contract and/or discontinue the supply of energy to your premises if:
• You do not pay any security deposit or all or any part of our charges (that are not genuinely in dispute) when due under these terms and it is not safe or practicable to fit a prepayment meter to collect the debt and future charges. You do not carry out any of your other obligations under this contract.
• You commit a serious or repeated breach of our arrangements with you under this contract (for example, if we reasonably believe that you have stolen energy or deliberately interfered with an energy meter or with any part of the energy metering equipment).
• An energy regulator directs another supplier, instead of us, to supply your premises.
• Your supply of energy is required to be cut off under any of the energy industry arrangements under which we operate.
• There is a risk of danger to you or other members of the public if the supply is continued.
• You are no longer the owner or occupier of the premises.
• You are declared bankrupt, or any formal steps are taken to have you declared bankrupt or any other form of insolvency proceedings are initiated against you.
• Circumstances occur which are beyond our reasonable control and which result in us being unable to perform our obligations under this contract; such circumstances would include the acts or omissions of any other energy supplier, distributor, shipper, or transporter.
• We cease to be party to any of the industry agreements under which we operate or there is not a data collector, data aggregator, meter asset provider and/or meter asset maintainer appointed in respect of each supply point at our premises.
6. Both you and we may end this contract immediately if we are no longer licensed to supply energy at your premises.
7. If we give notice to you of our desire to end your contract under the provisions of clause 4, we will be entitled to take action (or to instruct someone else to take action on our behalf) to prevent the supply of energy under the contract to your premises and/or to disconnect your premises.
8. Ending your contract will not affect any rights and obligations which arose before that contract came to an end or which are stated in that contract to take effect or to continue after that date.
1. We will normally send you a bill or statement (which will show you a breakdown or our charges) every three months, but we may send you a bill or statement at any time.
2. Your bill or statement may need to be based on a reasonable estimate made by us of your energy consumption (for example, where your energy meter has failed to accurately record the amount of energy supplied, or where we have not been able to obtain all the information we require for the purpose of calculating the charges you owe us, such as when a price increase has occurred during a billing period). This will be calculated from information that we have about the use of energy at the premises. If you are unhappy with the meter reading we have used in an estimated bill, you should tell us quickly and provide us with your own meter reading so that we can issue you with a revised bill. Otherwise, you must pay the estimated amount, and any under or over estimate will be corrected automatically the next time that you pay a bill based on an actual meter reading. We may also at any time from the start of your contract require our own meter reading and issue a replacement bill based on that reading.
3. If your energy meter is not read immediately before the relevant supply start date, we may estimate the amount of energy supplied during the period beginning with the supply start date and ending with the earlier of:
• the time when the meter is first read after the date we start supplying you or
• the time when your contract with us ends, and we may use that estimate as the basis for calculating your charges for energy supplied during that period.
4. You agree to pay all or any part of our charges (that are not genuinely in dispute) under each bill (even if estimated) when due, using the payment method agreed with us. Your bill should be paid by its due date, as stated on the bill, or if no date is specified, within 14 days after the date of the bill. We reserve the right to set off credits on one service account against debts on other service accounts that you may have with us.
5. If you are having difficulties in paying, we will try to help you, in line with our codes of practice issued from time to time on the payment of energy bills. But we can only do this if you contact us to let us know that you are having difficulties.
6. If you do not pay our bills in the manner agreed, we are entitled to ask you to pay by some other method, in which case there may be a price increase (see clause 3.6 above). If this requires the fitting of a prepayment meter, clause 2 above will apply.
7. We reserve the right to charge you for late payment. Should it become necessary, this will be at an annual rate of 4 per cent above the base lending rate of HSBC from time to time in force.
8. We reserve the right to recover any reasonable expenses incurred in recovering money owing and unpaid under this contract, including costs associated with disconnecting and/or replacing an energy meter in such circumstances.
9. If your contract ends and you leave unpaid for 28 days or more charges payable under that contract, then (within certain limits specified in our licence) we may assign to your new supplier the right to recover those unpaid charges. Equally, subject to the same limitations, when your contract commences, your previous supplier may assign to us any unpaid charges from your contract with your previous supplier. In these circumstances you agree that we may collect from you the amount in question, plus reasonable costs.
10. If the payment method which you have agreed with us has special terms relating to its operation (for example, a prepayment meter scheme), we will notify you in writing of these terms and they will form part of your contract.
6. Security
1. We may at any time (except in certain circumstances if you are supplied through a prepayment meter or if it is otherwise not reasonable) require you to provide a reasonable deposit (or other form of security) for the payment of the charges in connection to services we provide you. If we do then we shall seek to agree with you any additional special terms we require to cover the provision of such deposit. If we cannot agree these special terms with you we may give you notice of our desire to end your contract and discontinue supply of the services. If this occurs, then the provisions of clause 4.6 will apply as if one of the events specified in clause 4.5 had occurred and we had given you notice under that clause.
2. We will not require a deposit exceeding the amounts permitted by the conditions of our energy licences and, unless it is reasonable for us to keep a deposit for a longer period, we will repay it to you after a year, with interest at a rate set by the energy regulator from time to time. This repayment will be made:
• Within 14 days if, during the previous full year, you have paid all our bills within 28 days of the date of each bill or
• Within a month, if the arrangements to supply you with energy under this contract are ended and you have paid all our charges
3. When we repay a deposit, we are allowed to deduct from it any money that you owe us for the supply.
4. If we ask you to pay a deposit and you disagree with our request, or with the amount that we have asked for, you can ask to have the dispute settled by the energy regulator, whose address can be found on the back of our bills and statements.
7. Limitation Of Liability
1. We are only liable to you as set out in these terms and conditions. We have no other duty or liability to you and we exclude all obligations, warranties and conditions implied by law or otherwise and any liabilities that arise from them so far as is permissable by law.
2. We will not be liable to you for any event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control, including any act or omission of any other energy supplier, distributor, transporter or shipper.
3. We are not liable to you in any way for loss of income, business or profits or for any loss or damage other than in respect of our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation that was not reasonably foreseeable at the time you entered into this contract. In addition, we will not be liable to you for any loss which you sustain as a result of your liability to any other person (howsoever it arises).
4. To the extent that our liability to you is not altogether excluded by this clause 7, and save as set out in clause 7.5, we will be liable to you only the sum of up to £1,000 for one incident, or an aggregate maximum of £10,000 in respect of all incidents giving rise to damage for which we are liable and/or a breach of your contract.
5. Nothing in these terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence and liability to you arising from a breach by us of our statutory duty under Part 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
6. This clause 7 shall apply even after this contract has ended. To the extent that this clause 7 excludes or limits liability, it shall override any other provision of your contract.
7. Each of the sub-clauses of this clause 7 is a separate limitation of liability and shall apply and survive if, for any reason, one or other of these provisions is held inapplicable or unreasonable. In addition, each sub-clause shall separately survive the ending of your contract.
8. National Terms of Connection - Electricity
Your supplier is acting on behalf of your electricity network operator to make an agreement with you. The agreement is that you and your network operator both accept the National Terms of Connection (NTC) and agree to keep to its conditions. This will happen from the time that you enter into this contract and it affects your legal rights. The NTC is a legal agreement. It sets out rights and duties in relation to the connection at which your network operator delivers electricity to, or accepts electricity from, your home or business. If you want a copy of the NTC or have any questions about it, please write to: Energy Networks Association, 18 Stanhope Place, London, W2 2HH, phone 0207 706 5137, or see the website at www.connectionterms.co.uk.
9. Use Of Information Policy
You agree that you have read and understood our Use of Information Policy (which is set out at the end of this contract) and you fully agree to its terms and accept the disclosures and use of your personal information described within such policy.
10. Other Conditions Which Apply
1. We may transfer or assign all or any of our rights (including the right to recover unpaid charges) and liabilities under your contract; and/or sub-contract any of our obligations under that contract, in each case without your consent.
2. Your rights and duties under this contract are personal to you, and you are not entitled to transfer the benefit or burden of it to another person without our written consent.
3. The supply of services to your premises may have to be stopped, suspended or restricted as a result of an Act of Parliament or any regulation or direction made under it, and while that law, regulation or direction is in force you will refrain from using these services, in accordance with our instructions.
4. You agree to any change to the terms of your contract required as a result of a change in a licence or an order or decision made by the relevant authority.
5. None of our rights under this contract will be considered to have been waived unless a specific concession is given in writing.
6. We may sometimes monitor and record calls that you or we make in relation to our customer services and telemarketing. This is to improve the quality of our customer services and for training purposes.
7. Where you are required to give notice to us under this contract, you must do so by hand or by fax to the address shown on this contract or on your last bill.
8. Where we are required to give notice to you under this contract, we must do so at the address you have identified. You may notify us in writing of a change to the address to which you would like notices to be sent.
9. Any notice sent by post will be deemed to have been received two working days after it was sent, and notices delivered by hand will be deemed to have been given immediately they are delivered.
10. These terms and conditions, the pricing information and any other documents referred to set out the whole contract for the service between you and us.
11. The performance by us of obligations under our energy supply licenses or any other relevant legislation will not constitute a breach of any provision of this contract.
12. Nothing in this contract shall prejudice or affect our rights or powers under our energy supply licences or other relevant legislation.
13. If any provision of a contract is held to be void or unenforceable in whole or in part, the remainder of that contract will nevertheless remain in full force and effect as if the void or unenforceable provision not contained in it.
14. Each contract you have with us will be governed by the laws of England and you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England as appropriate in connection with all disputes arising from your contract.
Words And Phrases
These words and phrases used in this contract have these meanings (please note that references to singular include the plural and vice versa):
'we' and 'us' and 'our' in each case refers (regardless of any wording to the contrary) to the relevant licensed supplier for the services you have requested, as defined in more detail below
'relevant licensed supplier' means in relation to the supply of electricity, EDF Energy Customers plc, in each case operating under the trading name EDF Energy.
'gas transporter' means, for each of the premises to be supplied under this contract, the company licensed as a gas transporter to deliver gas through pipes to your premises.
'local electricity distributor' means, for each of the premises to be supplied under this contract, the company licensed as an electricity distributor which owns or operates the distribution network through which electricity is delivered to your premises.
'premises' means those premises (including any part of any land or building or structure) which you have requested us to supply pursuant to this contract and at which the supply is used wholly or mainly for residential purposes.
'industry regulator' means the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (otherwise known as Ofgem) set up by Parliament to protect the interests of consumers.
'supply' and 'supplied' in each case refers to the supply of energy services under this contract (but not otherwise) and may include the provision of services required or undertaken in respect of such supply.
In order to enable us to:
a. set up, monitor and manage your energy account;
b. determine and managing any security deposit we require;
c. entering into all agreements and achieve the registrations necessary to supply you;
d. carrying out credit checking to determine the tariff type, payment method and payment interval that is most appropriate for you;
e. supplying you in accordance with your contract and the industry arrangements under which we operate;
f. exercise our rights and obligations under your contract;
g. complying with the all relevant legislation; and
h. transferring your account to another supplier, when your energy account with us ends.
You agree to promptly provide us, free of charge, with any information which we reasonably request in connection with the above purposes and agree to us disclosing such information with other parties where that is necessary for the above purposes.
This may include us disclosing such information to a joint energy account holder, or to the bank account holder of any Direct Debit instruction given in relation to your energy account. We may also exchange information between any of your energy accounts that are with us or any of our group companies.
In order to transfer your energy supplies we may also need to contact your current supplier(s) to establish the details of any outstanding debt you may owe them.
If we need to change appointed agents (for example meter readers), they may need to disclose details relating to you and the supply to your premises to the incoming agent.
Where you participate in one of our loyalty schemes, we may also disclose your information to the loyalty scheme provider in order to enable the provider to operate that loyalty programme in accordance with the agreed rules of that programme.
Any personal information we obtain in relation to our credit checking arrangements will be used in the following ways:
Check your details with a fraud protection agency/agencies (and if you give us false or inaccurate information and we suspect fraud, we will record this).
We and other organisations may use these records to help make decisions about credit and credit related services, for you and members of your household;
To help make decisions on motor, household, credit, life and other insurance proposals and insurance claims, for you and members of your household;
To trace debtors, recover debt, prevent fraud, and to manage your accounts or insurance policies;
To check your identity to prevent money laundering, unless you give us other satisfactory proof of identity.
By signing your energy contract you agree to your information being used and disclosed in accordance with this policy.
When you enter into your energy contract you can also choose whether or not you wish the information collected in connection with your account to be used for marketing purposes. These options do not affect any other data that other companies may collect from other sources e.g. from an account with them. If you have concerns about the use of such data, please contact the relevant company directly.
If you have any queries regarding the information we are holding about you and how it is being used, or if you believe that the information we have about you is incorrect or needs to be updated, please call 0800 096 9000† (Lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) for further details.
EDF Energy is a trading name used by EDF Energy Customers plc, Reg. No. 02228297 whose registered office is at 40 Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7EN, incorporated in England and Wales. EDF Energy Customers plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF Energy plc. The responsibility for performance of the supply obligations for all EDF Energy supply contracts rests with EDF Energy Customers plc.
† Calls may be monitored and recorded for training purposes.