Claim on Mis-Sold Warehouse Energy Contracts

Are you a warehouse owner and think you’ve been mis-sold warehouse energy contracts? We’re here to help, as in this blog, we’ll tell you if you’re able to reclaim £1000s for your business. You may have used an energy broker to source your warehouse energy who could have added hidden commission in your gas and electricity bills.

Brokers have been using techniques such as pressure selling and misinformation to persuade warehouse owners to opt for a contract that does not benefit their business – instead, it only benefits the broker and their earnings.

At Business Energy Claimline, we reclaim thousands for people who have been mis-sold warehouse energy contracts. Think you’re eligible? Our free assessment could determine whether you’re eligible for a claim worth thousands of pounds. All you need to do is complete our handy form and you’re good to go!

How to Know If You've Been Mis-Sold Warehouse Energy Contracts

If you’ve used an energy broker to source your energy, they usually won’t tell you how much they make from arranging a warehouse energy contract. If their earnings were made clear to customers, then it would be much more difficult to hide their very high commission from energy companies.

There are a few ways to figure out if you’ve been mis-sold warehouse energy contracts, and we’ve broken down what we think are the most important:

Review Your Contract

Have another look at your energy contract- it’s worth refreshing your memory on its terms and price per kWh if it’s a fixed-term energy contract. At the time, you may have just accepted whatever your broker was offering you without an in-depth review or a deeper understanding of how energy is used within your warehouse. A number of irregularities in the document should raise alarm bells.

Check the terms and conditions and make sure you understand them and review what you agreed to. Reviewing what you signed up for with your broker can draw your attention to any elements of the contract that weren’t fully explained to you or elements you were purposely kept in the dark about.

Assess How Much Energy Your Warehouse Uses

Your broker may have sold you a contract that doesn’t actually align with your warehouse’s needs, so becoming familiar with the inner workings of your warehouse means you’re attuned to how much energy your warehouse actually uses.

The broker may have mis-sold you a contract based on an inaccurate assumption of your energy usage, so assessing energy in your warehouse allows you to determine whether your contract matches the needs of your warehouse and wasn’t just sold to you so a broker could get higher commission.

Check For Misleading Information

An energy broker may have mentioned certain things to you or made false promises that aren’t actually included within the contracts of energy companies. Your bills may show figures that contrast what your contract has offered, which is a cause for concern.

Legally, energy brokers must disclose any commission they earn- however, many use misleading information or statements that aren’t fully explained in order to work their way around it. This conceals any suspicion and also reveals lapses in their customer service, which is something to be mindful of.

Contact an Expert

If you suspect you’ve been mis-sold to, it’s worth contacting an expert to gain some clarity surrounding your suspicion. Even if there are any unclear elements within your contract, it’s best to ask an expert who can either explain them or draw attention to any incorrect information.

At Business Energy Claimline, you can contact us to ask our team of experts any questions regarding energy claims, or start your claim today if you believe you’ve been mis-sold to. We always take great care to keep you updated on the process or to answer any questions you may have, operating on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

Aspects of Mis-Sold Warehouse Energy Contracts

There are various elements to mis-sold warehouse energy contracts that highlight where your broker has favoured their own needs over your own. These include:

Hidden Fees and Charges

Your broker may have not disclosed any hidden fees or charges with you, yet they appear in your warehouse energy price. This makes the cost much higher than the broker originally makes you think, so both the broker and energy supplier benefit instead of you.

Although a broker is supposed to be an honest, trustworthy bridge between you and the energy supplier, many have deceived customers and have even had them paying sometimes double what their energy costs should be. Secret commissions by brokers are embedded within additional hidden fees and charges.

Pressure Selling

Brokers may push warehouse owners to opt for a contract by making them believe there’s nothing better offered elsewhere and that their own rate will soon expire. This results in owners signing warehouse energy contracts without properly reviewing them or their terms.

Some brokers even utilise aggressive selling techniques such as exaggerating a product’s benefits and inducing fear and guilt that result in the buyer succumbing to their pressure.

Long Contract Terms

These particular contracts may be long term and extremely difficult to get out of, so the warehouse owner is forced to stick with it as opposed to exploring other options. This lack of flexibility keeps you stuck to the contract that doesn’t benefit you nor suit your contract needs.

Having an agreement for an extended period will benefit the broker instead of you. While you can’t get out of it, the broker will get more commission from the energy company by managing to keep you stuck with their services. Additionally, while the broker will tell you it’s because the market is likely to increase during this time, it’s really because the commission earned is multiplied by the length of the contract.

Why Is This Important to Know For Your Warehouse?

Warehouse energy bills can be expensive and often make up around 15% of all operation costs, so you’d ideally want an energy contract that is worth the price. You could benefit from a contract that’s best suited to warehouse business energy, yet brokers may have mis-sold you an alternative contract for commission without your interests in mind.

On average, non-refrigerated warehouses use 6.1 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electrical energy per square foot each year, so that’s a big chunk of money spent on energy fees. No wonder it’s important to make sure you’re getting the best contract possible.

Warehouse owners should develop a full understanding of how energy works in their building and how much it should realistically cost in the current market. This can then help identify when contracts can fully benefit them and when it correlates best with how many hours of energy your building uses.

Warehouses use up a lot of energy due to lighting, heating and potentially cooling systems if those are in place. A lot of owners do not actually have any awareness of how expensive it can be, jumping on the chance to have a contract that looks ideal on the surface yet doesn’t give the best value for money.

What Does a Mis-Sold Warehouse Energy Contract Mean for a Warehouse Owner?

The most obvious impact is financial loss, losing money on the mis-sold contract instead of putting it towards other operational costs. Especially if you’re in a long term contract, an even bigger financial loss can come as a result as it’s even harder to move to a more favourable deal.

Other areas of the business could potentially suffer as the high prices put a strain on the cash flow. Instead of investing in maintenance, growth initiatives or operations, energy consumes most of the warehouse owner’s outgoings.

A mis-sold warehouse energy contract could mean that warehouse operators and owners can make a potential claim, earning back £1000s for your business. You can still receive justice regardless of the losses you’ve suffered so far.

Wanting to Make a Claim? Contact Business Energy Claimline

With our services at Business Energy Claimline, you’ll receive 5 star customer service and industry-leading guidance by our legal experts.

By starting your claim, we’ll get the ball rolling for you, offering an easy and stress-free service.

Feel free to browse our FAQs page if you have any further questions, or phone 01524 231 350.