Claim on Mis Sold Church Energy Contracts

Our law firm works with commercial clients who have paid unjustifiably high energy prices as a result of utilising small or large business energy solutions that initially looked appealing. However, we don’t just help businesses.

We also work with churches — and, given that the UK has over 40,000 church buildings (roughly a thousand more than the nationwide number of pubs), it’s possible that many church leaders have been mis sold church energy.

Business Energy Claimline wins business energy claims for our deserving clients who have been mis sold energy contracts. 

You may interested to know that this also includes churches.

It’s easy to witness the valuable roles a church is able to play in its local community. This applies whether the word ‘church’ is used in reference to a religious community or instead a church building where worship takes place.

For example, a church congregation can foster long-lasting faith-based friendships. Meanwhile, during the cost-of-living crisis, church leaders have heated and opened up spaces to aid members of the public struggling to pay bills.

However, if you run a church, you could easily have faced many challenges in striving to make ends meet for this organisation. Indeed, churches already under financial pressure have been even further impacted by rising energy costs.

Did your church source its current energy deal from a broker? If so, you might have long paid undisclosed commissions on that deal — and so now be eligible to successfully claim for compensation with our specialist assistance.

Why are energy prices so high for churches?

Many UK churches still in use were originally built hundreds — or even more than a thousand — years ago. This means that the structures often:

• Were not originally assembled with energy efficiency as a priority
• Largely consist of stone
• Come with poor insulation
• Are too large to heat up quickly

These aren’t the only reasons why churches can end up paying relatively large amounts for energy. You also have to remember that churches serve as venues for a wide range of events and get-togethers — including:

• Traditional services of worship
• Weddings
• Funerals
• Christenings
• Choir practices
• Meet-ups of community groups and clubs

The takeaway from all of this is that churches not only are highly energy inefficient by modern standards but also can regularly need to dip into gas and electricity resources due to a steady flow of people visiting and using the building.

Types of church energy contracts

It’s important to know that church energy contracts can differ from domestic plans in various ways. Typically, the former are longer, do not come with cooling-off periods and can be agreed over the phone.

Church energy solutions can be provided in the following forms of contract:

• Deemed and out-of-contract: You can be on either type of contract if your church already had an energy contract that has since ended but the supplier responsible for it has continued to supply energy to the building.
• Fixed: The word ‘fixed’ refers not only to the length of the contract’s term but also the rate paid per unit of energy (kilowatt hour, or kWh) consumed. Your overall outlay, however, will remain driven by your energy usage.
• Variable: Here, too, a rate is charged per kWh of energy. In this instance, though, that rate is not fixed — as it can potentially go up and down in response to fluctuations in market activity.
• Rollover: Your church can be — ahem — ‘rolled over’ to such a contract if it is preceded by another energy deal that expires without any renewal provisions in place. The rollover contract can plug the resulting gap.

How to know if you’ve been mis-sold church energy contracts

Given the wide range of church energy solutions available, you could have understandably tasked a broker with helping you to select between those deals.

In this situation, the energy broker would have acted as a ‘middleman’ between energy suppliers and your church. An energy broker should find the best energy deal for you with energy suppliers, fetching different energy deals for the buyer’s consideration.

When you opted for a church energy contract presented to you by a broker, they would likely have added a commission, enabling them to take a cut of the money you spend on the energy. However, were they open with you about this?

At the point of sale, they would have been legally required to disclose to you the size of the broker commission. Unfortunately, a broker might instead:

• Claim that the fee for their services is paid by the energy company
• State that these services are free
• Attempt to hide the commission amount

These are all examples of scenarios that would result in mis sold church energy contracts. For further details of whether you could have been handed one of these dubious deals, please reach out to our law firm Business Energy Claimline.

Solutions for reducing your business energy prices

We at Business Energy Claimline pursue business energy claims expertly on behalf of church owners who have been mis-sold energy deals.

If you suspect that you might be one of those church owners, keep in mind that we can assess your situation free of charge to investigate whether you have a strong claim for compensation pertaining to a mis-sold energy contract.

Hopefully, we will find that you actually do. Please note that church energy claims can take at least a few weeks — and potentially even several months — to be fully processed.

You also can’t be certain that the claim will succeed — though, if we take on your case and fail to secure the sought-after compensation, you won’t pay us a penny.

While waiting for your business energy claim to be processed, then, you could consider the following other ways to streamline your outgoings on energy.

Review your existing energy contract

Since a commercial energy plan can potentially run for as long as five years before expiring, you may now have plenty of energy bills you would be able to scrutinise in an attempt to judge how well the contract has worked for you.

Here are several possible reasons why you could reach a negative conclusion:

• Your church’s energy usage patterns have changed significantly since you took out the contract
• The deal was on a variable rate and the energy industry was volatile over the course of the contract term
• Your church’s energy costs were higher than what you know other, similar churches paid during the same period

Fortunately, a church energy deal will, when put together by the supplier, be tailored to suit the buyer’s specific energy needs at that point. Giving your church a new energy plan could help financially prepare you for the future. 

Financial incentives and grants

It’s worth looking online for contact details of charitable organisations capable of providing churches with grants that can go towards energy efficiency projects. Here are examples of eco-friendly features that could be added to your church:

• Solar PV (photovoltaics) panels and inverters: The panels can be affixed to either a roof or land and harness daylight for electricity generation. The inverters could subsequently convert the energy for your usage.
• Heat pumps: These can warm up water or air for your church by transferring existing heat from air, water or soil elsewhere.
• Biomass boiler: Like a traditional boiler, this can give your church heat and hot water. A biomass boiler does differ, though, in being fuelled with wood chips or wood pellets — either of which can be sourced sustainably.

The Parish Resources website lists numerous charitable grants available to UK churches, while Community Energy England details other funding opportunities.

Check whether you are paying too much VAT on energy

Typically, business energy in the UK incurs the standard VAT rate of 20%. However, some entities are eligible for a lower VAT rate of 5% — and in many instances, this can apply to church energy solutions, albeit not automatically.

In other words, if your own church is entitled to this cut-price VAT rate, you will only be able to land it by submitting the relevant application to your business energy supplier. That’s because they will first add VAT at the 20% rate as standard.

Before you do apply, you should ascertain for definite whether you are eligible for the lower rate. If at least 60% of your church’s total energy consumption is for charitable activities, the 5% VAT rate will be an option.

A word of caution here, however. It is likely that your church also engages in business activities, such as hiring out parts of the church building commercially.

If less than 60% of your church’s total consumed energy goes towards charitable purposes, you will be required to pay the standard 20% VAT rate on the portion of that energy used for corporate pursuits. 

In situations like this, it will remain possible for some of the energy expenditure to qualify for 5% VAT — but you might still be paying more than strictly necessary. Why not try adjusting the ratio of your church’s corporate and charitable work?

Reduce your church energy consumption

Though switching to a different energy supplier can certainly save you money, you could be pleasantly surprised by how much further you are able to rein in your financial outlay on energy just by taking these steps:

• Swapping out traditional lightbulbs for LEDs: While conventional lightbulbs shed nearly 95% of their energy simply by generating heat, this percentage is a mere 5% for LED lightbulbs, making them much more energy efficient.
• Routinely switching off lights in spaces when vacating them: You can train members of your church’s staff to do this, while groups who hire the premises should also be taught about energy etiquette.
• Utilising various little tips and tricks to reduce drafts: In getting your church’s old doors inspected, you can discern when and where seals on them need replacing. Also, avoid unnecessarily leaving these doors open.
• Getting smart heating tech fitted: A smart meter can provide a church with revelatory insights into its energy usage, while a smart thermostat can be programmed to switch the heating off as the building closes.

Could I be eligible for a claim?

Having assisted various businesses in establishing whether they have lost money to undisclosed commissions on their energy plans, we are also adept at recognising signs of mis sold church energy contracts.

You may have been mis sold church energy if you can tick both of these boxes:

• You own a church or have the duty of arranging energy for a church
• A broker recently helped you to find a church energy contract

Through getting in touch with our team, you can garner expert opinion on how likely you are to be able to make a compensation claim for mis sold church energy. A lot of money could be waiting on the table for you.

Get the compensation you deserve with Business Energy Claimline

We know that running a church is a time-intensive endeavour. This is why we make it quick and easy for clients to launch church energy claims with us. We will ask you for just a few details, including:

• The name of your church
• The address the energy contract is registered under
• The name of the broker involved in finding this contract

It takes just a few minutes to fill in your business energy claims form. for your church. Once you have done that, we will get back to you shortly afterwards to let you know whether we think you do have a strong claim worth pursuing further.

It’s easy to contact Business Energy Claimline

If you are bewildered by the concept of mis sold church energy, rest assured that we are experienced in handling church energy claims for clients.

If you ask us for help but we establish that you do not have a claim after all, we will just let you know in little time — all without you having to pay us anything.

If we succeed with your claim and securing a church energy rebate, the cost of our service will be deducted from that compensation payment. It’s all about us putting convenience and simplicity at the forefront.

Do you have any further questions about our church energy claims process? Feel free to phone our legal specialists on 0152 423 1350.