Brownlow Utilities Managing Director Lee McGhie shares his thoughts on ‘hidden commission’ within the energy sector.
Throughout my career, which started in 2003, I have heard many horror stories of businesses being ripped off by ‘energy consultants’ or ‘brokers’. These businesses had placed their trust in the Third-Party Intermediary (TPI) to negotiate a better energy contract than the business could achieve themselves.
Some real examples left me believing that this can’t be true!
How does the business/client not know? What are the ‘consultants/TPIs’ saying and more importantly, how are they getting away with it!?
Sadly, this still goes on to this very day!
OFGEM has recently intervened to try and stop this mis-selling, recommending that all energy supply commissions be displayed in the energy contract. In my opinion, this doesn’t go far enough. Displaying the commission on the monthly invoice would have been a better, more transparent solution.
As the former becomes law from Oct ‘24, I expect we will be flooded with requests for help, as was the case in Oct ’22 during the Russia/Ukraine energy spike, when many energy consultants/TPIs went ‘missing’ and wouldn’t pick up the phone to their clients.
Brownlow will try to help as many businesses as possible and work with the relevant suppliers to help give transparency to the client.
In the meantime, if you own/run a business and have been told that ‘you don’t have to pay us, as we get paid off the supplier‘ or ‘this is your supply contract and you find that the ‘consultant/TPI’ has also included hidden commission, as well’, please speak with us.
In 2024, we are still coming across unimaginable levels of deception. Businesses are on the verge of collapse because they can’t afford the energy contract that they are locked into. There are genuine TPI/energy consultants out there who operate in an honest, transparent manner. Always go off recommendations and not a quick Google search.
If in doubt ask us! We will genuinely tell you if a TPI/Consultant/Broker is one of the good guys or not.