Ex-Solarplicity customers wrongly switched to Toto Energy

Ten days ago, it was announced that tens of thousands of Solarplicity customers were being switched to Toto Energy as part of an agreement between the two firms, but now hundreds of people who had recently switched away from Solarplicity have been wrongly switched as well.

Toto Energy says the errors were due to the data it was given, but it won't bill customers who were wrongly switched and they will be immediately returned to the supplier they switched to. Toto also says it will be writing to customers in the coming days to apologise and offer compensation, although it hasn't confirmed how much this will be.

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'I was surprised to hear from my new supplier that I was leaving'

In the past week or so, we've heard from several concerned ex-Solarplicity customers who were confused to be told Toto Energy would be taking over their energy supply.

Natalie told us: "I left Solarplicity at the end of July and was very surprised to find an email from my new provider saying I was leaving them. I also had an email from Toto Energy saying my account was being transferred even though I have left. I'm annoyed I have been left to sort this out myself."

Another, Catherine, said: "I left Solarplicity last month and moved over to Tonik Energy. I fully closed my account with Solarplicity and had paid my first bill to Tonik. I received an email from Tonik saying sorry that I was leaving them.

"They advised me that Toto had taken over my account. This was done without my knowledge or permission. I am now in the process of trying to ensure I am moved back to Tonik and will not be required to make any payment to Toto."

I've been wrongly switched to Toto Energy – what should I do?

If you've been wrongly switched to Toto Energy, you shouldn't need to do anything. Toto Energy says it'll be contacting affected customers by phone, email and text to let them know about the issue, and will switch them back to their actual energy supplier immediately.

If your actual energy supplier contacts you to tell you that you've now switched away, it may be worth informing it of the situation.

And if you think you've been wrongly switched and haven't heard anything within a few days, you can contact Toto Energy either by email at hellototo@totoenergy.com or on 0800 802 1547.

You don't need to pay any bills to Toto Energy, though you will need to continue to pay bills to your genuine supplier for your usage.

Toto Energy has also said it will be compensating affected customers, but is yet to say how much by or how it will provide the compensation.

New rules introduced by regulator Ofgem mean customers who are wrongly switched could be owed up to £120 in compensation. However, in this case the rules are unlikely to apply as Toto Energy is sorting the issue out promptly, so the compensation it's paying is of its own goodwill. See our MSE News story for full details.

What do Toto Energy and Solarplicity say?

A Toto Energy spokesperson said: "There has been a segment of customers for whom their recent switch was not reflected in the data provided. We're already taking steps to minimise the impact on every customer affected. For anyone who has yet to go live, we've withdrawn from registration.

"Any customers who go live with Toto who shouldn't will be immediately returned to their supplier of choice. These instances will be treated as an erroneous transfer and therefore will not pay for any consumption whilst with Toto. We will also be writing to all impacted customers to apologise and confirm the actions we've taken. All customer data will then be removed from our system."

A Solarplicity spokesperson said: "The agreement with Toto has now been concluded and customer matters are being dealt with directly by Toto as the new provider. We cannot comment further on specific customer information as we do not have access to their specific details."