After two years of struggling to deal with enforced closures and low footfall, high street retailers are facing the added pressure of paying too much for their utilities.
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has been tough on businesses across all industries, and retailers have been particularly hard hit. Between enforced restrictions, closures and public uncertainty, the pandemic has left many businesses trading on a knife’s edge over the past two years.
Despite government support and short-term rates relief, other overheads have increased through 2021. In particular, the energy crisis currently facing the UK has seen utility bills soar and profit margins become ever tighter.
And that’s not the only thing contributing to bills. There is another energy-related issue is in danger of flying under the radar: that of hidden business energy commission. Despite assurances from brokers, many retailers may not be on the competitive energy deal they have been promised, and this could mean paying too much for your business gas and electricity.
Retailers are paying too much for their energy without even realising
With rising energy prices and the ongoing pandemic to contend with, it’s already a tough winter for retailers, but there are even more monsters hiding under the bed. Many energy brokers are taking advantage of the chaos surrounding the energy market to incorporate hidden business energy commission into their contracts without their customers’ knowledge or permission. Mis-sold energy contracts are being presented to retail businesses as the best possible offer available, when in fact they include extra costs for which companies should not have to budget.
How this is possible? Unfortunately, business energy contracts are far less regulated as their non-commercial counterparts, meaning brokers practically have free rein to tweak the terms to suit them. Brokers are receiving fees from suppliers for recommending them, which they do, whether they provide the best deal or not. Even worse, this commission is often undisclosed within the contract, hidden within the actual cost of the energy.
In other words, many retailers across the UK are paying too much for their gas and electricity, merely to line the pockets of energy brokers.
Help is at hand
One company with recent experience of suffering from mis-sold energy contracts is claims management firm, Winn Solicitors. The legal experts discovered hidden commission in their own energy agreement, which they had thought to be the best deal for them.
Jeff Winn, CEO of Winn Group, says this experience has since cemented the company’s commitment to helping retailers and other businesses recoup their losses.
Winn says: “Like many businesses we believed that the energy brokers we worked with had our best interests in mind when negotiating contracts on our behalf. We believed we were being sold the most competitive contracts.
“However, the truth is that hidden within our contracts were inflated commissions and pricing that was not genuinely based on the wholesale rate of gas and electric.”
Winn continues: “As a result of our experience we are now committed to raising awareness and helping businesses understand that, if they have been mis-sold an energy contract, we can help them to recover compensation after being mis-sold a business energy contract.”
Winn Solicitors are now offering support for mis-sold energy contracts on a no win, no fee basis. This removes any need to worry about the prospect of legal costs if you fail to recoup your losses, making seeking justice more accessible than ever for retailers, at a time when public bodies, businesses and charities alike are spending £25 billion annually on their energy, according to energy regulator Ofgem.
Winn Solicitors’ own mis-sold energy contract claim is expected to be in the region of 20% of their annual energy costs, and the claims specialists have committed to helping other businesses recoup as much as 10-20% of their energy spending. Winns are also on hand to help retailers break their mis-sold contracts and move onto new contracts with are ethical, transparent and 100% green.
If you want to know if you’ve been the victim of hidden business energy commission, get in touch with Winn Solicitors here.
