Coronavirus Business Advice (Covid-19)

We are living through extraordinary times and we know that many Utility Bidder customers have concerns about their business. As you know, we have relationships with many providers and so we have compiled some of your frequently asked questions here. Most suppliers are giving the same advice, but if there are any differences – we will highlight them.

Nothing has changed and you should still follow the same advice that has always been given. If you smell gas or think you may have a leak – open all your windows and doors immediately, turn off any naked flames and telephone 0800 111 999.

If you have an electrical outage than call 105 and your electricity network distributor will assist you.

Energy suppliers will abide by government advice and so most of them will be postponing all face to face visits to fit new smart meters. Some say they will try to carry on with scheduled appointments, if it is safe to do so, however, in reality we expect all appointments to be put on hold.  It’s unlikely they will reschedule appointments until they know when normal service is likely to resume.

The same applies to meter readings, however, you can still take a reading (we advise taking a photograph which can be used by your supplier at a future date).

Although these delays may cause your business some inconvenience, as you can imagine, suppliers must be mindful of the health and safety of their workforce.

No. Suppliers have an important role to play in keeping the country going and they have detailed crisis plans in place to ensure that power is supplied to business customers.

Energy companies continue to work to the same rules and regulations required by Ofgem.  Obviously, the government response to the coronavirus changes daily, but the industry is not expecting any disruption to normal service supply.

We appreciate how frustrating it is if you can’t speak to your supplier. However, as you can imagine, they are inundated with calls and queries from both consumer and business clients – and they may also have a reduced staff.

We are all having to get used to a ‘new normal’ during this crisis and so please bear with them. If you can’t get through on the phone, try using online services which most providers offer. If you are not registered online, they are encouraging you to do so. This will help you manage payments, views bills and provide meter readings.

In addition, it’s likely their most up to date news will be on their Twitter or Facebook pages.

Utility Bidder will of course, work hard to answer any supplier queries where relevant. However, we will also face the same limitations. Please be patient and we, or your supplier, will get in touch as soon as we can in these challenging times.