An update on the Insite back dated charges saga 3/10/23

Very many of us will have received the notice from Insite setting out the additional costs for hot water and heating over the past 2 years.

These demands have caused consternation and dismay.

There is a pyramid of people and organisations making responses to the demands.

The base of the pyramid is made up of the individuals who have received the demands. Separately each individual is relatively impotent. These individuals are now having 25% deducted from their Pay as You Go heating top ups to cover the Insite calculated debts.

The next layer of the pyramid is made up of Residents' Associations and at least one ad hoc grouping. By speaking with a common voice these groups may carry more weight than the individuals. There may be more but I know of Residents' Associations designated KSS1, KSS3 and this, the Park Collection. So far these groups are working independently of each other. The ad hoc grouping is a WhatsApp group calling itself "Woodberry Down vs Insite".

At the top of the pyramid is the Woodberry Down Community Organisation (WDCO) . WDCO is part of a partnership of the bodies involved in the Woodberry Down regeneration, the others being Berkeley Homes, Notting Hill Genesis and the London Borough of Hackney.

Within WDCO there are further layers. A small group of the Board member form an Executive, and this Executive has the opportunity to meet representatives of the partners to address operational issues. The back dated charges are such an issue

The question of the back dated charges came up at last night's (3rd Oct 2023) WDCO Executive meeting and Berkeley was presented with the following demands:

We ask that BH/Insite

engage fully with residents' legitimate and strongly held concerns
immediately suspend the 25% surcharge
set out in detail the dates of changes to the gas supply contract and the rates achieved
provide copies of the terms and conditions / leasehold clauses which justify this backdating of bills
explain clearly how any bad debts might be dealt with
improve the Insite service, especially in respect of usage statements

We eagerly await Berkeley's response.

I have also sent an email to Michael Pamment of Berkeley questioning their action in respect of these charges:

Michael

As a member of the WDCO executive I received a forwarded copy of the briefing you sent to the Executive.

I am responding here as a private individual. I do not have the authority of the WDCO board or its Executive to do so.

I believe that I can share your briefing more widely as it is not marked confidential, and will be of interest to Residents' Associations and others to whom I have addressed it using bcc:. I can let you have a full list of recipients if you wish.

My responses to your points are interspersed below.

The following set of requests were discussed at the Executive meeting and should have been sent to you already and will appear in the minutes.

We ask that BH/Insite

engage fully with residents' legitimate and strongly held concerns
immediately suspend the 25% surcharge
set out in detail the dates of changes to the gas supply contract and the rates achieved
provide copies of the terms and conditions / leasehold clauses which justify this backdating of bills
explain clearly how any bad debts might be dealt with
improve the Insite service, especially in respect of usage statements

Regards

Adrian

Dear Roda,

Thank you for the attached.

In regard to the Agenda item for Insite Billing (BH), I felt it would helpful to provide a summary update prior to the meeting this evening.

As everyone is aware, the utility markets have been very difficult to predict and quite volatile over the last 2 years. Wholesale supply costs have changed dramatically over different periods due to varying different factors, with the largest contributor the war in Ukraine. The decision had been made that while the market had been evolving and the pressure placed on billing agents, that any increase in gas costs would not passed on to residents straight away and we would wait for the market to settle before reconciliation took place.

Once Berkeley homes have struck a deal with the market there is no volatility until the contract ends. Volatility should not be a factor in your dealings with residents. By entering into a contract you effectively settled the market for a time. This was not a good decision. Who made this decision, and how was it passed on to residents?

Subsequently, Insite have recently written to residents across both phase 1 and 2 to advise that the reconciliation of the differing heat tariff periods had now concluded, following the reconciliation Insite have applied any under collection of the supply costs for the period.

What reconciliation? A reconciliation occurs when two or more different approaches to a calculation lead to two or more different results. Reconciliation is a euphemism for retrospectively applying charges.

The decision behind this strategy had been due to a number of different factors, with the first being that the market difficulties outlined above made it difficult to predict how cost would increase/decrease during supply contract renewals. The other had been the sheer volume of tariff reviews and reconciliations required by billing agents across the industry. To place this in perspective, Woodberry has 1600 properties that require reconciliation, and is just one scheme in 100s (perhaps check this) that Insite look after.

The number of dwellings is surely irrelevant. Insite does not carry out a price calculation for each dwelling but for each building. The calculation for each building is predefined and straightforward. Once the new figures have been arrived at Insite simply applies to the Pay as You Go meters. No one is asking you to make predictions.

To mitigate large heat bills and avoid constant changes to tariffs, the decision was made to reconcile the supply following the market somewhat stabilising. This has been communicated with residents as we have moved through this process, for transparency I have attached our comms timeline that outlines the changes in tariff costs as well.

Delaying the application of the revised charges does nothing to mitigate costs, it merely delays their application. Indeed, the most effective form of mitigation for most residents would be to turn the thermostat down or to reduce the number of hours of heating, moves we could only make if we were aware of the actual price changes. The delay has for many people done the opposite of mitigation, it has increased the amount spent on heating.

We will be arranging surgeries with residents from w/c 16^th October, with Insite and BH representatives in attendance to discuss any outstanding queries or concerns.

Kind Regards,

Michael

Michael Pamment
Estates Manager - Berkeley Homes NEL

Replies

Adrian Essex October 10, 2023 at 7:56pm

Berkeley Homes Heating Tariff Timeline

Insite has produced a very swich pdf file setting out the timeline

BHC customer comms timeline Woodberry v.2
Adrian Essex October 5, 2023 at 10:09am
I have also sent an email to Michael Pamment of Berkeley questioning their action in respect of these charges:

Michael

As a member of the WDCO executive I received a forwarded copy of the briefing you sent to the Executive.

I am responding here as a private individual. I do not have the authority of the WDCO board or its Executive to do so.

I believe that I can share your briefing more widely as it is not marked confidential, and will be of interest to Residents' Associations and others to whom I have addressed it using bcc:. I can let you have a full list of recipients if you wish.

My responses to your points are interspersed below.

The following set of requests were discussed at the Executive meeting and should have been sent to you already and will appear in the minutes.

We ask that BH/Insite
engage fully with residents' legitimate and strongly held concerns

immediately suspend the 25% surcharge

set out in detail the dates of changes to the gas supply contract and the rates achieved

provide copies of the terms and conditions / leasehold clauses which justify this backdating of bills

explain clearly how any bad debts might be dealt with

improve the Insite service, especially in respect of usage statements
Regards

Adrian

Dear Roda,

Thank you for the attached.

In regard to the Agenda item for Insite Billing (BH), I felt it would helpful to provide a summary update prior to the meeting this evening.

As everyone is aware, the utility markets have been very difficult to predict and quite volatile over the last 2 years. Wholesale supply costs have changed dramatically over different periods due to varying different factors, with the largest contributor the war in Ukraine. The decision had been made that while the market had been evolving and the pressure placed on billing agents, that any increase in gas costs would not passed on to residents straight away and we would wait for the market to settle before reconciliation took place.

Once Berkeley homes have struck a deal with the market there is no volatility until the contract ends. Volatility should not be a factor in your dealings with residents. By entering into a contract you effectively settled the market for a time. This was not a good decision. Who made this decision, and how was it passed on to residents?

Subsequently, Insite have recently written to residents across both phase 1 and 2 to advise that the reconciliation of the differing heat tariff periods had now concluded, following the reconciliation Insite have applied any under collection of the supply costs for the period.

What reconciliation? A reconciliation occurs when two or more different approaches to a calculation lead to two or more different results. Reconciliation is a euphemism for retrospectively applying charges.

The decision behind this strategy had been due to a number of different factors, with the first being that the market difficulties outlined above made it difficult to predict how cost would increase/decrease during supply contract renewals. The other had been the sheer volume of tariff reviews and reconciliations required by billing agents across the industry. To place this in perspective, Woodberry has 1600 properties that require reconciliation, and is just one scheme in 100s (perhaps check this) that Insite look after.

The number of dwellings is surely irrelevant. Insite does not carry out a price calculation for each dwelling but for each building. The calculation for each building is predefined and straightforward. Once the new figures have been arrived at Insite simply applies to the Pay as You Go meters. No one is asking you to make predictions.

To mitigate large heat bills and avoid constant changes to tariffs, the decision was made to reconcile the supply following the market somewhat stabilising. This has been communicated with residents as we have moved through this process, for transparency I have attached our comms timeline that outlines the changes in tariff costs as well.

Delaying the application of the revised charges does nothing to mitigate costs, it merely delays their application. Indeed, the most effective form of mitigation for most residents would be to turn the thermostat down or to reduce the number of hours of heating, moves we could only make if we were aware of the actual price changes. The delay has for many people done the opposite of mitigation, it has increased the amount spent on heating.

We will be arranging surgeries with residents from w/c 16^th October, with Insite and BH representatives in attendance to discuss any outstanding queries or concerns.

Kind Regards,

Michael

Michael Pamment
Estates Manager - Berkeley Homes NEL

This reply was deleted.