Bulb Energy: What customers should do as firm goes into special administration

22 November 2021, 16:31 | Updated: 22 November 2021, 20:49

Bulb Energy has been placed into special administration affecting 1.7 million customers across the UK.

In a statement released this afternoon, Bulb Energy confirmed the company made "the difficult decision" after coming into financial difficulty amid the energy supply crisis.

As Britain’s seventh-biggest energy supplier, customers today will be left wondering how the special administration will affect their bills.

So what does this mean for the 1.7 million existing Bulb Energy customers?

Here is all you need to know.

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What is special administration?

Special administration is designed to protect the customers of a large energy supplier that is in danger of being closed down.

The special administrator is required by the Government under the 2011 Energy Act to continue to supply energy to customers, and will protect customer credit balances.

Whilst a special administrator has not yet been appointed by Bulb, the energy supplier said they are expected to be appointed "shortly".

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What does this mean for existing customers?

Special administration is designed to allow customers to continue to operate as usual, meaning tariffs will not change and the price cap applies to all consumer energy tariffs.

Bulb top up customers will also remain unaffected and any customer in the process of switching to or from Bulb, will continue with the switch as normal.

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So who is supplying my energy now?

You are still being supplied by Bulb, but their administrations are in control.

An administrator will be appointed to run the company until it is either rescued, sold, or has its customers transferred to other suppliers.

So far, suppliers such as EDF and British Gas have taken on smaller energy firms’ customers.

But, if no new supplier can be found special administrators will be contacted by Ofgem and the Government.

Bulb's parent company, Simple Energy, will also enter administration. However, Bulb's international businesses in France, Spain and the US will continue trading.

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What are the experts saying?

Martin Lewis has warned Bulb customers not to switch or cancel their direct debit payments to Bulb.

Taking to Twitter the Money Saving expert said: "No I wouldn't cancel your Bulb Direct Debit. It is going to continue to be your energy provider, just for now run by an administrator.

"So you will need to pay it, and Direct Debit is the cheapest way. As a Bulb customer DO NOTHING. In terms of switching to other suppliers DO NOTHING."

The UK’s independent energy regulator, Ofgem has also advised customers not to switch to another energy supplier.

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Bulb's exit from the market comes following the collapse of more than 20 suppliers since the start of the year amid the soaring price of gas.

The company has asked customers not to contact them in the wake of the news, stating: "We’re expecting a high volume of calls. Please only call if it’s an emergency, you’re in a vulnerable situation or you're struggling to pay your bills. That way, we can help those who need it most."