Enstroga gone bust: what now for the energy supplier’s customers?

Enstroga Energy
Founded	2015
Client email	energy@enstroga.co.uk
Client phone number	0115 857 2572
Log in	energyhttps://customer.enstroga.co.uk/
Address	Alexandra House, 43 Alexandra Street, Nottingham, NG5 1AY
Number of customers	6,000

What should Enstroga customers do?

Learning that your energy supplier has disappeared and is no longer able to supply energy to anyone is understandably worrying, and you will want to know exactly how to proceed, as well as what you should be avoiding.

Thankfully, instructions as of right now are very simple: don't switch suppliers, don't even change your payment plan, in fact - as we will see, the only thing you should do is calmly take a meter reading and wait. Your energy supply is being dealt with, and you will soon have a temporary replacement supplier.

What happened to Enstroga exactly?

If you're not familiar with the details of 2021's energy price crisis, here is a run-down of what happened and an explanation as to how Enstroga and other suppliers were affected.

Following the easing of restrictive Covid-19 measures across the world, the reopening of several business sectors and general activity led to a rise in energy demand at a time when the supply could not keep up. This meant an increase in prices, and in wholesale gas prices in particular. Since suppliers have to respect price caps for their customers, the situation was impossible to keep up with for smaller energy firms like Enstroga.

Will my energy supply be interrupted?

Thankfully, no, and you will continue to receive energy as usual according to your needs. This is part of the point of assigning entire customer bases to new suppliers, as Ofgem is currently doing for you: the main goal right now is to ensure all energy consumers get the electricity and gas they need.

Should I cancel my payment scheme with Enstroga?

For now, don't change anything to do with payment methods, whether you've been paying Enstroga by direct debit, direct payment, or standing order. Instead, wait for the new supplier, once they are assigned, to contact you and work out the details of the payment system you'll have with them. This is also important because you may have credit or debt with Enstroga, which you will need payment information to settle.

Should I take a meter reading?

Taking a meter reading is absolutely what you should be doing right now. In fact, it's really the only part you'll actively be playing in this situation. Anything else, from choosing a new supplier to dealing with debt and credit, is either not up to you or to be dealt with later. Having a meter reading is important to set up your new account, and to then be able to switch suppliers later on, if you wish to do so.

What if I had a smart meter?

Since Enstroga never gave its customers the option to use a smart meter, this may not concern you. However, if you do have a smart meter and are affected by any kind of change of supplier during the crisis, rest assured that whoever your new supplier is, a smart meter will always do the trick, even if it means taking manual readings from it.

What if I had debt or credit with Enstroga?

If you had any kind of debt or credit issues still standing with Enstroga when they went bust, then you may be wondering what will happen to these payments you owed or were owed. The answer is uncertain at this point, but only because we don't yet know which supplier will take over Enstroga's customers.

However, if we assume that the supplier follows in the footsteps of other previously appointed suppliers (British Gas, EDF, etc.), then we can say that it is likely that your credit will be honoured by the new supplier. In terms of debt, it is also likely that you will pay it if not to the new supplier, then through them - you will receive information about this in time, on a case by case basis.

Will my energy bills go up with my new supplier?

It's hard to answer this question before knowing who has been chosen to receive your contract and provide you with energy. However, it is good to know that you will be put on what we call a "deemed" tariff, which will most likely be a very standard tariff. This means that the rate you pay under your new supplier will probably not be the cheapest one they offer, implying that for a time, before you're able to switch to another plan or supplier, your bills may well be higher than before.

However, there is no need to worry: your supplier, once chosen, will get around to your case, inform you of the exact rates of the tariff you've been given, and then give you the opportunity to shop around for better deals. You can choose from one of their tariffs, or switch to another supplier - but remember, you have to wait until they contact you before you do so.

Who will choose my new supplier?

Since counting on customers to make their own supplier switch right now would be time consuming, risky, and chaotic, Ofgem will be choosing your new supplier for you - thus, all Enstroga clients will be appointed to the same supplier at once.

Ofgem will make this choice based on, generally speaking, a supplier's ability and will to deal with this new customer base, as well as on whether they are expected to be able to keep trading despite the crisis. New suppliers have so far been appointed by Ofgem around a few days after the original supplier goes bust. As a reminder, Enstroga went bust on the 29th of September, meaning that you can expect further information around the beginning of October.

When and how will my new supplier contact me?

You new supplier will have to process and add to its database a number of new customers, which will understandably be time consuming. This is all the more true if your appointed supplier is one of the energy firms who has already accepted to receive customers from other fallen suppliers. However, there is no need to worry, as they will inevitably get around to your case.

To make sure everything goes smoothly, you can check whether your official home address is your current one. Indeed, this address is the means through which your new supplier will contact you. If you're moving house, or have done so recently, pay extra attention to how accurate and up to date this official contact information is.

Can I switch suppliers now?

When it comes to switching suppliers of your own free will and according to your preferences, you'll have to wait: until your supplier has been chosen by Ofgem and has contacted you, you shouldn't switch suppliers on your own.

However, once the details of your temporary supplier and "deemed" tariff have been communicated to you by the supplier themselves, it will be up to you to switch to a better deal or supplier. Additionally, you won't be charged any exit fees for this, whoever your supplier turns out to be.

What if I had already started switching suppliers before Enstroga went bust?

It's possible that given the current climate in the energy markets, you had anticipated Enstroga's fall and had put out a request to switch to another supplier. Alternatively, you may have switched for other reasons, of course.

In any case, as long as your switch had been correctly asked for and processed, it will take place just as it was meant to - assuming the supplier you had chosen is still trading. If the switch doesn't go through, not to worry: you'll be transferred, along with other Enstroga customers, directly to the new supplier Ofgem ends up appointing.

Who were Enstroga?

Part of a larger European-wide energy group with services in Germany, Spain and Portugal, Enstroga was a small energy supplier in the UK, with fewer than 250,000 customers. They aimed to keep energy simple with a choice of just three tariffs and an emphasis on good customer service.

Customers liked the fact they were:

• Part of a large, Europe-wide energy supply group
• Had phone lines open 8am to 7pm on weekdays
• They operated a Priority Services Register

But weren’t so keen on:

• A lack of environmentally friendly fuel mix
• Customer service that let them down
• Basic online functionality

How much did Enstroga charge per kWh?

On the standard variable Energy tariff Enstroga charged 17.88p for a kWh of electricity and 4.04p for a kWh of gas. On the Evergreen Plus tariff it was 16.49p for a kWh of electricity and on the Evergreen Dual tariff they charged 15.50p for a kWh of electricity and 3.14p for a kWh of gas.

Was Enstroga cheap?

Enstroga was not the cheapest on the market, but it was also not the most expensive. The median energy price cap sat at £1,179 for a dual fuel supply. Based on a 2-3 bedroom home in London, customers paid £1,022 per year for the Evergreen Dual Plus tariff for average energy consumption levels. So prices were affordable compared to national averages.

Enstroga customer reviews

Enstroga was very popular with customers in its home country Germany. However, they seemed to have had some teething problems in the UK and their success in Germany didn’t appear to have translated very well. Trustpilot shows that only 8% of Enstroga customers felt that they were receiving good customer service. This was a very low score, even for energy companies, who often struggle to connect with customers.

Customers complained about the lack of contact from the company as well as long waiting times when trying to get in touch on the phone. There were multiple complaints about being cut off by customer service, as well as a lack of callbacks. Other complaints focused on email response time being a few days at best. So, it seems clear there was much work to be done by the Enstroga team if they were to make a bigger impact in the UK.

Online reviews of Enstroga showed that their focus on customer service was really not working for them. Overall, they scored just 1.5 out of five stars on Trustpilot. A whopping 89% rated the company as poor or bad. A number of the reviews said that customers had no choice but to contact the ombudsman to make a complaint.

However, as they were a newcomer to the UK energy market, Which? and Citizen’s Advice did not have enough data to make any firm assessment about Enstroga.

How many customers did Enstroga have?

As of the supplier's disappearance, we now have an official number stated by Ofgem, indicating Enstroga had the low number of 6000 customers in its client base.

Our opinion on Enstroga

While we appreciate that Enstroga were a new company trying to make an impact in the UK and that they were trying to keep things very simple, it seems there was still a long way to go in terms of their customer service. There were many negative reviews about this online, with customers feeling they were too difficult to contact and that complaints were not handled correctly.

They also offered very little in terms of sustainable energy. Less than 3% of their fuel mix came from renewable sources, with a huge reliance on gas and nuclear fuel. While prices were good, there were other suppliers out there who also offered great value with better service and greener fuel.

What made Enstroga different?

Enstroga aimed to make things very simple for their customers. They only offered three tariffs, one dual fuel fixed rate, one electricity-only fixed rate and a standard variable rate. The rates were cheap, which appealed to customers, but their focus on customer service seemed to fall a long way short. They scored very poorly on Trustpilot with a lot of negative reviews focusing on how difficult they were to contact.

Enstroga's fuel mix

Enstroga relied on natural gas, which made up 62.6% of its energy supply. It also used twice the amount of coal as the national average. Renewables made up a very small 2.6% of their fuel mix.

Customers who were energy-conscious might have wanted to check out other greener energy providers, like Ecotricity or Bulb Energy.

How green was Enstroga ?

Although Enstroga claimed they supplied green energy, less than 3% of their electricity came from renewable sources. This was much lower than the 29% average across other UK energy suppliers.

A massive 62.6% of Enstroga’s electricity was gas, with nuclear at 19% and coal at 11.8%. This means they were not a great choice for green energy.

Enstroga: what other services did they offer

Enstroga liked to keep things very simple. That meant they did not offer any kind of friend referral scheme, nor were they big enough to sign up to the Warm Home Discount scheme. There were no special tariffs for electric vehicles and they did not offer prepayment tariffs or Economy 7 tariffs.

However, they were signed up to the Priority Services Register, but you had to phone up to do so and could not register online.

There was also a dual fuel tariff that offered slightly cheaper gas and electricity to customers.

Did Enstroga have smart meters?

No, they did not offer smart meters, and it seems they never had the chance to do so. If you had a smart meter and wanted to switch to Enstroga, then you would have lost all smart functionality when you switched. This meant you would have to revert to submitting meter readings manually or to having your meter read on a regular basis.

Did Enstroga do business energy tariffs?

Enstroga did not offer any business tariffs.

How would you have applied for the Warm Home Discount scheme with Enstroga?

Enstroga were not part of the Warm Home Discount scheme, so if you wanted to make use of this, you would have had to get your energy from another supplier.

Contact Enstroga

If you wanted to make the switch to Enstroga, or were a customer with a question about your account or a wish to switch tariffs, then you could do so by getting in touch in any of the ways listed below.

How to contact Enstroga ?

There were numerous ways of getting in touch with Enstroga. These included:

By mail at Alexandra House, 43 Alexandra Street, Nottingham, NG5 1AY

By calling on 0115 857 2572

You could email them at energy@enstroga.co.uk

Enstroga opening hours were:

Monday – Friday 8am – 6:00pm. Closed on all bank holidays.

How to complain about Enstroga ?

If you wanted to make a complaint, you could get in touch with Enstroga in any of the ways listed above. If you felt your complaint had not been handled in the correct way, you could also register a complaint with the industry regulator Ofgem. They would then handle the complaint with the supplier on your behalf. This also applies to any other energy supplier, so keep this in mind even now that Enstroga has gone bust.

How to switch to Enstroga

If you wanted to switch to Enstroga, you would have been able to contact them directly through the above channels. Alternatively, you could have called our team to help you make the switch on 0330 818 6225.

Would you like to know more about energy suppliers in the UK? Great! Check out these related articles:

1. British Gas
2. Scottish Power
3. EON
4. Octopus Energy

FAQ

Will I be able to go back to Enstroga?

No - Enstroga isn't just transferring part of its customer base to another supplier temporarily or as a safety measure, they have simply gone bust and are no longer trading. This means that you'll have to look elsewhere for an energy deal if the supplier Ofgem assigns you doesn't suit you.

What should Enstroga customers be doing right now?

There isn't much you should be doing if you're an Enstroga customer: mainly, all you need to do is take a meter reading and then wait until your new supplier contacts you themselves. Trying to communicate with Enstroga's customer service will not be possible or useful for you, for instance.

In any case, your energy will still be supplied to you as usual, and once the dust has settled and you have been contacted by the supplier Ofgem appoints for you, you will be free to choose another deal or supplier.