If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.  So why did Ofgem, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets ( the regulator that doesn’t regulate the out of control charges for LPG- bottled gas – by the way) choose to interfere with the previously acceptable (to both sides) method of charging for electricity on park home sites?  It was a system that ensured fairness.  Maximum Resale Prices were published, and the park owner derived a “nice little earner” from the fact that he only to repay one service charge to his supplier, whilst collecting one from each resident.  This method ensured that no park homeowner should pay more that those outside the site.  Emphasis needs to be placed on the fact at this point that general maintenance of the electrical supply to each home is negligible after the initial installation, which is covered by the usually inflated siting fee.  The fact is, armoured cable will probably outlast the life of the home it serves, whilst meters are able to perform without attention in excess of 20 years.  Replacements are generally by reconditioned units costing a few pounds each.

With that in mind, newer residents will be shocked to learn that park owners demanded an immediate increase in pitch fees to ‘compensate’  for their loss of income; in some reported cases, this was in excess of £12 per month!  But the real culprits to blame were firstly OFGEM, who took it upon themselves to “consult”  - but at the total exclusion of the national residents associations!  It was only by sheer luck that someone within our midst discovered what was going on behind our backs – but too late to prevent the “rubber stamping” of what was to follow, that turned a fine scheme into a disaster for most residents.

To be fair at this point, it was claimed the idea was to allow homeowners to take advantage of lower prices, because of the competition between the various providers, that showed considerable differences in prices.  What Ofgem hadn’t grasped, it seemed, was the fact we, the residents, have no power in making a choice, as it is our landowner who holds the key to that right.  So the “pass through” system was born, where park owners were “not allowed to make a profit”.  The foregoing gives the main background to what has since become something of a minefield.

We’ve all heard of quantity discounts, and we see the “buy one get one free” and similar bulk purchase offers everywhere.  But are we really getting the benefits of bulk discounts from electricity suppliers?  Some will have you believe these don’t exist from power suppliers. But the competition is surely fierce out there in all forms of industry.  Neither you nor I know where our electricity is purchased from do we?  So how do we find out?  Will your park owner tell you?  Or does it remain the case that it’s “none of our b***** business”.

What I will tell you is how, at the very beginning, your park operators’ trade association compiled some “guidance” in booklet form, in October 2001.  This was helpfully peppered with Ofgem comments even though they had no official remit to do so!  Not surprising then to learn that this document was “not disclosed at the request of the copyright holder” along with three others, under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. The ‘reason for nondisclosure’ was given as “ Commercial confidentiality”.  But in fact, before even before the formation of PHRAA and the FOI Act, a copy of this document had been circulated – by whom I have no idea, but whoever it was was obviously deeply concerned about some of its content which, according to one police source, was tantamount to fraud and deception on a considerable scale.

It is important to note that I personally took steps to bring this matter to the early attention of the government, Ofgem officials and the like.  You can guess the response. No action has been taken. Dependant on your position, you may need to question your park owner more closely; remembering that he could simply have “taken advice” from his trade association.  If enough people reading this complain, especially to their MP and CAB, Age Concern, Help the Aged, and the media, heads may begin to roll. Crucially, I don’t believe the terms “Copyright” and “Commercial Confidentiality” should be deliberately used in this manner to effectively prevent the general public from discovering the deliberate encouragement to a membership of an organisation to overcharge a mostly vulnerable and elderly group of homeowners, already suffering from inept legislation elsewhere.

Not only did the document suggest that simple matters like meter reading, could be charged at the rate of £30 per hour, the following suggestion is a clear encouragement to overcharge each time an electricity bill is sent out.  It states:

“ A PARK OWNER MIGHT MAINTAIN THAT THE COSTS OF ADMINISTERING A REFUND OF LESS THAN £5 WOULD BE UNREASONABLE. IS IT LIKELY THAT CIVIL ACTION WOULD BE TAKEN FOR A SUM OF LESS THAN £5?”

Given that the trade association’s solicitors were mentioned in the document, what does that tell you about them? If then the above is read in conjunction with a passage from another trade association document, this time acquired from Companies House files on the British Holiday & Home Parks Association Limited, and written by its current Director General who was awarded the MBE soon afterwards, states, amongst other disturbing remarks:

“WHERE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO AVOID THE INTRODUCTION OD REGULATION BH&HPA ENDEAVOURS TO ENSURE THAT…. IN ITS APPLICATION THAT ENFORCEMENT IS WITH THE LIGHTST POSSIBLE TOUCH”.   What ever its claimed purpose, this statement has been taken literately, demonstrated by the scant regard to any new or established rights for residents, by many of its membership.

The up to date position on a number of parks is worryingly similar in nature. A growing “lapse of memory” from those who actually pay the electricity bill our money, is that they “didn’t realise” that electricity prices had risen.  Is this also, one wonders, another opportunity to claim that, as above “A Park Owner might maintain that, with the burden of business, it is unreasonable to expect him to keep an eye on rising prices?  And lets not forget, “such stress” could also cause his calculations of all that money you “owe” to be somewhat wide of the mark?  Have such people never heard of a credit note? Or capable of deducting the offending sum from the next bill?

As I write, people are being asked to pay seven quid to paddle around the National Park Homes Show, the main object of which is to take up to £300,000 of your money for their homes you step inside.  What other form of property sales charge you to enter a show home?  That has to be example of many that illustrate how no opportunity is lost in extracting cash from you.  I once jokingly remarked their motto was “DRAIN EM DRY BEFORE THEY DIE”  its not funny anymore.

Compiled for PHRAA by Colin Packman. President.                             July 2007.