Frank's Standard Terms and Conditions – Electricity and Natural Gas
1. Introduction
Here at Frank Energy, our aim is to sell it to you straight – and that means we’ll tell it to you straight too. These terms and conditions are for the supply of electricity and/or natural gas to your property and apply from when you sign up to be a Frank customer and continue until our relationship has ended, or in some cases (such as in respect of anything the network or metering companies need) – 6 months after our relationship has ended.
At Frank Energy we don’t do long term contracts. As long as you pay us for the energy you use while you’re our customer (along with any other applicable charges), you can come and go as you please. This also means your rates may change from time to time. If we need to change increase your rates or make material changes these terms and conditions that have a detrimental impact on you at any time, we will give you at least 30 days’ notice before the change takes effect. Notice will be provided to the email address you use when you sign up, or via mail.
If we decide to decrease your rates or make minor (or beneficial) changes to these terms and conditions, we’ll make these changes straight away. We won’t necessarily notify you directly of these changes, but you can find the most up to date version of these terms and conditions on our website.
2. How do you become a Frank Energy Customer?
You can apply to be a Frank Energy customer by signing up online or over the phone and providing us with the information we request – we’ll treat your information with respect in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Please note, if you are applying to join Frank Energy as a natural gas or LPG Bottled Gas customer, you must also apply to have electricity at the same residential address and on the same account. You can, however, apply to only have electricity with Frank Energy.
In some cases, we may request additional information from you before your application is processed. Don’t worry, we will tell you why we need this information. If you choose not to provide us with any information, your application may not be able to proceed.
You can also add another person to be an authority on your account. This means that they will be able to make decisions about your account, but you will still be responsible for any payments on the account.
3. Joining
In order to be a Frank Energy customer, you must provide an email address for the purposes of billing and communications. If you do not wish to provide an email address we reserve the right to decline your application.
All invoices or notices to you will be provided to this email address and will be considered to have been received by you the day after it was transmitted to the email address you provided to us, or posted to our internet billing system or sent to you by electronic means.
If your application is accepted, we will supply energy to your property in accordance with these terms and conditions and we’ll be in touch to let you know the date from which we will start supplying your property with energy. In order to supply your property with energy we also have arrangements in place with metering and network companies – each of these have different requirements, which we explain below.
4. Natural gas only customer
If you only have natural gas with us, our natural gas only pricing applies.
For clarity, natural gas only pricing applies if you join Frank Energy with electricity and natural gas, but subsequently switch your electricity supply to a different address or account. We will notify you before switching you to the natural gas only pricing, and these increased rates will take effect in the billing period following notification.
5. Metering
In order to be a Frank Energy customer, you may need to have advanced meters for your electricity and gas installed at your property. If your property does not have an eligible advanced meter installed, we may install one at our cost as long as you provide us with the property owner’s consent.
If an advanced meter cannot be installed at your property for any reason (for example, if it is unsafe to do so), we will let you know and may require you to resolve any issues (at your cost) before we can install an advanced meter. If, you refuse the installation of an advanced meter, you may not be eligible to become a Frank Energy customer.
Electricity and gas meters let us know how much energy we are supplying to your property. We operate electricity and gas meters through our arrangements with various metering companies, but we will own all of the information and data from your meter. We’ll read your meter regularly (usually once every two months) and you will be charged on the basis of these readings. If we can’t get a suitable reading from your meter (for whatever reason, for example where we cannot access your meter, or the meter is not transmitting accurate data), we may estimate the amount of energy you have used and charge you on the basis of our estimate, or we may arrange with you for a manual reading of your meter to be conducted. You can also provide us with your own meter readings at any time here or by calling us. We can choose to accept a reading you’ve provided, or, if the reading doesn’t look right to us, we may carry out our own special meter reading within 5 days. Before we do so, we will discuss this with you and let you know if there will be any costs associated with this.
From time to time, issues may arise with the meter at your premises, for example it may not be transmitting information to us, or recording your electricity or gas consumption accurately. There may be some circumstances under which the meter may need to be replaced, but before we do so, we will discuss this with you and let you know if there will be any costs associated with this. If one of us thinks that the meter is faulty, we will remove the meter for testing. If you ask us to do so, we will do this within 5 business days of your request. If it is identified that there is a fault with the meter, we will replace the meter at our cost.
If, as a result of a defect or fault in the meter or an error in the reading, you have been charged more than you should have for your energy use, we will work out your actual charges and credit your account with the difference (provided that you did not cause or create the defect/fault). If it is determined that you have been charged less than you should have for your energy use, we may seek to recover an amount that is reasonable in the circumstances – in this case, we will always talk to you first.
Please let us know straight away if you think the meter has been tampered with or has otherwise been damaged or looks unsafe.
Switching off your energy at the mains affects our ability to read your advanced meter remotely. You should only switch off your energy at the mains for essential maintenance or in the case of an emergency situation. If you wish to turn off your energy at the mains for longer than a week, you should contact us so we can explain how to turn off the energy at the advanced meter.
6. Energy Supply and Interruptions
You must not supply energy to another property or person from your premises.
While we will always do our best to supply energy to your property in a way that meets our legal and regulatory requirements, frankly, sometimes circumstances beyond our control mean things can go wrong. These can be as a result of environmental or governmental events or actions by the network, metering company or by Transpower. Outages may be planned or unplanned – in these circumstances your supply might be interrupted from time to time.
Where the outage is planned, we, the network company or the meter company will give you at least 4 working days’ notice before any planned outage, unless the outage is urgently required – in which case we will give you as much notice as possible.
If there is a sudden or unplanned outage, we won’t be able to give you warning or notice of these. In some cases for gas customers, where a critical contingency is declared, we may instruct you to reduce or totally stop your gas use. If we instruct you to do this, you must comply with our request.
We are not required to honour this agreement where circumstances or events that are beyond our control prevent us from doing the things we would normally do. In these circumstances, we will carry on honouring our obligations as soon as it is reasonably practicable for us to do so.
Subject to your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, we have no liability for loss or damage (including loss of data) caused by outages, surges or spikes.
If your property has load control appliances (devices that allow us or the network company to remotely control the supply of energy to these appliances (e.g. hot water cylinders or night store heaters)) and you have agreed to a load control pricing plan, energy supply to these appliances may be interrupted from time to time without notice – for example when demand is high, or when there are local or national energy shortages, or if wholesale electricity prices are high.
Electricity surges or spikes (ie voltage and frequency fluctuations) can occur at any time. These can damage sensitive electrical appliances such as computers, televisions or fridges and freezers. We recommend that you take steps to protect your property and equipment from electricity outages, fluctuations or surges, for example getting insurance or using surge protectors or back-up devices.
7. Network and Metering Companies
We work with network companies and metering companies to get energy to your property (via the network company’s network) and measure the electricity and/or gas you consume (via the metering company’s meters).
We make arrangements with the network and metering companies so you don’t have to. This means you will need to comply with requirements of your network company (including some technical requirements) – these are summarised below and full information can be obtained from your network company.
These sound complex but they are standard requirements to be supplied with electricity and gas in New Zealand, if you have any questions about this please let us or your network company know. If you don’t know who your network company is, we can let you know.
You must not, without the prior written consent of us or your electricity network company:
• attempt to send or receive signals or other forms of communication through the network;
• install electricity generating equipment that will export energy back into the network;
• connect or re-connect your equipment directly to the network;
• make any modifications to any fittings or equipment to enable electricity generated to be conveyed through the network; or
• interfere in any other way with the network.
In relation to your electricity supply, you agree that the following technical requirements of the network shall apply:
• the power factor shall not be less than 0.95 lagging each month, or such other amount as specified by your local network company;
• there is to be no interconnection at any time between your point of supply and any other point of supply without the network company's prior written consent;
• if the characteristics of your equipment or demand interferes with the quality of supply of energy to any other consumer on the network or interferes with the operation of any remote signalling services or other fittings of the network company, you will, upon notice from the network company or us, remedy the interference at your own cost as soon as practicable (and in any event within 20 business days of the date of the notice). If we become liable to any third party as a result of such interference, you must compensate us to the full extent of such liability and for all associated costs incurred by us;
• you will use all reasonable measures to ensure that the levels of harmonic voltages and currents injected back into the network from your premises conform with the New Zealand Electrical Code of Practice for Harmonic levels NZECP 36:1993 insofar as the harmonic disturbance results from a cause within your control; and
• you agree to comply with all line function services, safety and technical requirements provided for under statute, regulations and codes of practice. This includes the network company's network connection standards (a copy of the standards can be obtained from the network company).
Any equipment supplied by a network company or metering company remains the property of the network company or metering company, even if it is on your property. The supply of energy and other services under this agreement does not give you any right or interest in the equipment.
8. Fees and Payment
We will charge you for the energy you consume and the services you use based on the fees applicable to your property on the Frank Price Finder. These fees may change from time to time and may also be impacted if: (i) we change the fees (as set out in section 1); or (ii) you change the services you have with Frank Energy.
We may also charge you for other products or services we supply or arrange for you, but if these circumstances arise (or are likely to arise) we will always contact you first and let you know the amount, reasons for the charge and what you could do to avoid the charge. Also, the amount that we charge you for our services may change depending on whether you purchase multiple services from us.
We will send you a monthly invoice for your energy charges to the email address for the applicable billing period. Our charges for energy consumption will be based either on an actual meter read or an estimated meter read. You’ll need to pay the total amount (including GST) set out on your invoice by the due date, payment after the due date may incur a late payment fee. We will never charge interest on late payments.
If you are unable to pay your invoice, please let us know and we will try and help you in making payment arrangements. If you do not pay your invoice by the due date and you haven’t disputed your invoice with us, we may put you though our credit recovery process which may lead to disconnection (for more on disconnections, see section 11 – Disconnections). In addition, you will need to pay us any costs we incur in collecting money that you owe us.
If your invoice is incorrect, you are only required to pay the correct amount and we will refund any amount we have over-charged, or you will pay any amount we have under-charged. This does not apply if your invoice is based on an estimate of your energy consumption – in this case, an adjustment will be automatically made in your next invoice based on an actual meter reading, so you will still be responsible for the payment of all the energy you use.
If you dispute any amount payable under an invoice, you must give us notice at least 3 business days prior to the due date of the invoice, identifying the amount in dispute, and giving full reasons for the dispute. We will investigate your dispute as quickly as possible. If you dispute the amount on your invoice, or any part of your invoice, you must still pay the undisputed amount by the due date.
We will not stop supplying you with energy if there is a genuine dispute between us in relation to an invoice and you have paid us any undisputed amount by the due date. Within 10 days of resolving any dispute about your invoice, we will credit your account with any amount we owe you, or you will pay us any amount you owe us, unless agreed otherwise.
9. Liability
Nothing in this section affects any rights you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986, except if you’re using our services in a way that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 refers to as business use or for business transactions. In that case, you acknowledge the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and sections 9, 12A and 13 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 do not apply to the services we provide to you.
If we directly damage your property as a result of our negligence or breach of this agreement, we may choose to replace or repair the property or pay you compensation – in each case up to a maximum value of $10,000 for any event or series of closely related events. If the loss is caused by our deliberate or wilful actions, there is no limit to our liability. Other than this (and except to the extent we are liable to you under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986), we will not be liable to you for any other loss or damages (including any indirect or consequential loss or loss of profit or revenue).
Other than your obligation to pay your bills, if you are liable to us, the maximum amount you will be liable for is $10,000 in respect of any event or series of related events – except where that loss is caused by your deliberate or wilful actions or has caused damage to the metering equipment or the network – in such cases no limit to your liability will apply and you may be liable to the network company or metering company (as applicable). This provision in this section ([8) Liability) is also intended for the benefit of the network and metering company and is enforceable by them under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.
If the network company is not a provider under the Utilities Disputes complaints resolution scheme, then you agree that the network company has no liability to you (including liability in contract or in negligence) relating to the supply of energy to your premises, unless that loss or damage is physical damage to property where it can be shown that the network company has been negligent and the amount and nature of the loss was reasonably foreseeable. The network company's aggregate liability to all customers connected to its network (including you) for an event or series of closely related events relating to the network shall not exceed $10,000. If you consider that the network company has caused you loss or damage, you should let us know, as we may be able to help avoid further loss or contact the network company on your behalf.
In certain circumstances we may require that the network company, or other third parties engaged in relation with supplying you with energy, provide certain service guarantees. If the network company, or relevant third party, breaches any of these service guarantees in relation to the supply of energy to you and we receive a payment from the network company or relevant third party, we will pass on to you the value of the payment as a credit in your next invoice
Other than crediting your account for those amounts, we will have no liability to you in respect of any defaults by the network company or other third party (subject to your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993).
This section 8, and the other terms in this agreement which refer to the network company, are for the benefit of and enforceable by the network company under subpart 1 of Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.
10. Access to your Property / Equipment on your Property
In order to provide you with our services, from time to time you must be able to provide us, the metering company, the network company or any other third party as notified to you by us safe and unobstructed access to your property and any metering or network equipment upon reasonable notice from us, or in the case of an emergency, immediately.
In providing us with safe access to your property and any metering or network equipment you must keep any dogs or other pets secured, make sure any trees or vegetation around any equipment we use to provide you with our services are regularly trimmed, keep us informed with any relevant information about your property and comply with any of our reasonable requests.
If we have any issues with safe or unobstructed access to your property, we’ll let you know and give you a chance to sort these, but if the issues are not sorted, we may no longer be able to provide you with our services. If you are unable to grant us access to your property please let us know and we will try and work out alternative options, however if we can’t find an acceptable solution, we may not be able to provide you with our services.
When entering your property our representatives will always carry identification.
You are responsible for the following equipment, including the maintenance and repair of these:
• your electricity and/or gas lines, pipes or cables (including any poles and fittings) from the point of connection at your property;
• your meter box or meter board, any sub or fuse board and any other wiring or piping on your property; and
• any electrical and/or gas appliances and equipment not included above.
You must provide us, the meter company or network company (or relevant third party) with safe and reasonable space to install or house any equipment in line with any relevant requirements and ensure that any equipment is not:
• removed from its location without our consent;
• used as security in any way;
• and does not, become a fixture or fitting of your property;
• damaged or interfered with in any way; and
• switched off other than in accordance with this agreement.
You must tell us immediately if any equipment is damaged, defective, lost or looks unsafe.
We, or the metering company or network company, have ownership rights in any meter and associated equipment installed at your property.
We will ensure that all electricity and gas meters comply with relevant regulations and good industry practice.
We will repair and maintain the meter and associated equipment supplied by us or a meter company or network company, except as outlined in the list of your repair and maintenance responsibilities above.
11. Disconnection and Termination
We may disconnect your energy supply and terminate our agreement with you for a number of reasons, for example, in an emergency situation, for safety reasons, where we no longer have an agreement with a network company to supply your property with energy, if we are no longer able to supply your property with energy (for any reason), if you haven’t paid your bills or if you have otherwise breached this agreement. Except in the case of emergency, we will tell you at least 7 days before we disconnect your supply and let you know what you need to do to avoid disconnection. We will also provide you with a final warning at least 24 hours before we disconnect your supply.
If we need to disconnect your energy supply, you may be charged a disconnection fee – we will provide you with the details of this in our communications with you. We will always tell you if, in addition to disconnecting your energy supply we are terminating our agreement with you.
We will not disconnect your energy supply in relation to non-payment of our bills if you have an active complaint about this with Utilities Disputes Limited until the complaints process has been exhausted and only if we believe it is fair and reasonable to do so.
In addition to our rights to disconnect your supply, the network company may also disconnect your supply for a number of reasons – and in some cases the network may not be able to provide you with notice of a disconnection. The network company may disconnect your supply if:
• you don’t grant them access to your property when requested;
• your equipment does not meet the network company's requirements;
• an emergency situation occurs;
• you damage or destroy any of the network company’s equipment;
• it considers your equipment to be unsafe; or
• you breach any term of this agreement in relation to the network company’s rights.
When you want to start your energy supply again, please contact us. If our agreement has been terminated, you may need to sign up as a customer again. You must not attempt to reconnect the energy supply yourself. Before we agree to reconnect your energy supply, we may require you to meet certain requirements which we will notify you of at the time.
Where you have met these requirements, we will arrange to reconnect your energy supply as soon as possible. If you have an advanced meter, we may do that remotely. You will be responsible for any liability resulting from us disconnecting or reconnecting the energy supply at your premises.
If you want to terminate our agreement or you want your supply to be disconnected, you must let us know at least 3 business days beforehand. We will arrange for a final meter reading, issue a final invoice to the email address you have provided and cease your supply as soon as reasonably practical.
If you have been receiving both electricity and gas from us, but no longer want us to supply you with one of them, you must let us know at least 3 business days beforehand. Our charges to you for the terminated supply will stop on the date we stop supplying you.
If you wish to transfer your energy account to another property or another person, you must let us know and we will discuss with you what is required for the transfer. If you have told us that you are switching to another retailer, we will work with you to facilitate the switch and stop supplying you in accordance with applicable regulations and industry standards.
12. Complaints
If you have a complaint, please contact us. Our contact details are on our website and we have an internal resolutions process that aims to work with you to resolve any complaint with 20 working days (unless we tell you we need more time to investigate or resolve your complaint). We are also a participant in the free “Energy Complaints Scheme” provided by Utilities Disputes Limited – you may also file a complaint with them at any time.
13. The Electricity Authority
The Electricity Authority may also transfer our rights and obligations in respect of the supply of electricity to you under these terms to another electricity retailer if we commit an "event of default" as defined in the Electricity Code. If that happens, the terms on which you will be supplied with electricity will be the standard terms that the other electricity retailer would normally have offered to you immediately before the event of default occurred (or, if the other electricity retailer and the Electricity Authority agree other terms that are more favourable to you, those terms will apply instead).
Those terms may include a minimum time period in which you must pay an early termination fee if you wish to cancel the terms. We may provide information about you to the Electricity Authority (and the Electricity Authority may pass this information on to the other electricity retailer) as permitted under the Electricity Code. The terms set out in this section 24.2 are enforceable by the Electricity Authority for the purposes of subpart 1 of Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, and may not be amended without the consent of the Electricity Authority.
We may at any time transfer to someone else all or any part of our rights and/or obligations under this agreement. We will let you know if we do this. We may also sub-contract or delegate our rights and/or obligations under this agreement to other people or companies. We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. Updated terms will be uploaded to our website. We will not necessarily give you notice of an update to these terms unless we reasonably believe they will have an adverse effect on you, so please check back regularly.
Last updated: 12 October 2022