Can they actually stop me switching suppliers ??

[breastfeeding]

Switching energy supplier but old supplier is saying they can’t till I pay the outstanding balance which we can’t afford ?
I have explained this and said I’ll pay it in instalments
They had us on a hideous tariff and refused to change us so we had to switch but now we can’t ?

Also they are adding charges of £25 apparently every 14 days

Yes this is a situation where they can stop you switchings if your debt is more than 28 days old or over £500 ofgem have advice online

It’s less than £500 but we were meant to switch today !
I can’t afford the current rate we turn everything off as much as possible and it was rising the new company wants about £120 less each month

I’ll have to find out if We have actually been switched or not the letter from current supplier said till we pay we can’t but then we had paperwork through from new one it’s a bit of a muddle

I recently switched to Scottish Power and they took on my debt (wasn't a lot though, I aske d the guy about ut when switching and he told me they would take it on without knowing how much it was) I've switched before, the company I switched to didn't take on the debt and I couldn't afford to pay the balance in one go, so had to switch back. Think it depends on the company.
Why are they adding £25 charges every fortnight?

Your existing supplier will almost certainly have put a block on the switch. It isn't in their interests to allow you to move while you still owe them money. Have you actually spoken to them about whether they have a cheaper tariff you can move to?

They won’t allow me to but it’s a v expensive’standard’ tariff
We can’t afford it we need to switch

They wrote to say that every 14 days a £25 charge will be added
I’ve tried to say can we pay some now some later they have said no