switching electricity suppliers

[RogerS]

Anyone been through this? Is it worth the hassle?

Had a little foray with uswitch who suggested British Gas would be cheaper but, after giving all sorts of details like dob, where I've lived for the last 1000 years for credit checking, the only options that BG offer are still direct debit or monthly regular payments etc. I prefer to pay when the bill is due and hang onto my dosh in the meantime.

 

[billw]

Done it a few times. Is it worth it? The switching sites say it is but they get commission for you changing supplier so I'm never really convinced.

The biggest savings are most certainly for those paying on a monthly direct debit.

 

[seanybaby]

Have a look at the cash back sites!

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cashback-sites-comparison/

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cashback-websites

For example you can get £70 cash back from Eon, through Quidco for duel fuel.

I have had about £350 cash back since Feb.

 

[Ironballs]

You do get the biggest savings with monthly DD and often with dual fuel. However you will often find that BG is most expensive for gas but they are very competitive on leccy. Some places are now starting to offer smart meters which require no reading and offer semi-real time meter reading and consequently accurate billing.

The utilities are investing millions in this technology as it's what the market wants and it cuts down on their meter reading and handling/dispute costs

 

[RogerS]

Mmph..dual fuel tariffs. The most iniqitous thing known to man...apart from MP's expenses. Many of us are not on the gas grid and so cannot take advantage of this. Why iniqitous? Because you get more kickback if you take both gas and electricity. So if you're not on the gas grid? You're stuffed. Fortunately there are moves afoot to ban this.

 

[devonwoody]

Anyone been through this? Is it worth the hassle?

Had a little foray with uswitch who suggested British Gas would be cheaper but, after giving all sorts of details like dob, where I've lived for the last 1000 years for credit checking, the only options that BG offer are still direct debit or monthly regular payments etc. I prefer to pay when the bill is due and hang onto my dosh in the meantime.

Is it worth it?

I went over two years without a fuel bill (G & E) on my first change over :wink: . We did come to a very satisfactory arrangement when we decided which company did actually supply the juice.

 

[mailee]

I am with Power Gen who told me they could reduce my bills as I was with Scottish Power. In the meantime they were only charging me £50 per month for gas and electricity until they estimated my usage. After the first year we had the large price hikes in power bills and so the monthly bills did go up, and up, and up! I now pay £180 per month for my gas and electricity to catch up with the arrears they have now put me into which is in the region of £700! These monthly bills are now much higher than my mortgage! I looked into changing my supplier but low and behold I first have to pay off the arrears that are owed! Which I can't of course, not this year and I wonder about next year! Cheats and liars all of them, just after more and more money out of you. :evil:

 

[Jenx]

BEWARE of NPOWER.

I changed to them, and they've got me in a hell of a mess.

Was paying £130 a month to S&SE, N-power came in, and insisted that £74 a month was all they'd need and they'd save me a fortune.

6 months into it.. they advised that they were putting my direct debit up to £374 a month ( its a bloody 2 bed semi barrats bungalow ! )
as I was underpaid.

Having contacted them to complain both at the amount, the stupidity of the amount, and the 'con' in general.. they said they'd review.. I also during this call said 'Ok'... I need to get to a point of sprting this out with you.. so let me make an extra payment to you over and above the direct debit stuff.. let me give you £150 over the phone on my debit card now...

They debited my card over £800 :shock: -- this is whilst I'm on the phone to them ! in 'real-time'.
So I sort of 'lost it' a little bit ... they agreed to refund the balance of this 'error v's the £150' I agreed to give them as a 'one-off extra' which took them TWO WEEKS to refund.
Eventually, they revised the DD down to £270 per month.

For a TWO Bed Barrats tiny-box semi ? ... I'm clearing the debit... and then you can guess what N-Power are going to get told.

Their excuse ? ... we had no history to base your payments on, Sir.
... Apparently me showing their 'cold calling door-knocker' 5 years of Scottish & Southern Energy's Statements ( the ones that were at £130 per month at the time of changing ) doesn't qualify as history.

Beware of this shower of sh*te supplier.
They're 'practices' are 'sharp' to say the least.
They've incurred some very heavy fines from the electricity watchdog/ ombudsman for similar things where people with more time and interest in their hands have pursued it.

Hook you in, then wallop.. £ 374 demanded per month ? ...
what am I doing, powering the entire village ?

N-POWER. Big Danger, Very unscrupulous, dreadful company.
You've been warned ! :wink:

 

[RogerS]

I'm currently with them, Jenx, which is why I'm switching.

 

[mailee]

Hmm, too late for me Jenx. There is no way I can clear this debt and move from them so I am stuck until I can get enough money together to get rid of the bu**ers and get back to Scottish Power! :twisted:

 

[Ironballs]

I'm with npower and don't have any problems. Powergen were okay, BG were okay but expensive and Scottish were generally pretty poor.

I think they all have their problems and sometimes it can be down to luck of the draw whether you have a good experience or not

 

[Mark Hancock]

The only sure way of knowing if it's worth switching is to know your average annual usage first, not in monetary terms but as total kW per year. Any company that claims they can save you money is basing that claim on averages which don't take account of individual circumstances and IMHO are worthless. I always review my suppliers and switch without hesitation if I find a better deal. No customer loyalty here :lol:

 

[billw]

I'm with Atlantic EG, they're quite cheap to start with and every year they give me back the equivalent of 1/12th of the total amount I've paid them via my direct debit in the last year.

I suppose they could just lower their prices even more but it's a nifty retention tool.

 

[ike]

I'm with Alantic E&G. They stay generally competitive, although I suspect they could have reduced their prices a bit more over the last year. Simply a no-nonsense company with excellent customer service, and that's why I shall stay with them.

Ike

 

[thomvic]

I'm in full agreement with Mark on this. You have to know your annual kWh usage - and preferably seasonal usage too. It is easy enough to work out - you have the past bills and of course, the meter is in your house!
I too have no supplier loyalty. I switch whenever I can find a better deal.
I use the comparison sites and the supplier sites to find the most competetive deals available and then switch with the suppliers directly. Not with the comparison sites. I have frequently found that these sites do not work on the best rates available from the suppliers! You must look at the unit prices - not the monthly payments required - in order to compare suppliers.
I have been with nPower for over a year now on a tarif (no longer available to new customers) that comparison sites consistently cannot beat - the amount I can supposedly "save" always comes up red! On the one occasion when they wanted to change my monthly payment to something I could not justify they agreed to accept my calculation. I have no issues with them at all.
Energy is a major spend in all households - it pays, and makes sense to be in control of it. I like to keep similar control of my telephone/broadband/television service supplier.

Richard

 

[Digit]

I did it once, ended up with both billing me at the same time!

Roy.

 

[Mark Hancock]

I'm in full agreement with Mark on this. You have to know your annual kWh usage - and preferably seasonal usage too. It is easy enough to work out - you have the past bills and of course, the meter is in your house!
I too have no supplier loyalty. I switch whenever I can find a better deal.
I use the comparison sites and the supplier sites to find the most competetive deals available and then switch with the suppliers directly. Not with the comparison sites. I have frequently found that these sites do not work on the best rates available from the suppliers! You must look at the unit prices - not the monthly payments required - in order to compare suppliers.
I have been with nPower for over a year now on a tarif (no longer available to new customers) that comparison sites consistently cannot beat - the amount I can supposedly "save" always comes up red! On the one occasion when they wanted to change my monthly payment to something I could not justify they agreed to accept my calculation. I have no issues with them at all.
Energy is a major spend in all households - it pays, and makes sense to be in control of it. I like to keep similar control of my telephone/broadband/television service supplier.

Richard

Glad to see I'm not the only one doing this. I was beginning to think I was too obsessive about keeping a spreadsheet record :lol:

Just to reiterate the point Richard makes, if you do keep records and calculate your actual usage you can contest any proposed increase in monthly payments by your supplier and avoid getting yourself in the position mailee finds himself.