Energy suppliers

[redsturgeon]

I just got a message from my energy provider Eon saying that the fixed price tariff I am currently on runs out on Jan 17th and if I don't switch then I will revert to their standard tariff which will be an extra £300 pa for electricity and and extra £550 pa for gas!! Wow I knew the tariff I had switched to was a good deal but not that good!

Now looking to switch and the cheapest I can find is still going to be £300 pa more, have energy charges gone up that much in the past year?

Has anyone found an really good deals?

MSE tells me "So Energy" and "Places for People" are my two cheapest options, still £200pa more than I am paying now and very small companies only established for one year so I am a little wary.

John

[dspp]

Somebody depreciated GBP/USD by 15-20% for some reason (1.45 > 1.25) and oil & gas are mostly denominated in USD.

Plus the oil price, and the gas price which is generally linked to it, has gone from $35/bbl to $55/bbl.

The utilities have the data on their side right now. It won't stop them being pilloried in the press, but GB Energy going bust last month (essentially because of these factors) does mean that government will be cautious to act. So you will have to work hard to find a good deal. Personally I am with Good Energy for dual fuel. The consumer protection measures worked smoothly for GB Energy's clients when they went pop so in one sense there is no downside in going for the small fry. My personal view is that suppliers with their own generation are least likely to go pop - that is the big ones, plus Good Energy and Ecotricity without looking any further into it (there may be others).

regards, dspp

[BusyBumbleBee]

I am lucky to have two electricity suppliers. One of those was GB Energy and they gave me a very good price. 9.40 pence per unit plus VAT and a standing charge of 18.32 pence per day plus VAT fixed until 17th August 2017. I am in the Eastern Region

That has been picked up by Co-operative Energy and On the same terms as before. Magic.

their tarriff rates are here https://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/site ... y-2018.pdf

which are very competitive and fixed until February 2018 - worth a look

[mswjr]

Ovo increased on recent expiry of contract from 10.82 p/kWh to 13.68 p/kWh. Standing charge remained unchanged.

[quelquod]

When GB Energy went belly-up I looked around and the cheapest deal I could find was an extra £240pa. I am very grateful to the co-op for honouring my GB Energy deal which still has 9 months to run. I'm sure they didn't have to be so generous and I'm sure that I will reward them with my loyalty when the deal ends (unless of course I can find a cheaper deal elsewhere ).

[staffordian]

My EON fix expires at the end of Jan and by my calculations, their cheapest tariff, a further 12 month fix will be £240pa dearer.

Co-operative Energy look very good, only £84pa dearer than present for the Feb 2018 fix. I just hope it or something similar is available when I need it.

As a point of interest, can I initiate a swap before the expiry date, to take effect at the end of January (to avoid the £60 exit fee) or do I need to wait for my present deal to end before initiating a swap?

TIA

Staffordian

[genou]

As a point of interest, can I initiate a swap before the expiry date, to take effect at the end of January (to avoid the £60 exit fee) or do I need to wait for my present deal to end before initiating a swap?

TIA

Staffordian

If you are down to 6 weeks left, you can initiate a switch with no fee chargeable. This reckons an extra week, but that's not my recollection

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2015/05/how ... fs-401370/

[staffordian]

As a point of interest, can I initiate a swap before the expiry date, to take effect at the end of January (to avoid the £60 exit fee) or do I need to wait for my present deal to end before initiating a swap?

TIA

Staffordian

If you are down to 6 weeks left, you can initiate a switch with no fee chargeable. This reckons an extra week, but that's not my recollection

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2015/05/how ... fs-401370/

That's interesting. Many thanks for that link.

Staffordian

[redsturgeon]

I've been reading the t&cs with EoN and it seems that it may be best to hang on to the very last minute before switching.

My plan runs until Jan 22nd but the following applies:

If you decide to switch supplier, we won't charge an exit fee. We'll also keep you on your old prices unless our new prices are cheaper for you, as long as:
- Your new supplier lets us know by 20 February 2017. Your new supplier won't contact us until the end of your 'cooling off' period which could be up to 14 days.
- Your switch is finished within six weeks.
If you owe us money we might object to you leaving us. But we'll still keep you on your old prices unless our new prices are cheaper for you, as long as:
- You pay us what you owe within 30 working days of us telling you we're objecting to your switch; and
- Your switch is finished within six weeks.

It seems I can actually still get my power at the current price, that is cheaper than anything I can switch to, for four weeks after the end of the fixed price tariff. So it seems best to go for the 20 Feb as the switch over date.

John

[Infrasonic]

It seems I can actually still get my power at the current price, that is cheaper than anything I can switch to, for four weeks after the end of the fixed price tariff. So it seems best to go for the 20 Feb as the switch over date.

John

Hmmm, interesting. My EON fixed deal runs out at the end of Jan and the new fixed offer is £17 cheaper than the variable, an increase of £148...

Brexit grrr....

[Mikkko]

In a similar position myself, currently on E.ON Fixed V19 expires early Feb 2017. This was a fantastic deal, could not be beaten.

Would have preferred to stay with E.ON, but they have just released Fixed V21 which is about 30% more expensive than V19.

As I belong to Money Savings Expert Cheap Energy Club, and receive MSE Emails, I have done another comparison and now started the process to switch to Flow Energy. Fixed till 31 Mar 2018, limited offer only via MSE or MoneySupermarket. Only 3,500 left ( 3,499 now! ) - Plan name is "Flow MSM & MSE Exclusive Fixed March 2018".

Should get £30 cashback, plus a refund from E.ON of the credit balance I have built up.

Regards
Mick

[redsturgeon]

In a similar position myself, currently on E.ON Fixed V19 expires early Feb 2017. This was a fantastic deal, could not be beaten.

Would have preferred to stay with E.ON, but they have just released Fixed V21 which is about 30% more expensive than V19.

As I belong to Money Savings Expert Cheap Energy Club, and receive MSE Emails, I have done another comparison and now started the process to switch to Flow Energy. Fixed till 31 Mar 2018, limited offer only via MSE or MoneySupermarket. Only 3,500 left ( 3,499 now! ) - Plan name is "Flow MSM & MSE Exclusive Fixed March 2018".

Should get £30 cashback, plus a refund from E.ON of the credit balance I have built up.

Regards
Mick

Yes I got that too and switched yesterday!

Just read that 91% of SSE customers are on their highest tariff...it seems some people can't even be bother to switch to their present supplier's cheapest tariff!

John

[staffordian]

Another switcher from Eon v19 to Flow here.

My current fix ends 31 Jan 2017 but I've gone for the MSE deal today on the basis that it might not last much longer, and that other good deals might not last either.

I'm hopeful that I'll not face any exit fees, but everything I read gives different information*, so I'll have to wait and see.

*Eon is vague and mentions contact about six weeks prior to end of tariff, which I've not yet received.

"Which" says 42 to 49 days

MSE says 50 days.

I'm assuming it will be around 21 days before Flow contact Eon (or at least the 14 days cooling off period), by which time I should be well within whatever it is.

Staffordian

[UncleEbenezer]

Just read that 91% of SSE customers are on their highest tariff...it seems some people can't even be bother to switch to their present supplier's cheapest tariff!

John

That's probably me.

Can't save the kind of amounts the Chattering Classes tell us about, 'cos I don't pay them in the first place. There seem to be some quite staggering assumptions about how much energy people use.

[redsturgeon]

That's probably me.

Can't save the kind of amounts the Chattering Classes tell us about, 'cos I don't pay them in the first place. There seem to be some quite staggering assumptions about how much energy people use.

Yes, in our house when there were six of us, baths everyday, house at 20c, 16 hours a day, lights on all the time, we reached a peak of about £3000 per year. My last annual bill was £2000! Most of that was tariff change, so the saving was worthwhile.

But for the sake of perhaps ten or twenty minutes on your supplier's website you could easily save 20 or 30 quid minimum perhaps more, isn't that worth it?

John

[Wuzwine]

GB Energy,

I wrote an email asking why they hadn't taken my direct debit at the begining of this month. Got a quick reply

"Thank you for contacting GB Energy Supply serviced by Co-Operative Energy.

Unfortunately Direct Debits have not been taken in December due to the switch over to Co-Operative Energy.

We are advising all customers to contact customer service on 0800 6444 451 to make a one off card payment to bring accounts up to date and prevent falling in to Debit.

All Direct Debits should resume in January 2017."

Phoned got through quickly and paid, as my main concern was a failure by myself or my bank would revert me from the too good to be true fixed tariff to a standard one.

Very impressed with the sevice so will probably stick with them for another year. Of the companies I have used there is one of the big 6 and 1 small one I would be unlikely to use again. Prior to this I liked Eon so unless they beat the Coop I am unlikely to move. The real proof is service when leaving.

Just had a few jars with a poor relative who keeps meaning to review but is still with the "same" company since 1960!!

Wuz

Only faint connection is I am a Coop member but not Midshires!

[meldrewreborn]

Use a site like energylynx and you can look at gas only suppliers. All major utilities offer dual fuel and a myth has grown up that this is the best way to go. But having a different supplier for each fuel brings me the best overall price.

Prices have gone up this year as the oil price has recovered a bit and the £ has lost value against the $. I always go for a price fix but always seem to find that fixing for more than 12 months costs an awful lot more than I think reasonable, so 12 months it is.

The key to getting the best deal is being realistic about one's likely consumption. whereas my electricity consumption is fairly static at 3,000 KwH per annum, my gas consumption varies considerably from year to year and ranges from 14,000-18,000 KwH, whether on a rolling 12 month basis or per calendar year. So I plump for 16,300 KwH for gas in my comparisons in the firm knowledge that it will not be the right figure but will not be too far wrong. On electricity I pay by monthly direct debit based on actual consumption - by so doing I don't get into the complexity of suppliers estimating my consumption incorrectly (strange how they always estimate on the high side isn't it?).

For Gas Dalligas bill me the same amount every month and we settle up the difference at the end of the contract term. Fortunately I can afford to find the difference if I have to pay them for excess consumption, but those on tight budgets might find this too onerous a risk.

[orchard101]

I used to swap suppliers regularly in the old days, but, I have been with SSE (originally Atlantic) for about 13 years now.

Some time ago, I decided to have a look on a comparison site. The one I chose showed that I would make a significant saving, however, when I took one of my actual bills and did a manual comparison, the amounts were minimal, in the penny range.

The reason I have stayed with them is their superlative customer service. In all my dealings with them any minor or major problem has been sorted wether on the day in a telephone call, or within a few days. In my view, this is worth far more than saving a few quid.

Also, that last couple of years I have fixed and got a £100 shopping voucher which I can spend to buy food, saving on my normal shop. To top that I have been advised that, although I have signed up to a two year deal, if the voucher deal comes up within a year, I can swap onto that and get further shopping vouchers.

My monthly payments have never been a problem, if they have not been reduced/increased by them, if I ring up or e-mail, they are sorted immediately, and, because I have had a new combi A rated boiler fitted recently, my gas DD has been reduced by almost half.

I keep track of my usage on their site, having had a smart meter fitted, and am totally happy with their service. I am a pensioner so money is fairly important but, in my view, not at the expense of customer service. Other may feel differently, but that is their choice.

[redsturgeon]

Some time ago, I decided to have a look on a comparison site. The one I chose showed that I would make a significant saving, however, when I took one of my actual bills and did a manual comparison, the amounts were minimal, in the penny range.

I am surprised at this. The comparison sites ask you to put in your actual usage and base their comparisons on that. I can't see what extra information a manual comparison of an actual bill would provide.

I do admit that I am a large user of energy >£2500 per annum so for a much smaller consumer of power the savings may in fact be trivial but the savings have been several hundreds of pounds per annum for me so certainly not trivial.

John.

[Infrasonic]

So just signed up to the MSE cheap energy club alert service, currently showing I can save £114 a year with a couple of suppliers over EON's best 1 year fixed deal.

They're both variable's though, not fixed, which raises the spectre of playing the energy futures mkt which I can only see going in one direction for the foreseeable (up)...No exit fee's, so I suppose I could switch again if the variable rate increases too much, but then that's assuming the fixed deals won't go up too...