Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

craigdarroch

Just got a good discount on a new bulk LPG contract by contacting a competitor and using their quote as a bargaining counter with my current supplier. Result - 5.4 pence per litre off, fixed for 6 months, and a one-off £100 cashback. (I use about 1150 litres pa). Heaven help anyone who just stays loyal to their supplier. A good place to start is the following link that helps you discover which suppliers are available in your area - uklpg.org/supplier-search

LittleVermin

craigdarroch wrote: »

Just got a good discount on a new bulk LPG contract by contacting a competitor and using their quote as a bargaining counter with my current supplier. Result - 5.4 pence per litre off, fixed for 6 months, and a one-off £100 cashback. (I use about 1150 litres pa). Heaven help anyone who just stays loyal to their supplier. A good place to start is the following link that helps you discover which suppliers are available in your area - uklpg.org/supplier-search

Welcome to the Bulk LPG forum!

And glad you got a better deal. Will you tell us which suppliers - and roughly where you live, please? And how much rent you pay for your tank?

People can also shave another £50-75 off by checking out people on here who mention their supplier - and then sorting out a reference. £75 - the highest I've heard - is from ... you guess! But you'd need to 'go with ..' (BTW they are the 'friendliest supplier' - or so they'd have us believe!). Whoever refers you also gets money off their next bill.

I'm told not all suppliers can be found through the UKLPG ( http://www.uklpg.org/supplier-search/ ). The spokesman for UKLPG said as much to the ICL inquiry. You can also buy through various regional or national farmers' co-ops (e.g. Mole Valley Farmers - which is national). There are useful posts by HateLPG (e.g. here), and others, on this thread.
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HateLPG

LittleVermin wrote: »

People can also shave another £50-75 off by checking out people on here who mention their supplier - and then sorting out a reference. £75 - the highest I've heard - is from ... you guess! But you'd need to 'go with ..' (BTW they are the 'friendliest supplier' - or so they'd have us believe!). Whoever refers you also gets money off their next bill.

As always, good solid advice from LV.

And remember, even if one of your "friends" recommends the aforementioned "friendly supplier" (F*****), you can still make a saving, even if only by removing your unscrupulous and immoral friend from your Christmas Card list ;-)

LittleVermin

voisin's post now has 100 thanks!

Here's the post, from 9th December 2010:

Fairer regulation of LPG gas charges
There should be legislation to regulate the price of domestic LPG gas .
The prices charged are enormously varied and extortionate.
Having to be tied into a 2 year contract enables the supplier to progressively increase prices every few months.
All suppliers should have to openly declare their price per litre.


The OFT off-grid energy report is out tomorrow. If anyone is commenting on the report - to the media or their MP - you can now say 100 people on MSE signed up to support regulation of LPG prices.

alictait

Just got a letter from BP telling me they are increasing the price of my LPG to 62.95ppl, time to move supplier. Anyone know the sort of price I should be looking to negotiate to ?

According to Uklpg I have 5 alternate suppliers to look at Shell (who have previously said they won't deliver due to access issues), Extra, Calor, Flogas and J oil. An recommendations ?

NormanMcL

Like all the interested parties in this blog, I'll be very interested in the findings of the report out tomorrow - and the reactions of the suppliers.

I find it interesting that no contributors mention Countrywide as their supplier. I've been with them since moving to Mid Wales in 2004 & have yet to find any better for service & price.

LittleVermin

NormanMcL wrote: »

...
I find it interesting that no contributors mention Countrywide as their supplier. I've been with them since moving to Mid Wales in 2004 & have yet to find any better for service & price.

Welcome to the Bulk LPG forum. (Most of us try to keep posts short and to the point - rather than turning it into a blog!)....

If you click on "Search this Thread" above the latest post and then put put "Countrywide" in the box you'll get 85 hits. Enjoy!

Great that you've had a good experience - both for service and price - for the last 7 years. I wonder if you were you with a different supplier before - since you write that you've yet to find "any better"?

Not everyone's experience has been quite so positive (e.g. here and here). It will be interesting to see what Countrywide's link up with Flogas will lead to in the future.

What are you paying per litre, and for tank rent, please? And how many litres do you use a year?

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HateLPG

alictait wrote: »

Just got a letter from BP telling me they are increasing the price of my LPG to 62.95ppl, time to move supplier. Anyone know the sort of price I should be looking to negotiate to ?

According to Uklpg I have 5 alternate suppliers to look at Shell (who have previously said they won't deliver due to access issues), Extra, Calor, Flogas and J oil. An recommendations ?

Hi Alictait,

You're quite right - 62.95ppl does seem way over the odds. To answer your first question first, I would suggest somewhere around the 45ppl price is a reasonable target at present. I did read that someone recently got a spot delivery from Shell at 39ppl, but that's not really a representative price and might have more to do with the fact that the Shell LPG business was sold last week to the American company, UGI.

As far as your alternatives go, I think most (if not all) people on this thread would rule out Flogas from the outset. They have a terrible policy of offering what appears to be a "sweet deal", and then pushing the price up unmercifully once you've signed. Unlike many other suppliers, their contract does not allow you to terminate the agreement in the event of steep price rises, so you just have to grin (or freeze) and bear it until your contract period (2 years) is up.

Irrespective of supplier always look for a clause in the contract that allows you to terminate in the event of price increases exceeding a specified limit - you may take a view and choose not to excercise your right to terminate (I've done that myself, when the price rise was inline with market fluctuations anyway), but it is a vital insurance policy to have!

The general concencus among the forum seems to be that the smaller independents often offer the best deals and service, but ulimtately, it's all down to what you offers you can get can get.

• Extra Gas generally seem to get quite favourable comments on here;
• Calor in my experience were actually not to bad in terms of service, but they needed frequent (and sometimes quite forceful) reminders of their contractual terms when they conveniently "forgot them" at price rise time.
• Flogas I've discussed earlier - Personally, I would rather freeze than sign any kind of contract with them, and I really do mean that;
• There has not really been much discussion about JGas here - but working on the basis that they are a smaller independent, I would say it's definitely worth having a chat with them.

Coming back to Shell, I would also give them a call again. Although they have previously declined to supply, as I stated earlier the business has now been sold in it's entirety, and the new owners may have a different view. Personally, I am with Shell, and have been quite happy with their service, pricing and deliveries thus far.

Given that JGas is a potential supplier, I'm also guessing you're North of (or close to) the Border. In which case, it might also be worth giving Borders Machinery Ring a call and seeing what they can offer (see my post here for a bit more info on this).

HateLPG

Please forgive large, red letters, but:

The OFT Off Grid Energy Study is due out TODAY

It will be published (sometime) today and should be available here: OFT Off-Grid Energy Study

This could, potentially, have significant implications for all LPG users. In a perfect world, it would include a recommendation that the LPG and/or Domestic Heating Oil markets be brought fully into the remit of The Energy Regulator, OFGEM (fingers crossed).

But, even if they do make such a strong recommendation, this is likely just to be the starting gun for a long fight. Judging by the almost total cave-in by Cameron, Huhne et al today (I mean, what use is a patronising letter from the Government telling you what you already know when you're paying through the nose just to keep from freezing - see: PM's feeble promise), coupled with the stated preference of this Government for "light-touch regulation", it will probably require long-term and sustained pressure on MPs to turn any such recommendation into reality.

Anyway, here's hoping - I suspect this thread could get a bit lively once the report is out :-)

LittleVermin

from the press release at

http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2011/112-11?version=1


Off-grid energy suppliers need consumer law enforcement not regulation - OFT

112/11 18 October 2011
The OFT today published the findings of its off-grid market study. It showed that on the whole competition works well, with consumers offered a good choice of suppliers, and that the off-grid sector does not need price regulation.
However the OFT does have concerns that some heating oil and possibly some other off-grid fuel suppliers may not be treating their customers fairly and is currently examining practices further.
Four million households rely on off-grid energy such as heating oil, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and, more recently, microgeneration which encompasses renewable energy sources like solar panels.
.....

The specific OFT concerns about consumer protection in the off-grid energy sector include:

• During the study it received complaints that people may be locked into expensive LPG contracts following an initial introductory rate, and it is working with the industry to resolve this matter.