Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

AdrianC

If you're out of contract, yes. They own the tank (I presume?) so nobody else can fill it.

How long will that 15% last you? Do you have time to switch to another supplier? (Will your tank even meet the current regs?)

Lumphammer1

Yes, I am out of contract.

Hadn't considered the tank. It is about 9 years old and underground. Is there likely to be an issue there?

The 15% would be touch and go re switching a supplier and we might need a top up prior to the move.

Essexuser

Your current supplier is required to maintain the tank and certify such to the incoming supplier. I do not believe that the standards for tanks are retrospective. There is very very little legislation that's retrospective for obvious reasons.

Tinhat

I had my underground tank inspected last month and was told by the guy doing it that they 'last forever'. Mine is 12 years old and he said would be good for at least another 20+ years.

I'm in the middle of switching supplier and should be able to place an order 3 weeks after starting the process. I'd allow 4 weeks from now for your first delivery if you switch.

Perhaps if you got some quotes and fill out the supplier switch paperwork it would put the pressure on Avanti to price match and keep your business.

Good luck

AdrianC

Essexuser wrote: »

Your current supplier is required to maintain the tank and certify such to the incoming supplier. I do not believe that the standards for tanks are retrospective. There is very very little legislation that's retrospective for obvious reasons.

It's not retrospective, but a supplier can't/won't take an existing tank onto their books with a new contract, if it doesn't meet the then-current regs.

Being underground, this one is probably less of an issue - but when we moved in here, we couldn't get anybody to take us on contract without changing the tank, because of the old location.

Lumphammer1

I had a quote similar to a couple of posters above by Avanti 30p + 3p per litre per 6 months after year one.

Have gone for LPG save 30.5p + max 5p rise in year two plus £125 free gas, free telemetry thing and M & S voucher.

cymrumam

I am hoping that someone on here can help me with this minefield. My 80 yr old father in law has LPG tanks and I am now dealing with all his affairs. He has been told that his contract is ending with Flogas and he has been offered a drop at renewal from 65p a litre to 60p a litre.
Having looked around Calor offered 34p a litre but in order to take it on they came and did an inspection of the tanks and apparently they aren't HSE compliant - may need re-siting and new pipework.

Flogas have obviously been ripping him off for years but I'm assuming that he will have to pay for works to make the tanks compliant for Calor to take them on and he doesn't really want to move them. Surely Flogas should have ensured that they are compliant in the 25+ years he has been with them.
Could anyone offer any advice or is he stuck with Flogas and their extortionate pricing ?

AdrianC

No, the only time compliance is an issue is if the tank's being transferred - otherwise, as with everything, new regulations aren't retrospectively applied.

Personally, I'd be looking at re-siting, but waiting until spring. Is it really going to be a big issue?

Given his age, I presume he likes plenty of warmth in the house, and I'd also take a guess that if the tank contract's been overlooked, that the house hasn't been modernised and the insulation upgraded for a fair while? So he's going to be getting through a good chunk of gas... That means that the price is going to be even more of an issue.

It's worth battering Flo as hard as you can to get the price down. 65p-down-to-60p is a mickey-take. Just hit them with "Look, you have a choice here - you can lose our business totally, and fetch your old tank, or you can come to your senses and give us a non-extortionate price". Anything under 40p has to be a win.

collectors

Not sure if Calor still have the offer, but they where supplying free new tank to new customers. Might be worth a look. They supplied my tank around 5 years ago at £400 piped to the nearest outside wall of my house. This was cheap back then & even better if its still free. At the moment i pay 33p per liter + vat with Calor.
We had a JCB here at the time so got an underground tank. Mini digger would do the job in a few hours & all you have is what looks like a manhole cover. A lot neater than the overground ones.

frozen_wastes

I had a bad experience with J Gas. I signed up with them November 2016. They offered 28ppl with 10.9ppd standing charge for the underground tank. Price increase was limited to 3.5pence per litre per year, and 700 litres of free gas was included. It was all very good, even without the free gas.

At the time of signing my contract, my tank was 75% full, and it was only October this year (11 months after signing the supply agreement) that I placed an order. After delivery I received an invoice charging 73.4ppl. I queried this and was initially told that JGas cancelled my supply agreement in October because I hadn't ordered any gas (they hadn't told me of this)

Then the original salesman phoned me up telling me that my price was based on an annual consumption of 2000 litres per year. So he would get back to me.

The end of the query resulted in an invoice for 28ppl. The 700 litres free gas would not be honoured, and all future orders would be priced at 45ppl. They said that I was free to go with any other supplier. I accepted the 28ppl invoice on the phone,.

I checked terms and conditions and I was not in breach of contract in any way, but sure enough the terms of my supply contract say that if JGas are in breach of contract then I'm free to go with another supplier. It's not much of a comeback, and it essentially means that they can't be held to the supply agreement. The most recent fillup in any case will see through the minimum 2 year supply agreement, but I'm wondering if I can still hold them to the 700 litres free gas in a small claims court.

I wrote to my MP about this, as it seems like very sharp practice. I've had no reply after 2 weeks, but I suggested to him that buying LPG should not bind you to a supplier for 2 years. The customer is subject to a binding agreement unlike buying any other fuel for either your house or your car, and there's no opportunity for purchase outside of a 2 year agreement. All this means that the customer has no opportunity to take advantage of any price drops in the market for 2 years, but often there's no incentive to change supplier when the supplier breaches the terms of the supply agreement when their wholesale prices increase.

I suggested to my MP that tank ownership should transfer automatically and seamlessly to the next supplier on the basis that all tank owners are subject to the same safety regulations. So the condition of the tank should not be a question when ownership is transfered unless the tank was already condemmed by the existing owner.