Comparing the comparison services/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

bassman

matto wrote:

The comparison services are currently able to offer some online tariffs which are cheaper than standard and have not been subject to the same price rises.

Notably this includes EDF companies, London Energy, SWEB and SEEBoard and npower.

And Powergen Online, but according to Powergen.....the tariff quoted by the comparison services is incorrect.

Mylor_2

I recently switched from SWEB to British Gas, just before the price hike unfortunately, for electricity only. Nowhere on the website nor on any correspondence was I informed that there would be a change to my Economy 7 hours. SWEB's were 2230 to 0030 and 0330 to 0830. BG, according to their meter contractor (our meter mysteriously failed to switch to E7 after the switch) do not 'support' these hours, only 0000 to 0700 which would negate any possible savings as we got all of our washing and dishwashing done early morning or late evening.

Is there any site detailing E7 hours so we can make an informed choice when we switch again?

kitchnv

Can't say I impressed with some of the switching sites. I have been trying to switch my electricity and a few have recommended I go to British Gas for online electricity. The rate looked very good on the site but when checking agiainst BG's site the tariff info is wrong. BG have a two-tier pricing structure with so many units charged at one price and the rest at another price. The switching sites do not show this and only showed one unit pricce, which was the lower of the two. Very misleading and very inaccurate.

There must be a simple and accurate way to do this?

bassman

kitchnv wrote:

BG have a two-tier pricing structure with so many units charged at one price and the rest at another price. The switching sites do not show this and only showed one unit pricce, which was the lower of the two. Very misleading and very inaccurate.

There must be a simple and accurate way to do this?

Theres an accurate way.....but its far from simple

I've noticed quite a few of the other suppliers have two-tier pricing structures, which are shown by the comparison sites (all the ones ive used in the past had 2 tier structures). Powergen actually have a 3 (or more)tier system. As well as the two mentioned above (for kwh used) they also give differing discounts (%) for dual fuel, for paying by different methods and an extra one for no paper bills, and reading your own meter.....all have to be deducted to see the actual cost.

I've just completed my switch from Powergen Standard to Powergen Energy Online(which i mentioned a few posts prior to this). I stand to save around £150 a year by switching....providing of course that any future increases by Powergen are accross the board).....The whole process took me about 2 hours(0800 number) in 3 seperate calls, and registering on-line. Unfortunately I didnt get any payment from a comparison site, as I only changed tariff....not supplier....London Online was cheaper still....but when you apply for it, it sends you to its parent company EDF.....which isnt cheaper.

sharewatcher

Be very careful if you sign up to npower I did and now regret it.
I went with their sign online tariff and it has been increased twice in the last month Now 8.41p (inc vat) it seems they sign you up cheap and then increase prices when they want.
There is nowhere on their website that displays the price I am now paying and I am just waiting for their third price rise which will probobly take me on to their standard tariff which is over 9p I feel I have been ripped off and am now in the process of switching supplier after being with npower only 6 weeks

speedtwin

I thought i had made a mistake as well going to n power in october last year. but i have just checked 3 comparison sites and n power still comes out at the cheapest.

matto

n power still comes out at the cheapest.

Unfortunately you'll probably find that you are paying a different rate to that used by the comparison sites.

The rate quoted by the comparison sites is Sign Online 4 which was introduced in February for new customers only. The prices for gas are 3.165p & 1.691p and electric is around 14p and 7p.

You'll have to find a recent bill or letter from them to find what you're actually paying. Even the prices quoted on the npower website use this new customer only rate.

There's also no way of choosing the tariff you are on when using the comparison sites. They just provide you with the one Sign Online npower tariff so the comparison is screwed.

sharewatcher

As you said Matto I would also get him to check a recent bill

On a much better note have you guys checked Equigas prices (EQUIGAS charges 1.94p per kWh (including VAT) regardless of how much you use or how you pay. ) this is the cheapest I have found but they do not appear on most comparison sites ?????

Their electricity prices are a bit high in my area

South of Scotland 0.00 0.00 9.01 8.58

But you may be luckier in your area

Note:The author has no connection whatsoever with the above company

happyflea

have the comparison sites incorporated all the very latest prices listed on MSE...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
British Gas
22%
22%
1 March 2006

Powergen
24.4%
18.4%
10 March 2006

Npower (prior rise)
14.5%
13.6%
1 January 2006

Npower (most recent rise)
15%
13.4%
1 April 2006

Scottish Power
15%
8%
1 March 2006

EdF Energy
14.7%
4.7%
13 March 2006

Scottish & Southern Electric
13.6%
12%
1 January 2006

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Martin says in his article now is a good time to change as all the suppliers have just raised prices. Is this reflected in uswitch etc. I notice npower's latest rise doesn't come into effect until 1st April. For me npower is always cheapest at these websites. Is this because of some npower initial low-rate which will then rise or because the websites just haven't included the latest price rise?

In_it_for_a_£

Mylor wrote:

I recently switched from SWEB to British Gas, just before the price hike unfortunately, for electricity only. Nowhere on the website nor on any correspondence was I informed that there would be a change to my Economy 7 hours. SWEB's were 2230 to 0030 and 0330 to 0830. BG, according to their meter contractor (our meter mysteriously failed to switch to E7 after the switch) do not 'support' these hours, only 0000 to 0700 which would negate any possible savings as we got all of our washing and dishwashing done early morning or late evening.

Is there any site detailing E7 hours so we can make an informed choice when we switch again?

What I did is buy one of those plug/timers and set it to come on within my economy 7 time. This will not work on the digital washing machines that require a push of a button to get kicked off. However the concept works on the other machines. Hope this saves you something.