Not the right sort of customer for Southern Electric

Amanda46

I have just moved house, so i asked Southern Electric if they would supply my Gas and Electric, they came out, filled out all the forms, then i heard nothing, so after 2 weeks i rang them, only to be told, that i came under their credit score for customers, the main reason for this was because i did not want to pay by DD straight away, wanted to pay quarterly until i knew what my usage would be then they could set me a monthly DD based on my usage and not on the previous owners, not what they wanted, so it was bye bye Southern Electric.

SuziQ

This seems to be pretty widespread with suppliers-credit checks seem to affect everything these days which is bad news for me as my credit rating is awful at the moment. They may allow you to go quarterly after you have been with them a while but say they have to be certain you will pay.
They usually give you a discount for monthly payments also.

KimYeovil

Seems fair enough. People can rack up a huge bill over three months - I wouldn't want to give that much credit to someone with a poor record. I also think that paying the monthly direct debit would be preferable (and more affordable) to the usual alternative of handing over a deposit for an entire year.

Premier_2

If you don't agree to monthly DD and you don't meet their credit criteria, why should they supply you with credit?

They will supply you using expensive pre-pay meters, or may agree to supply you on credit providing you give them a security deposit. You can normally get the deposit back after about 12 months as long as you pay the bills in full and on time.

This is standard with any utility company extending credit to it's customers

alan99_2

Amanda46 wrote: »

I have just moved house, so i asked Southern Electric if they would supply my Gas and Electric, they came out, filled out all the forms, then i heard nothing, so after 2 weeks i rang them, only to be told, that i came under their credit score for customers, the main reason for this was because i did not want to pay by DD straight away, wanted to pay quarterly until i knew what my usage would be then they could set me a monthly DD based on my usage and not on the previous owners, not what they wanted, so it was bye bye Southern Electric.

Check the comparision sites but maybe you can try Ebico . I don't know their policies on accounts for new customers but they are non profit making. Their prices can be good for lower users. Their billing is very straight forward , one price only no standing charge. None of this nonsense so many pence for 225kw per quarter and different rate for balance.
Their gas and electric is supplied by Southern and Scottish and billing and customer care by SSE also but you will be a customer of Ebico.
BTW they haven't announced price rises as yet.

Ebico.co.uk

Alan