Switching site put us on wrong tariff

jd87

We switched to Scottish Power through Money Supermarket about 3 months ago. I have just looked at a bill and I see we are paying a daily standing charge, but I am absolutely certain that I chose a no standing charge tariff. I am sure of this because we are quite low users and as I understand it, a no standing charge tariff would be best value for us.

The thing I don't like about switching sites is it takes so long for the switchover to happen that by the time you end up with the new supplier, you can't remember what you have signed up for, have no evidence of what you signed up for, and the tariff you signed up for might not even exist anymore.

If I call Scottish Power will they be able to help? Or will they just say, no sorry, that's what you signed up for.

billsavings

Possibly not the fault of the comparism site. I signed up to Scottish Power via Cashbackkings last year and was also put on standing charge tariff,yet the copy of the online application i retained clearly said i wanted nsc.

I called them and they changed it.

Plushchris

jd87 wrote: »

The thing I don't like about switching sites is it takes so long for the switchover to happen that by the time you end up with the new supplier, you can't remember what you have signed up for, have no evidence of what you signed up for, and the tariff you signed up for might not even exist anymore.

Do Moneysupermarket not send you any confirmation of what they put you on then? When I used Energyhelpline I got an email almost instantly saying what tariff I was going onto with the unit rates etc. and I believe you get a letter if you do it over the phone rather than on the website.

Premier_2

Not sure if moneysupermarket issue any confirmation, but SP certainly will send confirmation welcoming a new customer and allowing them a 7 day cooling off period.
If there were any errors, that would have been the correct time to correct them

As long as the OP hasn't agreed to a tariff with an exit fee, there should be no issues changing tariff now (but don't expect them to back date it).

penrhyn

I wouldn't bother too much, no standing charge tariffs are in most cases con you into making you think you will be paying less.
With the exeption of suppliers like Ebico who have a flat rate charging structure, others collect the 'standing charge' by charging more for first x number of units.
So unless you are an exeptionally low user is will make no difference.

KimYeovil

Technically, even Ebico have standing charges and they are uncapped and they are applied to every kWh you use, not just the first few. Of course, the charge per kWh is much smaller than where the standing charges are capped.

MoneyMiser

jd87 wrote: »

I am sure of this because we are quite low users and as I understand it, a no standing charge tariff would be best value for us.

Wouldn't you be better on a standing charge tariff if you are a low user?

The reason I ask is because with a Standing charge you are instantly on the low unit rate. If you have a no standing charge tariff then you start on the higher rate and have to pass a certain threshold to get on to the lower teir.

If you are a low user you may not get past the threshold, therefore spending more time on the higher unit rate.

MM

Quentin

No, if you never get past the threshold, then had you been paying a standing charge you would end up paying more.

The higher unit rate equals the standing charge. Once you pass the threshold your units cost the same whether or not you are on a standing charge as the standing charge element has been paid for (via the enhanced units)

MoneyMiser

Quentin wrote: »

No, if you never get past the threshold, then had you been paying a standing charge you would end up paying more.

The higher unit rate equals the standing charge. Once you pass the threshold your units cost the same whether or not you are on a standing charge as the standing charge element has been paid for (via the enhanced units)

Hi Quentin,

I understand what you are saying, but look at the tariffs below for npowers SOL14 and EDF's Online Energy v6. These are two of the cheapest deals around at the moment, npower apply a standing charge and EDF apply the two tier tariff structure.

Now if we say that a high user uses 6000Kwh of Gas and 800Kwh of Electricity in a quarter, whereas a low user would use 2000Kwh of Gas and 300Kwh of electricity in a quarter. Here are my sums but please correct me if I am wrong.

Npower SOL14
Gas Electricity
£14.44 SC £14.44
3.549p 10.2375p

EDF Online Energy v6
Gas Electricity
7.5506/3.0608 19.782/9.807
Up to 670Kwh Up to 225Kwh


Now assuming we dont take any discounts into account here, then here are my calculations for the total bills for both gas and electricity.

NP - High User EDF - High User
£323.72 £314.63

NP - Low User EDF - Low User
£130.57 £143.16


So there is not much in it but it looks as though NP benefits the low user and EDF benefits the higher user. Again, correct me if I am wrong or have missed something.

MM

KimYeovil

Moneymiser - the comparison/advice is valid when considering the SC and NSC tariffs for the same base tariff from the same supplier. All bets are off when comparing completely different suppliers or even different tariffs from the same supplier.

Quentin

MoneyMiser wrote: »

correct me if I am wrong or have missed something.

I think you have got the wrong end of the stick!

You have just done a price comparison of two different company's tariffs - not calculated whether there is any advantage between sc & nsc on the same tariff from the same company.