Thinking of switching from British Gas

crube

We are currently with British Gas for both our electric and gas. With the imminent price rises it seems it would be wise for us to switch. I've had a go at the energy helpline comparison and in terms of price, London Energy Online comes up as recommended, with a saving of 37% PA. I did the 'detailed usage estimator' as I have no idea the exact amounts of KW we use. I notice there are 2 options for British Gas Standard:-

British Gas - Standard
British Gas - Standard(pre Sept 2005)

I'm a bit confused as to what the pre Sept 2005 bit means. We have been with British Gas since 2002. I selected the normal Standard one - should I have selected pre Sept 2005? Also, we have some outstanding arrears - if we were to switch would it go smoothly? Pretty new to this - would our new provider do all the work for us, i.e contact British Gas telling them we are switching to them? We were struggling to pay British Gas over xmas so they allowed us to split our payments up into 3 - despite this would we still be able to switch and we would pay these outstanding payments we owe to British Gas as normal? Also, finally, what have been your experiences with London Energy Online? Would you recommend them?

Mental_Mentor

Hi Crube

Like you I was unsure of BG tariffs and input pre Sept 05 and standard. Also tried discounted electricity (not sure what this was but thought I might have it!). London energy were still cheaper all round for me, regardless of what I put in.

I also have arrears but with the amount I'm saving I think I'll just pay this off if it comes to that. Will save arrears and much, much more!

Hope this helps

crube

Mental_Mentor wrote:

Hi Crube

Like you I was unsure of BG tariffs and input pre Sept 05 and standard. Also tried discounted electricity (not sure what this was but thought I might have it!). London energy were still cheaper all round for me, regardless of what I put in.

I also have arrears but with the amount I'm saving I think I'll just pay this off if it comes to that. Will save arrears and much, much more!

Hope this helps

Many thanks - I've just applied for the switch and it say's we should save an estimated £1,174 over the next 3 years. I'll settle for that The only downside is that it's gonna be around 6 weeks before the switch goes through, could do with it being straightaway as we received a large bill from British Gas this morning which is probably a sign of things to come with them. Thanks again. :beer:

ahll

Well I am with BG for both my Gas and Electricity both now with a 22% increase !

I am now totally confused as to what to do...everyone seems to be saying switch but who too...arn't all the companies going to increase their prices now ?

Just been on the BG site and they are offering a capped deal now as set out below. IS this a good thing to go for now or is it like closing the gate after the horses have already bolted ? Not so keen on having to pay if you want to opped out of scheme in future (£20 for electricity and £30 for gas. )

Would you like some peace of mind in a volatile wholesale energy market?

The good news is that with British Gas, you could fix your new energy prices for the next three years. No other energy supplier currently offers such a long term price commitment to their customers, and it means your new prices won't change until 2009. No extra costs for average dual-fuel customers

If you choose to fix both your new gas and electricity prices, as an average dual fuel customer, there are no additional costs involved for this reassurance.

If you only get your gas from us, you could fix your new prices for a small premium of 2.3%. And if we only supply your electricity, we'll actually give you a discount of 3.5% for fixing your new prices until April 2009.

Should you change your mind, you can cancel at any time by paying a small cancellation charge.

Over 1 million British Gas customers have already protected their energy prices. If you would like to fix your new prices for the next three years, then don't delay - this is a limited offer, so sign up today.

mike1_2

i have just switched myself from BG duel fuel, when we called my final readings , they offered me a fixed deal to 2009 , and a matched direct debit payment (not sure what that means as my wife took the mesage and they will ring back )should i decide to go back later they offer a free months gas supply
so you can do a deal
Mike

Happy_Shrimper

Hi, I switched to BG for Electric and Atlantic for Gas at the beginning of Dec 2005. After the price rise was announced last week, I investigated Scottish Powers cap dual prices which were still pre March 1 rises, therefore worked out slightly cheaper for Dual than BG and Atlantic combined (Gas was more, but Atlantic have yet to raise their prices, but the shear size of the BG Electric rise made the switch cheaper).
I initiated the Switch on Monday and the pre March cap was still on offer.
Might be worth checking if their capped rate is cheaper for you.

Mental_Mentor

Just been on the BG site and they are offering a capped deal now as set out below. IS this a good thing to go for now or is it like closing the gate after the horses have already bolted ? Not so keen on having to pay if you want to opped out of scheme in future (£20 for electricity and £30 for gas. )

I asked British as about this and they said that the capped rate did not 'save' you from the latest increase. The comarison sites show the new capped rate with BG and I was actually worse off by about £50 per year against the new increased rate.

Mental_Mentor

mike1 wrote:

i have just switched myself from BG duel fuel, when we called my final readings , they offered me a fixed deal to 2009 , and a matched direct debit payment (not sure what that means as my wife took the mesage and they will ring back )should i decide to go back later they offer a free months gas supply
so you can do a deal
Mike

A matched direct debit payment means nothing. You will only build up an arrears on your account. Ask if they will match the Kw/h costs - see comparison sites for these costs. E.G

BG Standard tariff (Gas) - Tier 1 = 2.809
Tier 2 = 1.957
BG Standard Tariff (Elec) - Tier 1 = 12.188
Tier 2 = 7.479
This DOES NOT include latest price increase!!

London Energy Online (Gas) - Tier 1 = 2.301
Tier 2 = 1.70
London Energy (Online) (Elec) - Tier 1 = 9.37
Tier 2 = 6.164

Whatever way you do the sums......

Hope this helps