Ebico and Southern Electric

sc0ttie

About 18 months ago I switched to Ebico for my gas and electric. They are a non profit organization and they have outsourced my supplier as southern electric. Before I switched I was paying £40 a month for my gas to EDF and I live in a centrally heated one bedroom flat with a combi boiler and gas cooker. Ebico quoted me £30 a month for my gas bill so i took it. Now, 18 months on the bills from Southern Electric show that I am now paying £50 per month. I spoke to a guy at southern electric and he said that this is because i use more gas in the winter and it covers me to pay £50 a month all year through, rather than get a higher bill in the spring for my winter gas useage.

I kind of understand what and why he is saying that, but it just seems that in 18 months since i signed up with ebico my gas bill has gone from being £30 a month to £50 month and obviously, that was not why i joined them!

Any advice or tips on what i can do next as i don't think it is right?

KimYeovil

With Ebico you do not need to pay by direct debit. You can be billed quarterly. So you can pay your own instalments. However, the instalments you pay have to cover your usage.

If you want to pay higher bills in winter then you are free to do so - come off direct debits and pay something every month online or put it aside to pay quarterly. But remember this means you may have to find a hundred or hundred and fifty pound some winter months if that's what you use.

The tariff is flat rate. So it is straightforward to read your meters and calculate how much you are spending.

Of course you should also check your usage and compare tariffs - you may find other suppliers are cheaper than Ebico for your circumstances.

Premier_2

sc0ttie wrote: »

... it just seems that in 18 months since i signed up with ebico my gas bill has gone from being £30 a month to £50 month ...

You appear to possibly be confusing what you pay monthly with that what you consume.

No supplier can guarantee what your future payments will be as that depends on how much you consume.

Even if you consume the same amount now as you did 18 months ago, did the £30pm cover your consumption?

Remember also that there were 2 increases in energy prices last year that amounted to almost 50%, and a small decrease this year of a maximum of 10%
(These are average, across the board prices, not those specifically relating to any one supplier)
That may also be a reason why your monthly payment would have increased.

KimYeovil

(And don't forget it was much colder last winter than the previous winters so any predicted usages based on that would be higher than previously.)

sc0ttie

Ok thanks for your tips, perhaps I was making mountains out of molehills so to speak as the large increase in my bill seemed a bit much but I will check out my meter readings and consumption as suggested to make sure.