Switching advice. nPower -> Scottish Power.

marky1125

Hi,

I'm considering switching energy supplier and am looking for assurance that I'm not making a mistake.

I'm currently with nPower and we're entering the time of year when due to their sculpted tier 1 gas charges it's more expensive to be with them. My yearly duel fuel discount anniversary is at the end of this month, so I'm considering switching now.

My yearly gas usage is 20140 kWh and I'm on the nPower SOL v13 tariff, my yearly electricity usage is 4850 kWh and I'm on the nPower SOL v16 tariff. So my yearly cost, including the duel fuel discount is £1117.

I've looked at First: Utility iSave dual fuel tariff which for the same fuel usage, and with supplying quarterly meter readings, gives a yearly cost of £1002. A saving of £115. There's no cancellation fee or contract period and no smart meter. I've been unable to find a cashback site that offers them.

Comparitively I've looked at switching to Scottish Power. Their yearly cost would be £1103, a small saving, plus I can get £110 cash back from topcashback. A slight catch is that it'd cost £50 to leave them before a year. I'm happy to stay with them for a year unless of course they adjust the tariff adversely, and I'd reassess after the year. So a first year saving of £124.

So I'm currently thinking of switching to Scottish Power and then re-assess after a year.

Does anyone have any better advice for me?

I'm in the KT13/Weybridge/Surrey region.

All the best,
Cheers,
Mark

[Edit] Just realised I got my number mixed. I think EON FixOnline v4 is better than Scottish Power. It's £72 cheaper, plus £62 cashback. Giving a first year saving of £134, but a tariff lock-in until 1st Feb 2011 or a £60 cancellation charge.

I also forgot to ask a question. I've learnt over the years about nPower and their tier 1 gas sculpting tariff tricks. Are there tricks to know about the way Scottish Power, EON or First: Utility charge/calculate their bills, or other catches to being their customer?

dogshome

Hi marky 1125 - Dual fuel tariffs are not always the cheapest. Go to a Switch Site, (I prefer switchwithwhich because they offer a lot of ancillary info) and enter your consumptions 3 times Once for gas only, Once for Elec only and once for dual fuel - The results can be very surprising

Premier_2

Using energyhelpline, which I like because you can simply tab between the options of dual fuel - gas only - electric only, it gives the following cheapest options:
(I have quoted the cheapest option where cancellation fees apply and then where no cancellation fees apply - there are other more expensive options where cancellation fees apply that are cheaper than the no cancellation fee option)

Dual fuel
£1029 ovo new energy (cancellation fees apply)
£1103 eon save online (no cancellation fees)
(Cheapest SP option: £1104 scottish power online energy saver 7- cancellation fees apply)

gas only
£636 edf online saver 3 (cancellation fees apply)
£712 edf standard (no cancellation fees)

elec only
£459 eon fixonline v4 (cancellation fees apply)
£465 npower go fix (no cancellation fees)

So it does appear you would be better off on a dual fuel tariff, but not Scottish Power.
However, once you factor in the possibilty of £110 cashback with SP, you may decide to opt for them if you think that possible £110 is worth the possible cancellation fee if you decide to leave early

Edit: just saw the edit in the OP
The eon nsc fixonline v4 is £1045 (cancellation charges apply)
Quidco offer a possible £62 cashback for a dual fuel switch to this tariff
(other cashback sites are available - e.g. checkout topcashback who seem to offer a possible £62 cashback on any eon dual fuel tariff)

marky1125

Thanks dogshome. I have tried to look at individual sources of energy but not found a better price that way. For instance nPower gives me £100 yearly dual fuel discount, but only £20 if I have a single fuel. I've found that extra £80 tends to offset any saving on a single fuel from another provider.

Thank you Premier for taking the time to do such a comprehensive comparison for me. Is there any reason you left out first: utility? I'm thinking they might be best. Energyhelpline has them at £1032. There's a £20 discount for regular meter readings and £30 cash back from moneysupermarket.com bringing them down to a first year price of £982 and no cancellation fees.

I think I've decided against any fixed price tariff. If my reading of the forums is correct there has been a drop in wholesale fuel prices that the top 6 providers have not passed on to the market. So I'm suspicious that these high value cashbacks for fixed price deals is a way of attempting to trap unwary customers before the prices are finally dropped. I may be completely wrong but that's my hunch.

Cheers,
Mark

Premier_2

marky1125 wrote: »

...Thank you Premier for taking the time to do such a comprehensive comparison for me. Is there any reason you left out first: utility? I'm thinking they might be best. Energyhelpline has them at £1032. There's a £20 discount for regular meter readings and £30 cash back from moneysupermarket.com bringing them down to a first year price of £982 and no cancellation fees...

Whoops, my mistake. I had wrongly thought there were early cancellation charges applicable. Checking again, there are not.
[Edit: or checking for a third time, there are (of a kind)! According to energyhelpline:

The savings quoted include any discounts associated with this tariff. The discounts will be paid to you annually after 12 consecutive direct debit payments. To qualify, you must take your supply from first:utility and pay by the same payment method for a full 12 month period

Without the 12.5% discount, it'll cost £1179 per year ]


It is also possible to get an additional £20 per year (£5 per meter reading) discount for supplying your own meter readings, gas & electric, at least every quarter as you say.
I've not included any cashback in any of the comparisons (except where explicity indicated). This is because some people who apply don't appear to receive them for one reason or another - that is why I prefer to refer to them all as possible.

Nikiya

Hi! I have been trying to decide on a switch for more than a month!! I have to say first utility have very bad customer reviews in the switch sites I tried (the ones provided here).
My dilemma is: we are with Scottish Power and I have refused being transferred to one of their capped tariffs and have postponed accepting another tariff to keep my options open because all their cheaper plans have cancellation fees. However, if I switch I've been told it can be up to 6 weeks before the transfer takes place which would leave me with their expensive standard fee during a very cold period.... it seems I am in a catch 22....

marky1125

Premier wrote: »

Without the 12.5% discount, it'll cost £1179 per year ]

You've highlighted an interesting conundrum. The 12.5% discount is worth £156 to me. So I'm more tied in with f:u than I would be with EON, Scottish Power or OVO with their £50-£60 cancellation policies within a year. If I go with f:u I'll be in a similar position to the one I'm in now with nPower where I'll only want to leave on an anniversary.

If I go with EON or SP then they are only cheaper for the first year due to the large cashback available. So again I might have to switch after a year.

So now I'm thinking OVO seems the steadiest course, which was the first suggestion in your list. They are cheapest purely on tariff. Minimal £15 cash back from energyhelpline, but other than that no discounts, just a low tariff.

So my ever changing plan is now OVO. :rolleyes:
The only downside being it's a fixed price tariff and I'm suspicious about what price changes are coming next. However it's only £30/fuel to switch away if a signficantly better price comes along.

Thanks very much for taking the time to help me.
All the best,
Mark

oldsam

:cool:WE SIGNED UP WITH SOUTHERN ON GO DIRECT 2 TARIFF- OUR QUOTE FOR THE YEAR IS £715 - WAS WITH NPOWER THEIRS £1080 !!!- THIS was on a Juice tariff - Well they certainly know how to squeeze the pips.