Comparison sites accuracy questionable

Sunnylord

After reading about the British Gas offer I decided it was time to do some comparisons for my electricity.. Currently with Scottish Power the comparison sites told me I could save about £40/£50 a year by switching to British Gas.

However I did the sums myself, found eventually BG rates per Kwh then found Scottish Powers rates from my bill and checked the web site for the current price and in fact I would have been £40 worse off if I had switched!

I did the comparisons on all the sites but found non are accurate, has anyone else found this to be the case?

By the way contacting BG is a nightmare even just to enquire, emails take a week for a reply if you are lucky and they never phone you back.

Be interested to know others experiences or suggestions :j

Premier_2

No, no one has found them inaccurate if you input your annual consumption in kWh, yet many try.

Please tell us the following data you used:

1. comparison site
2. consumption in kWh (with E7 split if appicable)
3. regional supply area
4. current supplier & tariff

that demonstates the inaccuracy you allege.

When you did your calculations, did you include all the various discounts?
Looking purely at unit rates is meaningless, hence partly why the comparison sites exist.
If you click on the price/tariff on the comparison site, it usually tells you how the cost was calculated. Was there anything there you missed/thought was wrong?

Sunnylord

Premier wrote: »

No, no one has found them inaccurate if you input your annual consumption in kWh, yet many try.

Please tell us the following data you used:

1. comparison site
2. consumption in kWh (with E7 split if appicable)
3. regional supply area
4. current supplier & tariff

that demonstates the inaccuracy you allege.

When you did your calculations, did you include all the various discounts?
Looking purely at unit rates is meaningless, hence partly why the comparison sites exist.
If you click on the price/tariff on the comparison site, it usually tells you how the cost was calculated. Was there anything there you missed/thought was wrong?

Hey I am not getting into an argument about this, I am just pointing out what I found when I checked with BG the rates and what I currently pay, even they agreed it would not be cheaper. Sorry if you feel upset about it.

Premier_2

Sunnylord wrote: »

Hey I am not getting into an argument about this, I am just pointing out what I found when I checked with BG the rates and what I currently pay, even they agreed it would not be cheaper. Sorry if you feel upset about it.

So your second post on this site
(after your first moaning about deals Martin sends out by email which you also got the wrong understanding about: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=18967893)
is alleging the comparison sites are misleading, yet you are not prepared to share with us the data you used to come to this conclusion.:rolleyes:

Think we'll put this one, like all the others on a similar vein, down to misunderstanding, eh?

You asked for "others experiences or suggestions" and that is exactly what I provided you with.

smjxm09

Can’t remember which site it was but I went though the process and was shown a saving if I switched supplier but when I re-entered my information using the recommended supplier it came up with yet another supplier. Remember they only get paid if you switch. The only site I trust is www.which.co.uk

Premier_2

smjxm09 wrote: »

Can’t remember which site it was but I went though the process and was shown a saving if I switched supplier but when I re-entered my information using the recommended supplier it came up with yet another supplier. Remember they only get paid if you switch. The only site I trust is www.which.co.uk

All seven sites in the resource bar above (plus others) are signed up members to the Consumer Focus Confidence Code.
http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/energy-help-advice/helping-households/price-comparison-services

The first requirement of which states that:

"The Service Provider must be independent of any gas or electricity supplier. It can take commission from suppliers but this must not influence the provision of any information or data"


To comply with this requirement, the site will amongst other things:

"2.. Where a consumer chooses to search by price, results must be presented strictly in terms of best price."
http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/assets/1/files/2009/11/154_20081017141314_e_@@_Consumer_Focus_Confidence_Code.pdf


I am happy to use any of the sites in the resource bar above, as I have regularly checked their accuracy by (a) following up allegations (and refuting them on almost every occasion where details are provided) of any inaccuracy alleged and (b) often using more than one site to ensure consistent results are obtained.

Plushchris

smjxm09 wrote: »

Can’t remember which site it was but I went though the process and was shown a saving if I switched supplier but when I re-entered my information using the recommended supplier it came up with yet another supplier. Remember they only get paid if you switch. The only site I trust is www.which.co.uk

Wouldnt have happened if you put in your Kwh usage.

Cardew

I am not a fan of comparison websites for other reasons; however if you enter kWh you will get correct results taking into account the various discounts that can make a big difference.

smjxm09

Plushchris wrote: »

Wouldnt have happened if you put in your Kwh usage.

I did, I entered a yearly usage in kW. This was around a year ago so maybe things are better now.

notbritishgas

Like the OP when using comparison sites which come up with an expected saving I always use the respective tariffs to work out for myself if the saving is correct.
I have always found them to be correct. The working out can be complicated because the different discounts must be taken into account, but that is what the comparison sites do for you automatically.
Therefore it is possible that the people who think the sites are inaccurate either do not enter the usage in Kwh or do not fully understand or apply the discounts correctly.

Dave_save

The only gripe I have with comparison sites is the inconsistency in the description of the myriad of tariffs, ie the version numbers etc. Although you can't blame them for this, as the energy companies have that many tariffs on the go. Apart from that, as long as you use your actual consumption (in kwh) for a full year, they are accurate.