Help! Switched and paying more!

declutterqueen

I moved house in August, to a bigger house but same electrical goods, except oil boiler not gas and older fridge freezer in this place.
now I was paying £47 a month with Eon at old address, I am with scotttish power at new address and its costing me £120 a month!! a big difference when scottish power rang me to switch to them they told me id be paying less.. is there anything I can do, I can afford to pay that, I have been really carefull to what i use, all bulbs are energy savers, I have a security light that comes on at night here.. but is that making it cost of £60 more??
help please

DrScotsman

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits

Martin wrote:

First it’s important to be clear the price you’re charged and the amount you pay aren’t the same thing.

*The price of the energy

Power costs are set by suppliers, usually they’re a combination of a daily ‘standing charge’ plus an additional amount based on energy used measured in kilowatts/hours.

After all's said and done, this is what your energy actually costs. The lower the rate and your usage, the less you owe.

*What you pay

With MONTHLY direct debit, the company supposedly estimates your annual usage and then divides it by twelve so you pay that each month. Thus in summer, you’ll usually build up a credit as you use less but this’ll be needed for winter.

The problem is some bills are massively overestimated as the amount paid seems to have been delinked from the cost of the energy you actually use. Many feel their suppliers set the rate willy-nilly.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi declutterqueen,

There are a couple of things I’d check here, firstly were your bills from E.ON based on accurate meter readings? If not then the Direct Debit with E.ON may have been too low.

What about the switch to SP, did you use a comparison site? If so did you base the comparison on your actual usage or your monthly payments?

Brian

declutterqueen

Thanks, I didnt use a comparison site Scottish power rang me,
Eon was given a meter reading every month and i was on direct debit online.

Paulos77

This has happend to me before, After a few months your direct debits will probably come down in price. I think its because your a new customer they wont really know how much gas and electricity you will be using until after a few months and they can get a good idea when you put in your first meter readings. You will still save money over the year but to start off with you will pay a little more monthly than you were with eon.

I was paying £45 month in my old flat, I moved to eon and started paying £80 a month, I got a shock too as it was double i was paying before but after a few months my payments have come down to £39 a month and Im in credit too

KimYeovil

Have you read your meters? Do you know how much you are actually spending (not how much your instalments are) ? Have you compared the prices of the two tariffs? Have you registered your Scottish Power accounts online and used their very good site to work out the actual cost of what you have used (you can do this regularly without committing to submit a new reading.) Have you worked out what you think your payment to be? Have you asked Scottish Power to alter your payment?

A security light could cost about £10 per month - depends on how long it is on for and wattage of bulb. (250W x 14 hrs x 31 days = 0.25kW x 14 x 31 = 108.5kWh. At 9p per kWh that's £9.76)

Note that your salesman has pocketed the £120.50 that YOU would have had if you had switched suppliers yourself. You should never respond to cold callers.

declutterqueen

yes meter readings given, 220 for 2 months.. rang them yesterday and asked why so high, they told me to ring back next monday with another reading to find my weekly usage.. just shocked me! they told me it would be cheaper but its double!!

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi declutterqueen,

If the bills from E.ON were all correct and to actual meter readings then the difference can only be a result of a difference in tariff or a massive consumption jump since you joined SP(correct or incorrect).

Compare the old E.ON tariff to the tariff information SP have sent you.

Brian

declutterqueen

Thanks no consumption jump... will dig the info out. SP are less per unit.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi declutterqueen,

Worth taking into account any discounts each company will be applying to the bills.

If you had an online tariff with E.ON it's likely that you were receiving quite a high discount rate.

Brian

KimYeovil

There is a mistake somewhere.

If you were paying £10 per month, switched, and were then paying £20 per month then that is possible with two-tier palaver.

It is not possible to pay £40 per month, switch, and then pay £120 per month for the same consumption.

Declutterqueen, you are misreading consumptions, or average payments, or something.