Please help, im lost here

barberboy

Hi,

Never been on this part of MSE, i was hoping someone with a greater knowledge than me could point me in the right direction, i have been paying far to much for my gas and electricity for to long, ive been paying on reciept of bill quarterly with Scottish Power, i am moving home to a 4 bedroon house in the west of scotland, i cant afford to be paying to much anymore, ive been on all the price comparison websites etc... and the ones that come up are sainsburys dual fuel saver 6 and scottish hydro electric.

My problem is, when it asks for how much previous bills are or average useage i dont hav a clue as i have'nt lived there yet - incredibly frustrating

Does anyone know what would be the best deal for me or maybe point me in the right direction.

Please help, much appreciated for some expert advice.

Swipe

You could try asking the previous occupant for their annual consumption which should give you a rough idea

barberboy

Swipe wrote: »

You could try asking the previous occupant for their annual consumption which should give you a rough idea

i cant they have left the country, will it just be pot luck? is the sainsburys deal any good?

Fire_Fox

Just plug your usage figures in for your current home, adding a percentage for an increase in the size of the property!

Scottish_Power

Hi barberboy

When you move into the new property you will need to set up an account with the current supplier before you make any decision on who you wish to change to. Provided the property has been occupied, the current supplier should be able to confirm how much gas and elec has been used over a 12 month period.

There are a large number of variables which affect how much gas and elec you will use compared with the previous occupiers, i.e. number of people living in the property, how often the property is occupied, what appliances are being used. The list goes on and on.

The annual consumption figures from the current supplier will give you a starting point. You may wish to remain with the current supplier for a one month period so that you yourself can record how much is being used and then make a decision after this time.

I would suggest that when setting up the account with the current supplier that you ensure you are put on a good tariff that does not tie you into a fixed term contract which may have cancellation charges if you change or cancel before a given date.

Good luck with your move.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

Premier_2

barberboy wrote: »

...ive been on all the price comparison websites etc... and the ones that come up are sainsburys dual fuel saver 6 and scottish hydro electric.

My problem is, when it asks for how much previous bills are or average useage i dont hav a clue as i have'nt lived there yet - incredibly frustrating....

How did you get the results you got without inputting the data requested?

Many of the comparison sites (energyhelpline & uSwitch for sure) allow comparisons even if you don't know your actual usage, but base the results on other data that they use to estimate your anticipated consumption (e.g. occupancy levels, size of property, etc)
But the output is only as good as the estimation the comparison site makes for you.

macman

And make sure you select monthly direct debit when doing the comparisons. All the best tariffs require this payment method, using quarterly billing and patying on receipt is going to cost you much more.

keith1950

Hi, use the figures for average annual consumption, which are approx. 20,500 kwh for gas and 3600 kwh for electricity and increase slightly to take into account that you have a 4 bedroom house and your northerly position. This should give an 'indication' of who will be the cheaper supplier for you. From past experience I have found for instance that in my area ScottishPower tend to be better for above average electricity users and NPower better for above average gas users.It can sometimes be cheaper to do the comparison and then click gas only or electric only and pick the cheapest option for each. It isn't always cheapest to go with one companies 'dual fuel'. Remember that when you finally decide who to go with it is these figures that will decide your starting direct debit payments. Also have a look on Quidco, Topcashback etc to see if your selected supplier has any cashback offers. Last week I got £120 for switching to ScottishPower and £130 for my mum for switching to NPower.

Nemo

Quick question for keith1950 (or anyone else):-

I started a switch to Npower via Quidco at about 5:30pm today. Can you recall how long it took for your Mum's transaction to track, and was this with Quidco or someone else?

I've not got anything yet, but not sure if it should take minutes, hours, days, or weeks. I'll cancel the switch if the cashback doesn't show.

Cheers!

keith1950

Hi, transaction was through Topcashback, but I have never had any probs with Quidco. It tracked the next day although some can sometimes take days.

keith1950

Hi, even if a transaction doesn't track just follow the instructions to submit an enquiry at the advised time and they will 'eventually' sort it for you. If you want to check if the transaction has registered ,go through the motions of submiting an enquiry to see if the transaction company is listed but don't actually submit it.