British Gas- end of 5 year deal

littleyellowspider

Be careful with OVO too. I've just checked their prices and they've stated that my dual fuel costs for the last 12 months with BG were £1274 and that they were proposing savings of £283 against that cost, however, my actual costs for the last 12 months were <£960.

Plushchris

littleyellowspider wrote: »

Be careful with OVO too. I've just checked their prices and they've stated that my dual fuel costs for the last 12 months with BG were £1274 and that they were proposing savings of £283 against that cost, however, my actual costs for the last 12 months were <£960.

So did you not read the section at the top of the results page that explains how they come to that figure?

(and the link that shows how to compare against your current rates)

littleyellowspider

Don't be daft, of course I didn't. Like reading the manual on a new car, just not done!!

Thanks for pointing it out though. Obviously made the wrong assumption.

littleyellowspider

littleyellowspider wrote: »

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Cardew

Plushchris wrote: »

A "regular" E7 meter is just one meter with two readings (night and day) Cardew says he has two meters for his E7 so thats not a regular setup is it?

Ovo do take people on with E7 (those with regular meters that is)

Now he is in the position where he cannot ask BG to change the meter to a normal rate meter and he cannot change to his chosen supplier because they do not support the setup BG has got him on.

If BG had got rid of the two-meter setup and installed a standard meter at the time this wouldnt be a concern but instead they put him on a setup that means he cannot switch to another provider.

Its not that I dont like BG (I like them about as much as any of the other suppliers - ie. not much)

Getting a bit confusing here. Whilst I did say 2 meters, I do in fact have the one meter, albeit with two meter readings.

For the purpose of this thread it surely doesn't matter as OVO and other firms have computer systems that cannot cope with two electricity meter readings on a non-E7 tariff.

Actually OVO is still marginally the cheapest supplier even if I were to revert to E7 - using my present consumption of approx 20% during cheap rate time. This is £60 a year more than OVO charge for same consumption on a non-E7 tariff. Surprisingly even increasing that to 30% only reduces the bill by £25pa.

smidgey

Plushchris wrote: »

A "regular" E7 meter is just one meter with two readings (night and day) Cardew says he has two meters for his E7 so thats not a regular setup is it?

That's not how I interpreted Cardew's post. I read it as Cardew has an E7 meter but is billed on a single rate tariff. The computer system still takes both readings but adds them together and bills them all at the regular tier 1 & tier 2 charges.

Plushchris wrote: »

Ovo do take people on with E7 (those with regular meters that is)

Which is what Cardew has.

Plushchris wrote: »

Now he is in the position where he cannot ask BG to change the meter to a normal rate meter and he cannot change to his chosen supplier because they do not support the setup BG has got him on.

BG wouldn't change the meter as it would cost them money and they do not need to as their billing system supports single rate tariffs with Economy 7 meters.

Plushchris wrote: »

If BG had got rid of the two-meter setup and installed a standard meter at the time this wouldnt be a concern but instead they put him on a setup that means he cannot switch to another provider.

Again, why would BG need to exchange the meter? The customer wanted a single rate tariff which is exactly what the customer got but without the inconvenience of having to have the meter exchanged.

Plushchris wrote: »

Its not that I dont like BG (I like them about as much as any of the other suppliers - ie. not much)

Which is fair enough but suggesting a company didn't exchange the meter on purpose so he couldn't switch in future isn't on.

The customer is free to switch to whichever supplier he or she chooses. OVO will take him on but only as E7 customer because of their system limitations. If the customer wants a single rate tariff then the new supplier will have to exchange the meter at a cost to them. In this case it sounds like OVO pass the charge onto the customer.

Cardew wrote: »

Getting a bit confusing here. Whilst I did say 2 meters, I do in fact have the one meter, albeit with two meter readings.

For the purpose of this thread it surely doesn't matter as OVO and other firms have computer systems that cannot cope with two electricity meter readings on a non-E7 tariff.

Confirmed.

Plushchris

smidgey wrote: »

That's not how I interpreted Cardew's post.

But that is how I interpreted "I have two meters for my electricity"


Its not unheard of for people to actually have two seperate meters for Economy 7 or were you not aware of that?

kjsmith7

You can choose to have your meter exchanged rather than being billed as a single rate customer when on a two-rate meter, but it is chargeable if the meter operator that has been assigned already has one of their own meters in the property.

blindmouse

ovo have just agreed to take me on with 2 elec meters they will just read them both and add together so I can be on a standard plan

smidgey

Plushchris wrote: »

But that is how I interpreted "I have two meters for my electricity"


Its not unheard of for people to actually have two seperate meters for Economy 7 or were you not aware of that?

I am aware of that but it doesn't really matter does it considering the point has be clarified for you and that BG haven't conned Cardew into not being able to switch!