HELP - My Comparison results - Is the NPOWER really the best for 2011?

sho_me_da_money

Hi Guys,

Our current suppliers for gas and electricity are British Gas and EON.

After running a few comparisons, NPOWER always came on top as the cheapest duel fuel supplier with their SOL 20 tariff. The top 4 rates are as follows:

1. NPOWER (Sign On Line 20) = £498.15
2. EON (SaveOnline v4) = £537.50
3. SCOTTISH POWER (Online Energy Saver 12) = £547.81
4. EDF (Online Saver v8) = £555.49

A few questions:

1. Should I switch over to NPOWER knowing that their rates are increasing in January?

2. Naturally it would appear that EON is the next best supplier. What is your opinion on this?

3. Have any of the above energy suppliers also announced price increases for 2011?

4. I find the Homecare 400 insurance option with British Gas to be fantastic. Do any of the above suppliers off something better or at tje very least, same?

5. If I was to go with an entirely different supplier to BG, am I allowed to stay on their Homecare 400 plan or is that option only available subject to taking out of their additional energy services?


Thank you people and Merry Xmas.

TwittersPVFC

Out of those four, I personally would go for E'On. I've heard lots of people who have had a bad experience of NPower and I believe that price above also includes a £100 duel fuel discount which you only get at the end of the year (2011).

Had EDF not been doing the £100 welcome bonus on Online S@aver v7, I'd have gone with E'On.

Homecare 400 can be taken out independently of your Gas and Electric. A BG rep told me that last night as I've recently moved away from BG for G & E.

sho_me_da_money

TwittersPVFC wrote: »

Out of those four, I personally would go for E'On. I've heard lots of people who have had a bad experience of NPower and I believe that price above also includes a £100 duel fuel discount which you only get at the end of the year (2011).

Had EDF not been doing the £100 welcome bonus on Online S@aver v7, I'd have gone with E'On.

Homecare 400 can be taken out independently of your Gas and Electric. A BG rep told me that last night as I've recently moved away from BG for G & E.

Hello mate,

Thank you very much for your advice.

You said you recently left BG, did you decide to stay on Homecare 400 or did you drop that too?

Last question - If my boiler breaks and under Homecare 400 and BG are unable to repair it, will they replace it at no extra cost or do I have to pay?

Cheers again!

sho_me_da_money

One thing I did note is that although EON came in #2, the next two suppliers offer the following that EON does not:

1. Scottish Power = Better Cashback and rates discounted until 29/02/12

2. EDF Energy = Better Cashback and rates discounted until 31/03/12

Given the new information, do you still think EON is the best with their £10 cashback and non-existent discount date?

MillicentBystander

TwittersPVFC wrote: »

Out of those four, I personally would go for E'On. I've heard lots of people who have had a bad experience of NPower and I believe that price above also includes a £100 duel fuel discount which you only get at the end of the year (2011).

Had EDF not been doing the £100 welcome bonus on Online S@aver v7, I'd have gone with E'On.

Homecare 400 can be taken out independently of your Gas and Electric. A BG rep told me that last night as I've recently moved away from BG for G & E.

Totally correct about npower and its dodgy £105 annual discount. On the low-ish figures in the OP that represents a HUGE loss if you leave before the 12 months is up (not forgetting the £40 exit fee!). Avoid.

DEFINITELY don't agree about Eon, though, as they also effectively have 2 exit fees. Plus derisory cash back, of course.

Personally, Spanish Power would be my choice here (of that motley crew, lol).

sho_me_da_money

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Totally correct about npower and its dodgy £105 annual discount. On the low-ish figures in the OP that represents a HUGE loss if you leave before the 12 months is up (not forgetting the £40 exit fee!). Avoid.

DEFINITELY don't agree about Eon, though, as they also effectively have 2 exit fees. Plus derisory cash back, of course.

Personally, Spanish Power would be my choice here (of that motley crew, lol).

I too was thinking of going with SP for the aforementioned reasons, namely, cashback and date rate.

The question now is who is better - SP or EDF?

BG's HomeCare400 is a fantastic service for what it covers but it comes at a steep cost. We also pay an extra £11 per month for appliance cover, which in total means we're spending £40 pm on insurance alone. Is there a cheaper, alternative and better option to get all this?

EDIT - Looks like Homeserve have a pretty sweet plan that covers most of the important bits for £8.99 per month vs. £27.00!

Qwakker

I wouldnt go with any of the top 6, there are cheaper deals, sometimes cashback offers sound ok because "cashback" but if you do your sums you'll realise your probably not saving money.

I saved Over £40 per month moving from npower, i just moved business energy too to the same company because Npower, SP, EON, BG way too dear.

sho_me_da_money

Qwakker wrote: »

I wouldnt go with any of the top 6, there are cheaper deals, sometimes cashback offers sound ok because "cashback" but if you do your sums you'll realise your probably not saving money.

I saved Over £40 per month moving from npower, i just moved business energy too to the same company because Npower, SP, EON, BG way too dear.

Well noted.

If I am honest mate, I am not too bothered about cash back deals. Ultimately, I'd like the pay the cheapest monthly/quarterly rates.

But according to the comparison sites (Moneysupermarket, Uswitch etc) the results are showing what they deem to be the top/cheapest suppliers. The lower I go, the higher the rates go so I am not sure how it could be cheapest not selecting one of the top 6 suppliers.

undaunted

Whether they will be cheapest remains to be seen. They will most certainly not be the best - consistently amongst the bottom of any customer service surveys you care to find.

They are currently the only energy company nominated for a wooden spoon award by the Daily Mail - & thats all industries not just energy!

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/customer-service/article.html?in_article_id=519133&in_page_id=515

Garz

It is unclear as to if the price hikes for npower are being factored into the jan price hikes (average 5% - yeah right). I too was getting npower being the cheapest however I am currently with them already for over a year on the SOL 15 tariff. They have probably subtracted the loyalty bonus £100 like mentioned after being there a year.

The other thing to mention is E.ON are too not bumping the prices up yet so again they look good but have imminent price hikes making them not so tempting at all.