British Gas-confusion about their "no standing charge" statement

animalambulanceman

Hi Grahamc

I gave Ebico the exact useage figures from my last 2 annual statements for both gas and electric and they worked out that I would save £102 a year by purchasing both forms of energy from them.I could still use my prepayment meters and didn't need to switch to direct debit to pay.I think in terms of how much I pay for the little amount of electricity I actually use in a year and how much of this total cost was the standing charge-in my case about 15% of my total bill was the standing charge.In my mind if my useage stays about the same and the price for the electricity supply is also roughly the same-regardless of supplier- having a lower or non-existant standing charge should certainly lower my bill.As British Gas were offering me a 0.6p/kwh cheaper rate for my electricity than I was paying I logically expected to save myself some money and not end up paying more than I was paying before.It was because they didn't paint the whole picture and just emphasised the "lower price per unit" & "no standing charge" that I agreed to switch to them.Now I have seen the true cost of their supply I'm off to a supplier with who I really can save myself some money when buying my electricity.They may not at first seem to be the cheapest as their rate per kwh is a fraction of a penny more than it is from British Gas BUT when you allow for my low consumption and the fact that they truly do not have a standing charge they really will be a less expensive supplier for me.

KimYeovil

animalambulanceman wrote: »

They may not at first seem to be the cheapest as their rate per kwh is a fraction of a penny more than it is from British Gas BUT when you allow for my low consumption and the fact that they truly do not have a standing charge they really will be a less expensive supplier for me.

(No need to reply - just wanted to point out a very quick and rather petty technicality. Ebico do have a standing charge - it is uncapped and pro rata your consumption. That is, every kWh you use you pay the more expensive tier 1 rate rather than a tier 2 rate. Of course their tier 1 rate is substantially cheaper than other suppliers but it is more expensive than a tier 2 rate. But the course is suitable for your horse so that is all that matters.)