student accom bills - Glide

boldaslove

hi all,

am in the process of sorting a house for 3rd year and some of the properties don't include bills. one of the letting agents recommended looking at Glide, who include all bills for a set fee. has anyone on here used them? for 3 of us it works out at about £16 each a week which i think is pretty expensive, however none of us are particularly good with money and next year's going to be stressful enough without worrying about bills.

are there any alternatives out there? anyone got good/bad feedback on glide?

thanks

kazzah60

be very interested to read peoples opinions as my son is considering using Glide with 6 housemates for his 2nd year at Uni - starting in September

Lokolo

Given students have spare time I don't see why anyone would pay a company to do everything for you.

To send out a facebook message to everyone in my house every month with bill amounts takes less than a minute.

Setting up takes about 5 minutes online or on the phone.

And I can do everything through quidco and get cashback.

Never understood why people use companies like Glide.

tbs624

LLs earn commission from making sure that their Ts use Glide

You may not get the best deal on your utilities.

atypical

I'd echo what Lokolo said - do it yourself. It really isn't that much hassle especially if there's only 3 people. Just make sure everyone has responsibility for a different bill.

melancholly

i think it's far better to have different bills, each in a different name. learning to pay bills on time is well worth it for 'the real world' after graduation (it's also really easy - they send you a bill and then you pay them... not complicated!)

rev_henry

Picked up a leaflet about this at the Uni Housing Bureau whilst sorting out the tenancy agreement for my (shared) house next year. My initial thoughts were 'nice idea, but surely it won't be half as cheap as sorting out all the cheapest deals separately. I've just done a quick quote on the Glide website - its about £50 a month MORE than it would be separately, just using ballpark figures...

tbs624

Of course it will be more expensive. LLs and LAs get a kick back when they promote it/get their Ts to sign up and Glide itself has to make money.

They target the student/young professionals market because many of them *will* take what they think is the easy option.

The problem is that too many utility companies are seeking to bind up Ts via the LL/LA , who then tries to make it a condition of the tenancy, depriving Ts of the right to seek out the best deal for their own circumstances.

System

I'm another for voting to have a bill in each persons name, teaches you responsibility, and these companies that offer to do it for you are usually a rip-off.

rev_henry

tbs624 wrote: »

Of course it will be more expensive. LLs and LAs get a kick back when they promote it/get their Ts to sign up and Glide itself has to make money.

They target the student/young professionals market because many of them *will* take what they think is the easy option.

The problem is that too many utility companies are seeking to bind up Ts via the LL/LA , who then tries to make it a condition of the tenancy, depriving Ts of the right to seek out the best deal for their own circumstances.

My house next year had a clause in the tenancy agreement saying something like 'you may not change utility companies without the consent of the LL'. Took it to the housing officer who basically said you can ignore it because you are entitled BY LAW to take whichever company you want.

BFM

i'd still have each of you put the £16 a week, or maybe £12 a week into a pot (or better yet standing order) so you have it all covered. anything left at the end can be drunk at the union.