Gas and Elec - should I be doing something?

Lifeisbutadream

OK call me thick, but I just do not know what I should be doing about Gas and Electricity

I have had the same provider for around 6 years (Scottish Power) - they occasionally ask me for meter readings, but I generally dont get around to sending them. I just pay a monthly set amount (I think its £100 a month for gas and elec)

I think I probably should have done something a while ago as I dread to think how much I probably owe them

People keep talking about changinhg suppliers and 'fixing prices' and I dont get whether I should do something - am I likely to be paying too much? I dont get it - when I first started paying electric and gas it was britich gas and northern electric - much easier!

Does anyone have any suggestions? where do I start? or shall I just leave it as it is?

HappyMJ

You can start today by reading your meter and giving them the reading. They'll then send you an updated bill. If it's been 6 years since you've read the meter you may have either a large debt or a large credit. Once you figure out your usage in kwh you can then use the figures to compare gas and electric suppliers. If you read your meter in exactly 1 week then multiply the difference by 52 you'll have a figure close to your annual usage. Or you could take an average of the last few years and use that figure.

Lifeisbutadream

HappyMJ wrote: »

You can start today by reading your meter and giving them the reading. They'll then send you an updated bill. If it's been 6 years since you've read the meter you may have either a large debt or a large credit. Once you figure out your usage in kwh you can then use the figures to compare gas and electric suppliers. If you read your meter in exactly 1 week then multiply the difference by 52 you'll have a figure close to your annual usage. Or you could take an average of the last few years and use that figure.

They have read the meters periodically so it wont be 6 years - I have just ignored the statements because I dont understand what they mean!

I also have no clue as to how much I should be paying in elec and gas for a house of our size..

macman

You still need to get your readings submitted and bill updated before you do anything else.
If you have a large debt then you won't be able to switch anyway until that is cleared.
Assuming that you are on SP's standard tariff, then you have just been throwing money away, as standard tariff is every supplier's most expensive one.
Once you have your revised bills, get your annual kWh consumption and hit the comp sites.
The whole thing should take you no more than half an hour.

jd87

As you pay by direct debit and have had some meter readings taken then it is unlikely that you owe them a huge amount of money. They will have been reviewing your direct debit amount (about once a year) to make sure it is enough. As others have said though, you should send them a recent reading and find out what your annual kwh usage is so that you can use as price comparison site to switch.

Lifeisbutadream

I am less worried about owing them loads than I am about not doing anything about changing.

How much money am I likely to have thrown away?

jd87

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

How much money am I likely to have thrown away?

No point worrying about something you can't do anything about. Unfortunately millions of people all over the country are still with their old "gas board" and "electricity board" paying standard tariff rates. So you're not the only one.

Scottish_Power

Hi Lifeisbutadream

I do not think you have much to worry about as you have not been throwing away money. You have been paying by monthly Direct Debit which offers a lower unit rate than if you were to pay quarterly by cash or on our monthly cash plan. We do offer discounted tariffs and Online Energy tariffs which could save you more money and I would therefore recommend that you contact us with your current meter readings to see what we can offer you.

Knowing what you use over a 12-month period in kWhs will help you to understand and calculate what you should be paying each month. If you give us a call or just send an email to us with your current meter readings, we can update these onto your billing account, tell you what your current balance is and also what we hold as your annual consumption for gas and electricity.

If you have internet access and you are able to read your own gas and electricity meters then I would recommend setting up an online account. This online account will allow you to update your own meter readings and generate statements as often as you wish. All the information is stored in your account and will help you to understand exactly how much gas and electricity you are using. If you wanted to monitor your consumption on a monthly basis, all you would need to do is update a meter reading at the same time each month, i.e. 1st, 5th etc and then generate a statement. If you were to do this over a full year, your online account will store this information which you can refer back to whenever you like. If you stay with ScottishPower for a long time then you can do year on year comparisons to see how your consumption has changed, if at all. Have a look at the link below for more information on the online account service:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/your-home/existing-customer/online-energy.aspx

If you have any further questions just let me know and I will be happy to help.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

Lifeisbutadream

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Lifeisbutadream

I do not think you have much to worry about as you have not been throwing away money. You have been paying by monthly Direct Debit which offers a lower unit rate than if you were to pay quarterly by cash or on our monthly cash plan. We do offer discounted tariffs and Online Energy tariffs which could save you more money and I would therefore recommend that you contact us with your current meter readings to see what we can offer you.

Knowing what you use over a 12-month period in kWhs will help you to understand and calculate what you should be paying each month. If you give us a call or just send an email to us with your current meter readings, we can update these onto your billing account, tell you what your current balance is and also what we hold as your annual consumption for gas and electricity.

If you have internet access and you are able to read your own gas and electricity meters then I would recommend setting up an online account. This online account will allow you to update your own meter readings and generate statements as often as you wish. All the information is stored in your account and will help you to understand exactly how much gas and electricity you are using. If you wanted to monitor your consumption on a monthly basis, all you would need to do is update a meter reading at the same time each month, i.e. 1st, 5th etc and then generate a statement. If you were to do this over a full year, your online account will store this information which you can refer back to whenever you like. If you stay with ScottishPower for a long time then you can do year on year comparisons to see how your consumption has changed, if at all. Have a look at the link below for more information on the online account service:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/your-home/existing-customer/online-energy.aspx

If you have any further questions just let me know and I will be happy to help.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

Thank you Colin - your comments rae very much appreciated! I will have a look at the link you gave.

t0rt0ise

You'd be best putting your usage figures in a comparison site rather than taking Scottish Power's offer of simply moving tariffs with them. You may well find something much cheaper out there.