Am I a total numpty or is it actually difficult to understand tarifs?

Adrian_J

Hi all..

I am currently on a British Gas Online tariff "Click online" which expires on June 1st.

I am now looking for an alternative tariff from either British Gas or another..

A quick search through some of the tariffs were some what confusing! To be honest I found the page on this sight confusing but I admit I will probably need to re-read it later...

So guidance please on looking for a new supplier of gas/electricity....

Adrian

ViolaLass

Use a comparison site.

cepheus

Yes use a comparison site. In my opinion tariffs are made deliberately confusing to avoid competition. If it was easy everyone would flock to the cheapest provider, and this would drive down costs.

Adrian_J

ViolaLass wrote: »

Use a comparison site.

I am trying to!

As i mentioned, i have read the pages on MSE and to be honest found them quite hard to digest. And i have a degree from the days when getting a degree meant something!

I will read the pages again, but the BG site was for me confusing as to which tariff I should transfer to.

SO i thought MSE would be easier to understand, but in my opinion it wasn't.

And some of those comparison sites were confusing as well..

Yes I will re-visit them later when perhaps I am mentally more alert, tuned in.

ViolaLass

Did you try USwitch?

worried_jim

If you call BG they are very helpful and tell you the cheapest tarrif that they have for when your current deal finishes then you can compare that with the rest on Uswitch etc- also ask them for your last 12months energy use then you can get accurate figures. I have moved form a BG click tariff this year to an npower on-line deal which was 18% cheaper then BG best and got £15 cash back from a switching site.

penrhyn

The alternatives for you from British gas are Websaver 11, cheapest, or Online saver 3 with energysmart.

Both will cost you more than click 6.

As above pop your postcode and annual consumption in Kwh into a comparison site.

cepheus

Adrian_J wrote: »

I am trying to!

As i mentioned, i have read the pages on MSE and to be honest found them quite hard to digest. And i have a degree from the days when getting a degree meant something!

I will read the pages again, but the BG site was for me confusing as to which tariff I should transfer to.

SO i thought MSE would be easier to understand, but in my opinion it wasn't.

And some of those comparison sites were confusing as well..

Yes I will re-visit them later when perhaps I am mentally more alert, tuned in.

Start here and enter your postcode.
http://www.energyhelpline.com/energy/rg_home.aspx?aid=107
Have your previous bills ready to estimate your current tariff and usage either in £s or units

Yorkie1

I always find it most useful to have last year's kwH usage to hand rather than £s when going on the comparison sites. I started the switching process via uSwith (register with quidco to see if you can click through to comparison or company sites in order to get cashback too) a couple of days ago and found it very straightforward.

spiro

cepheus wrote: »

Start here and enter your postcode.
http://www.energyhelpline.com/energy/rg_home.aspx?aid=107
Have your previous bills ready to estimate your current tariff and usage either in £s or units

Better to use Kwh not £s and for gas dont confuse units used figure on you bill with Kwh figure.

I also ignore what the sites say I will save. I add up what my bills for the last 12 months were and compare that to what the comparison site says. The reason I do this is when you tariff is near the end the site 'guesses' what tariff you will move onto and bases your next years 'cost' using that.

Adrian_J

Hi all

Went to the two comparison sites mentioned, 'uswitch' and 'energyhelpline'

Fed the same information, £35 pcm gas direct debit and£30 electricity direct...

Both came up with the same supplier as being the best buy BG websaver 11

Uswitch suggested that whilst it was my best option it would cost me £33 a year whilst energy helpline suggested it would save me £33 a year.

I need to get a calculator and work out KwH usage (something else I need to trawl through my online bills and work out) as apparntly that will give you more accurate details and that does make sense actually

Thank you all for your efforts so far

Adrian