Is U-switch reliable?

mojoman

We have been in our 2 bedroom all electric flat for exactly a year ,so Ientered our details into U-switch to see if we could save. WE have used 7736KWH in this last year and have paid £741 for this. U-switch said we'd paid £1027! and that we could save by going to SSE and that would cost about £950.How can that be? Also today I see that SSE have their prices. Where on earth does that leave us?We are with British Gas on standard with energy smart giving readings on line and paying by variable direct debit and it seems to work for us.Would switching be any better for us?

Plushchris

You need to forget about what you have paid over the last year, its in the past, the comparison site will have worked out the 7736kwh to cost £1027 based on the new prices (Post rise)

Unfortunately they probably havent updated the prices for SSE yet so the comparison is a bit off, I'm sure the rep will let you know when the new rates will be on the site

ic

Yep, USwitch is telling you what you will pay in the coming year based on the announced price rises, not historical rates.

uSwitch_company_representative

Hi Mojoman,

We are now using the new (post-price rise) SSE rates acrosss the website.

However, from the time of your post, I think it's unlikely that we had all the new rates live at the time you did your comparison, so this probably doesn't account for the difference.

If you'd like to drop me an email at the address in my profile with your postcode and tariff name, I can look into this for you and check our numbers.

Thanks

Lauren

macman

Whatever you do, get off Standard tariff-it's the most expensive variable tariff there is (for every supplier).
Pick your tariff using a comp site, then switch using a cashback site-why give your commission to uswitch, or any other comps site?

mojoman

Thank you to all who answered my query.The thing is u-switch said you HAVE spent £1027 when I had only spent £741.I know they went by the new prices but that's not the point.Actually another thing is the price is supposed to be going up by 18% .At the moment we are paying just over 9pence per kwh for the second tier prices,the new price for the same thing will be over 12p. To me that is equivalent to more than 30%. I've only got o-level maths so
maybe we need a degree to work all these numbers out.Are all the companies trying to bamboozle us?

jalexa

mojoman wrote: »

...maybe we need a degree to work all these numbers out.Are all the companies trying to bamboozle us?...

Not a direct defence of the particular issue that gave rise to your original post "is u-switch reliable", but over the years I have always found uSwitch to be one of a number of comparison websites where the predicted headline cost is accurate to the penny (with my own spreadsheet).

Regarding being "bamboozled" by suppliers, there are some complex calculations involved, sometimes beyond the comprehension of energy company staff, so it is hardly surprising that "joe public" can struggle. And specifically the deployment of "maturity tariffs" during a phone call (which don't appear on comparison websites because they are not universally available) is definately an attempt to circumvent whole of market comparison. Sorry did you say "bamboozle"?

My answer *is* to "trust" a Consumer Focus accredited website (such as uSwitch) with accurate annual consumption figures. Then compare the headline costs with another comparison website. If they agree *probably* the results can be "trusted".

essexman77

Im not sure how they work out % but my letter from british gas says 16% rise on electric and 18% rise on gas I think they just work as average but it is confusing with the standing charges etc lowith mine EDF is coming up the cheapest is yours economy 7 becasue mines 12.7 and and 6.9 low

ariba10

Why do the comparison web sites need to know who your current supplier is?

If I give them my usage for the year ( and where I live) it should be easy enough for them to tell me, who can supply me with the cheapest power

Unless it is. They only get paid if you do change.

ariba10

wongawonga wrote: »

If they didnt they wouldnt be a comparism site would they.;)

Why not?

All they need do is list them all in order.

jalexa

ariba10 wrote: »

Why do the comparison web sites need to know who your current supplier is?

If I give them my usage for the year ( and where I live) it should be easy enough for them to tell me, who can supply me with the cheapest power

A good question for which there is an answer of sorts. If you provide your supplier the comparison website then presents a list of that supplier's tariffs which you can select your current tariff from. The resulting comparison is a list of tariffs with headline costs and savings (or smallest increase) compared with your current supplier sorted by savings.

If you want you could choose *any* supplier and the list of headline costs (but not the savings) would still be accurate and in order.

Be aware that commonly same supplier switches can't be done by comparison websites, so that might be one reason why the question is asked.