Energy helpline genuine???

AV777

ANYONE HELP ME OUT HERE PLEASE??
My fixed rate tariff with southern electric is due to expire at the end of the year so i rang them and they were very helpful advising me of 2 alternative tariffs i could go onto that would not cost me much more than i had been paying this year providing my usage didnt go up. Seemed reasonably happy with that but before making a decision thought id have a look on a comparison website. Looked on energy helpline and it seemed that according to them no other Company could save me more money. 5 minutes after being on the website i received a phone call from energy Helpline asking me if id decided what to do. i explained the situation and the girl told me that southern electric were lying to me and couldnt even get close to the rates id been on for the past year. She said becausde i was in credit with them theyd use that to keep my payments the same for a few months then hike them up and over the next 2 years it would cost me a load more money. She advised me to switch (thru her website of course) to Scottish Power. Seemed a bit unprofessional and now wondering who is telling the truth. Anyone got any advice for me?? thanks

ceedee1888

energy helpline are proply right
input your kwh usage for the last 12 month and see what sp and sse come out at
if going for sp go through uswitch for 80 quid cashback

snowcat53

Does the tariff Southern Electric are offering you come up on the comparison? How does it compare with you current tariff?

I have never been rung back by energyhelpline but you may have not ticked a box somewhere. I dont know the answer but if i had to choose who was likely to be lying it wouldnt be the comparison site.

Go back to Southern Electric and tell them you require the details of the new tariff (any standing charges, price per unit, etc, all inc VAT) so that you can check. If they have misled you, complain in writing.

'Very helpful' and 'energy company' are 2 phrases that dont often occur in the same sentence.

AV777

Hi, thanks for the replies!! I feel like its a bit of a minefield and unsure who to trust. No, southern electric doesnt come up at all in the comparison but i thought that may be because it asks you to enter details of your currect supplier and how much your dd payments are to them. It just seemed like the energy helpline girl was trying to push me into switching thru her to scottish power and wondered how much energy helpline were benefitting from that. Thanks for the advice. i will go back to southern and get some more info

snowcat53

It should still list tariffs from your current supplier. Or is it so expensive it's a long way down the list and invisible?

IF you're suspicious try another comparison site as well - eg switchwithwhich or uswitch.

macman

You don't even need to put your phone no. into the energyhelpine site.
You must enter your annual kWH figures. If you are using monthly DD amounts then the results will not be accurate.

Airmike23

SSE wont appear at the top of any comparison sites, they are on them, just their products are aimed at average joes (i.e existing customers who dont want to/cant be bothered to switch). They offer Standard, Fixed Discount January 2014, all it offers is an additional 2% discount off their standard tariff unit rates until Jan 2014, the unit rate is not fixed. They also offer Price Fix 7 which is a 36 month fixed unit rate deal from the day your supply transfers to that SSE tariff, it is one of the dearest products on the market from any provider, so you would need massive hikes in price before 2014 to break even with the cheapest deals in 2011, let alone turn it around so that you are in a position where that product is saving you money. If you are v low user of elec and gas you'll find EBICO, owned by sse, but not sse branded, will come out very competitive, but Energy Helpline at the mo, if you put in annual kwh usage figures you'll find EDF or Scottish Power coming out cheapest.

AV777

Thanks so much to all for the help and advice. Its been really brilliant !!! Can i ask another question to my new wise forum friends??

If i switch to say scottish power am i better going for a fixed deal or a discounted deal?? they say the discount would be 8% less than their standard prices

Airmike23

Online energy saver 17 is their cheapest deal so I would go for that.

Ferr96

Hey i would opt for the online fix 2013 with SP since its fixed. its not every1's prefference, but its only about 1% more expensive than ole 17 in most areas.

The good news is, if u go for the ole 17. if SP put there prices up u can switch away to a fix without penalty, either 1 of SP's or another companys.

If u choose SP, defo go for the ole 17 or the online fixed price april 2013. Make sure u check a comparison website though, as npowers sol 24 and eons signonline 11 normally come very close if not better in some areas.

Mugget

Phone SSE up and ask the adviser for a exact cost breakdown on each of their tariffs they will tell u how their other tariffs compare to your current one. They also have a policy now to provide all companies tariff information so if they are not cheapest they will tell u who is. Energy help line and alot of other comparision sites are sponsered by various companies, its unlikely scottish power would come up cheaper and an energyhelp line should be impartial not slagging off companies!