Standing Charge Costs for Gas

littlemisstrouble

Hi,

I am interested to find out if anyone else has the same problem as we do for our gas standing charge.

We moved into our house 10 years ago and instead of the gas pipeline being through Transco it goes via a independent pipeline company.

We were automatically with a company called Agas when we moved in and then they went bust so switched to Southern Electric (had them for electric too). They got wind of the pipeline being independent to started charging us double for standing charge.

We then switched to Scottish Power for both fuels and I checked if they would charge us more for gas standing charge they said no. About a year later they started charging us double per day for standing charge.

We are paying loads as ok, the fuel prices have gone up but we are being stung for something we had no control over.

I don't want to switch if we are going to get stung straight away or after a year with another supplier but this is driving me mad - does anyone have any suggestions or know of a loophole so we can stop being charged for something we are stuck with?

Thanks
Kalinda

bunking_off

Yup, the hidden cost that tends to impact new builds. The worst thing is none of the comparison sites allow for it and each supplier treats it differently, hence you get misleading results. (BG don't charge for example, but I've applied for some suppliers that have rejected the application outright on the basis of private access supply). Personally, I regard it as a breach of the suppliers' obligation to publish tariffs, but neither the regulators or Martin appear to have picked up on it.

littlemisstrouble

Thanks for your input.

I have logged a call with energywatch so will keep you all posted on the outcome

Kalinda