Paying Up Front

Retired1

I am not working at the moment and my only income is a company pension of less than £700 per month. I have money in the bank and I am thinking about paying £800-£1000 to my Scottish Power who provide my gas and electricity. They are offering 7.8% discount on standard rates.

I am thinking about this as I feel it is a good way to ensure my bills are covered at least for the next 12 months or so. I have already spoken with Scottish Power and they advised (in writing) that I can get my money back from them should I change supplier etc.

Its important that I have some sort of peace of mind that my bills are covered for the coming months however I am unsure if this is the best way to go about it.

Grateful for any advice on this.

dogshome

Hi Retired 1 -A years power bills paid upfront ?
I suspect many on this site would shudder at the thought, but as a retiree myself I can understand your motives.

The value of SP's 7.8% discount off of their Standard tariff is difficult to judge, but at a glance seems a bit low as most suppliers give discounts of about this level for Online Billing & Direct Debit payment, but then it all depends on the cost of each suppliers Standard tariff starting point.

I think the way to go is establish just which supplier offers the best tariff for your individual consumption - To do this you need to know your annual consumption in Kwh, not the cash cost
If your recent bills have not listed your annual Kwh figures, phone SP and ask - when you have these figures put them into a Switch site I always use 'switchwithwhich'

When you have found the best deal, then negotiate with them for a years payment upfront price, but first re-post your figures and lowest price supplier here before you commit as there some who should be avoided like the plague.

I think the whole thing depends on just how big your cash cushion is - There is little point in securing your Utility supplies, but then find you don't have the money to repair or replace the boiler if it goes down
Good Luck

Retired1

Following the advice from dogshome, I undertook a USwitch survey and these are the results. based on the consumption entered, first figure is potential annual cost and the figure in red is the potential saving.

[FONT=&quot]First Utility[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]iSave Dual Fuel V9
£1184.76[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
£181.78[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
npower[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Go Fix 10 Dual Fuel
£1270.50
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] £96.05[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]E.ON[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]E.ON SaveOnline 11 Dual Fuel[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]£1293.64[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]£72.90[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]npower[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Flex Saver Feb 2013 Dual Fuel[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]£1304.68[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]£61.86[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]ScottishPower[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Online Energy Saver 17 Dual Fuel[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]£1312.62[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]£53.92[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

I have not as yet contacted the companies listed and now seek opinions on how "good" they are. I know from bitter experience that some suppliers are better than others!:(

Not shown on the list above is Scottish Hydro who, according to the full results from USwitch have the best customer satisfaction figure of 69%. Their prices range from £1,415 with a £80 penalty if I left before Nov 2012 and £1,568 with various early termination penalties of £80 and £60.

Thanks for helping me.:)

dogshome

Hmmm - That extra £85 you save by going with First Utility looks very attractive, but if you google First Utility for customer opinions it's another story - In fact the intitials FU seem to sum up the companies attitude when dealing with customers.

That leaves n'power, who have their own special way of doing things
1) The annual cost quoted includes an element of Cash-back worth over £100 after 12 months, but to get it you have to have made 12 consecutive Direct Debit payments during the 12 months.
As you are going to pay for the year upfront and not by Direct Debits, make sure the deal you do incudes you getting the Cash -back and get it in writing
2) All suppliers levy a service charge which can be collected by a Daily Charge, or a fixed number of Kw charged annually at a higher rate. Whilst most suppliers even out these high price units over the year, n'power load them up in the Winter months which produces higher winter bills.
3) n'powers billing frequency on most of their tariffs is every 6 months. Make sure that you will get bills on a regular basis, as the last thing you need is one BIG annual bill after a year that shows an amount of debt.

It's important that even if you do a deal with discount for upfront payment, that when you get do get bills you check them for accuracy.

If you do get extra discount for a year's payment upfront, please post the details - You just might be the vanguard of a whole new movement.