To switch or to beg!

Radshire

Ok here goes.....I'm ashamed to say I've not been very MoneySaving with my utilities.

I moved house in August of last year and continued with BG for the supply of both Electricity and Gas for the property.

It was my intention to switch soon after moving...but I found out that BG did the free loft insulation and so I thought I'd just stick with BG (on the standard tariff) until the insulation in the loft was installed.

This has now been completed.

Here's the thing; BG have never taken a metre reading here and have been charging me for very low consumption (assuming that the house remains empty as it was for the 18 months prior to my moving in). That means I've paid a little over £65 for the 5 months I've been in residence.

I've just taken metre readings and can see that I've used 5,400 kWh of gas and 600 kWh of electricity since my last estimated metre readings. On the standard BG tariff this equates to about £450.

What would people do here. I see my options as:

1. Pay the £450 and swich as soon as possible.
2. Phone up BG and ask them to switch me to their latest websaver tariff and plead with them to put me on the tariff from the last estimated metre reading.

I'm not sure that the latter will work which I why I'm asking here. Has anyone got any experience or know how the gas companies work in this scenario?

Alternatively, have I missed any other option open to me. I'm fortunate enough that I can afford to pay this (I still have a budget!) so I don't need a payment plan or anything like that.

Also - I've had my central heating system renewed (including a new combi boiler) so I'm a little unsure as to how much energy I can expect to use going forward. Any comparison I've done on U-Switch has been on the average consumption.

Any help or suggestions will be gratefully received.

universalady_2

Radshire wrote: »

Here's the thing; BG have never taken a metre reading here and have been charging me for very low consumption

Unfortunately it's your responsibility to give the correct meter reading, not theirs. If you've used the gas/electric, then you need to pay them

macman

You'll be charged on Standard tariff from the estimated opening reading until you decide to switch. You may have to prove your entry date to avoid any standing charges from when the house was empty.
Unfortunately by delaying a switch, you have missed the cheap fixes, which were mostly pulled at the end of November.

Radshire

Thanks for the advice Universalady and Macman,

Macman,
Do you know, follow BG announcement today, whether there is likely to be a price war for utility pricing? I'm already to switch (to NPower) but wondered whether a delay of a week or two might pay off in the long run?

macman

The Big Six will broadly follow one another, as they always do. 3 down, 3 to go.
Unless you are thinking of fixing, it won't matter anyway, as you'll still get any subsequent reductions on any variable tariff.

Radshire

Brilliant - I'm going to look around. Might avoid the fixed tarrifs and go for a tracker capped at x % below standard tarriff.

macman

Are there any capped tariffs left?

Radshire

I'm just looking now.
My top five are:
NPower - Sign online 25
Guaranteed 2% discount against standard offline variable until 8th April 2013
Total yearly cost: £1131

First Utility - iSave Duel Fuel 9
Prices guaranteed for a minimum of 3 months
£1037

NPower - Go Fix 10
Prices are fixed until 8th April 2013
£1072

Scottish
Online energy saver 17
Prices will remain 8.6% below standard rates until 31st March 2013
£1092

E.On - E.On fixed price saver april 2013
Unit Prices fixed 5% below E.ON standard rates until 1st April 2013
£1128


I think I'm going to go with the top one on the basis that they have £100 cashback through Quidco as well - AND their prices are capped below their standard.

Does this seem right?

macman

That's not a capped tariff, it's an online discount variable tariff. It will rise in line with their Standard tariff, but always be 2% less.
A capped tariff has an absolute price level that it will not go above.
If you want a variable, that's the best, with Quidco taken into account.

Radshire

:beer:
Many thanks Macman - your help is much apprecaited....and I now know the difference between capped and discount variable tariff!