Fuel comparison sites - word of caution

pikemahone

Hi,

Do not know if this has been posted before but thought I would let you know my experience.

After reading on MSE emails and other sites about switching gas and electric suppliers I thought it high time I compared prices and decided to use two comparison sites -u switch and energy helpline

The initial results came back with savings of £168 and £197 (and about £10 further savings with using 2 suppliers )

Great I thought and was about to start the swop process when i looked again at the amount I currently pay on the top of one of the sites charts.
It had calculated the amount by multiplying the total monthly DD by 12 .All well and good but i am currently with ATLANTIC who give a loyalty bonus of one month rebate after every 12 months , therefore reducing my yearly bill by £115 and reducing the saving to £53 or £82.
As this yearly loyalty bonus has been in place for the 4 or 5 years we have been with Atlantic it must be standard and therefore I do not see why the comparison sites do not take it into account.

As Atlantic havnt reduced proces yet I think I will stay put for now.

dude89

pikemahone wrote: »

Hi,

Do not know if this has been posted before but thought I would let you know my experience.

After reading on MSE emails and other sites about switching gas and electric suppliers I thought it high time I compared prices and decided to use two comparison sites -u switch and energy helpline

The initial results came back with savings of £168 and £197 (and about £10 further savings with using 2 suppliers )

Great I thought and was about to start the swop process when i looked again at the amount I currently pay on the top of one of the sites charts.
It had calculated the amount by multiplying the total monthly DD by 12 .All well and good but i am currently with ATLANTIC who give a loyalty bonus of one month rebate after every 12 months , therefore reducing my yearly bill by £115 and reducing the saving to £53 or £82.
As this yearly loyalty bonus has been in place for the 4 or 5 years we have been with Atlantic it must be standard and therefore I do not see why the comparison sites do not take it into account.

As Atlantic havnt reduced proces yet I think I will stay put for now.

The problem here lies more with atlantic and not with the comparison websites in my opinion.

The comparison websites only show you what you would spend in a 12 month period. The atlantic bonus is only paid out in the 13th month. This is why it would not show on the comparison website calculations.

When switching away from atlantic you should always be mindful of when your 13th month takes place. If it is shortly is it worth waiting around to receive?

Depending on how much you spend, the current price reductions have only worked out at approx £30pa on average usage at standard prices, so you should think about how long you want to wait as the cheaper prices may not be around for long (no one knows how long)

macman

If the rebate is payable after the 12m, then it won't necessarily appear in the calculations, which are for 12m ahead only.
The comp sites are accurate, as long as you use your annual kWh figures, not monthly DD amounts.
You are still saving potentially £82 (plus any cashback site payments on top) for 10 minutes work if you switch.

jalexa

pikemahone wrote: »

i am currently with ATLANTIC who give a loyalty bonus of one month rebate after every 12 months ,

That's just a different name for "deferred discount":eek:

As Atlantic havnt reduced proces yet I think I will stay put for now.

Err... don't follow your argument. You want to pay more?

pikemahone

You want to call it deferred discount please do-

As for staying put not all providers have yet applied reductions -For a saving of £1 per week i'll stay where I am and and hopefully Atlantic will reduce.-if not so be it.

macman

Where do you get a £1 a week saving from? You said a maximum of £82 a year from the comp sites, then there will usually be at least £30 on top of that in cashback with many suppliers. That's £97pa, or over 7% of your annual bill based on £115pm. If that's not worth 10 minutes work, then you must be on the wrong site?

Airmike23

It would make more sense to use annual kWh usage than annual spend as in 2011 all energy companies upped rates twice, so not a realist year to be using spend from to do a comparison, and I agree with other posters, Atlantic aren't the cheapest of anything unless a v low electric user.