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Npower – a cautionary tale
In November (think it was Nov, but it could have been Dec) the weekly MSE email highlighted that it was a good time to switch energy suppliers as there were various deals/incentives available.
I had a look and found a good deal with Npower that would give me cashback and vouchers for switching to a new tariff that'd save me money, as we were already with Npower it was a simple process and the vouchers duely arrived, my cashback was credited a while later and everything was golden.
A couple of days ago we received our statement showing the dreaded winter charges, it was pretty high but nothing too unusual, the only issue being that it was estimated rather than taken via a reading so we called up with an accurate reading for a revised bill, needless to say this increased our charges but a chance comment saved us a fortune again... it seems that the deal we signed up to late last year, expired in February and what was once a good tariff was now nothing like the most cost-effective deal on offer.
A bit of haggling saw our bill reduced by £80.00 (long story) and we had a manager call to confirm that we were not tied to Npower and would not face any fees for leaving them. I then hopped onto Uswitch, found that Scottish Power were cheapest and signed up via Top Cashback, our new tariff estimates an annual save of £226pa + we snagged £21 cashback too, a nice touch all in all.
The moral of this story?
Ring your energy supplier and ask them this one question... “can you tell me if I am signed up to your cheapest tariff” - they're under no obligation to tell you unless you ask and if, like us, you are blissfully unaware that a deal you signed up to has ended, you could be costing yourself ££££'s for the sake of one phone call.
Thank you to MSE! It's because of this site that I thought to ask the question in the first place, and it's because of this site that I bothered to check Uswitch prior to checking Top Cashback, in the old days i'd have simply asked Npower to put me onto the cheaper tariff and let them keep my business, this money saving mullarky is addictive!
I had a look and found a good deal with Npower that would give me cashback and vouchers for switching to a new tariff that'd save me money, as we were already with Npower it was a simple process and the vouchers duely arrived, my cashback was credited a while later and everything was golden.
A couple of days ago we received our statement showing the dreaded winter charges, it was pretty high but nothing too unusual, the only issue being that it was estimated rather than taken via a reading so we called up with an accurate reading for a revised bill, needless to say this increased our charges but a chance comment saved us a fortune again... it seems that the deal we signed up to late last year, expired in February and what was once a good tariff was now nothing like the most cost-effective deal on offer.
A bit of haggling saw our bill reduced by £80.00 (long story) and we had a manager call to confirm that we were not tied to Npower and would not face any fees for leaving them. I then hopped onto Uswitch, found that Scottish Power were cheapest and signed up via Top Cashback, our new tariff estimates an annual save of £226pa + we snagged £21 cashback too, a nice touch all in all.
The moral of this story?
Ring your energy supplier and ask them this one question... “can you tell me if I am signed up to your cheapest tariff” - they're under no obligation to tell you unless you ask and if, like us, you are blissfully unaware that a deal you signed up to has ended, you could be costing yourself ££££'s for the sake of one phone call.
Thank you to MSE! It's because of this site that I thought to ask the question in the first place, and it's because of this site that I bothered to check Uswitch prior to checking Top Cashback, in the old days i'd have simply asked Npower to put me onto the cheaper tariff and let them keep my business, this money saving mullarky is addictive!
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Comments
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They will be now with Ofgem forcing them to evaluate tariffs and inform you, but does that cover internal changes or just competitors? (Can't remember offhand):rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:0
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Terrylw1
It's internal tariffs the companies will be advising on.Self Employed, Running my Dream Jobs0 -
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