Scottish Power - expensive quote?

Cate1976

Have found out that supplier of the house my husband & I are moving to is supplied by Scottish Power for gas & electric. Meters are credit meters which I'm happy about. The heating is gas and the cooker is electric (how. much would it cost to get this changed to gas)? I went online and cheapest tariff for dual fuel is £124 month, I was thinking monthly bills would be nearer £90 - £100 month based on estimate of £65 month for electric and £20 - £25 for gas. I'm not sure if putting dual fuel was right or not. Couldn't put current figures in so put 3 bed house with 4 people living in it, 2 of which are children age 2. To change supplier we have to let landlord know in advance in writing but don't think he'll object.

For the tariff, we would like as much as possible of the following:

Keep the credit meters.
Go onto social tariff due to being on low income.
Be on tariff that allows meter readings to be given online.
Pay monthly by direct debit.

Thanks to anyone who can answer any of my questions.

pineapple

My goodness. I'm with Scottish Power and was paying £60 + per month dual fuel. (single person, two bedroom cottage). But I also have a solid fuel stove and tried to use that mainly last year so I overpaid and they reduced the monthly payment to under £50.

Cate1976

Thanks for that, looks as though I've been given an extortionate quote. I'm not sure what dual fuel means. Is it what the boiler uses to provide heat to the house in which case I think it's only gas or is our house dual fuel due to having gas heating but cooker is electric? I haven' t seen the house yet so am going on what information Dad has given me.

I assume we'll be on standard tariff to start with? We'll change asap either to cheaper tariff or change supplier.

molerat

You will get away with £20-£25 for gas ......... providing you don't turn the heating on. UK average annual gas consumption is around 16000 kWh which is around £50-60 per month on a competitive tariff. With young kids in the house there is a fair chance it will be higher than average.

molerat

Cate1976 wrote: »

.................................. To change supplier we have to let landlord know in advance in writing but don't think he'll object.

Good manners to let him know who the supplier is but you do not have to ask permission.

keith1950

Thanks for that, looks as though I've been given an extortionate quote. I'm not sure what dual fuel means.

Hi, dual fuel just means that you use gas and electricity and you are on a 'dual fuel' combined tariff rather than having say gas with Npower and electricity with EON. It has nothing to do with what you use the gas or electricity for.

Average UK use is around 16000 kwh of gas and 3500 kwh of electricity which would cost in the region of £95-£100/month on a standard tariff.

I assume we'll be on standard tariff to start with? We'll change asap either to cheaper tariff or change supplier.

Go onto social tariff due to being on low income.

Social tariffs aren't always the cheapest, if you find the cheapest tariff and then change everytime the deal ends is sometimes cheaper than a social tariff.

Cate1976

Thanks for posts, good to know that we are on dual fuel. Thanks for letting me know social tariff isn't always the cheapest. Will have a look on price comparison sites this evening. Are there any companies which should be avoided?

keith1950

As you are moving to this house you have no record of your useage that you can enter on the comparison sites so the best you can do to get a reasonable estimate of comparative costs is to enter the 'average' figures I quoted.

I went online and cheapest tariff for dual fuel is £124 month, I was thinking monthly bills would be nearer £90 - £100 month

What did you enter to get these figures. Definately don't enter monthly costs as a tool to compare different suppliers, only enter useage figures.

Some suppliers would prefer you to run into credit until they see what your useage is so £125 isn't really extortionate, they would alter figure as they learn useage.

When I change suppliers I always manipulate the figure so I get the monthly direct debit that I want.

pineapple

Just to add that I got an email from Scottish Power to say that my discounted dual fuel online deal was coming to an end and offering to extend it. But when I checked the other products I discovered there was a newer and better discount deal albeit for a shorter period (by the end of which I'm hoping another deal may be on offer).. So I've swapped from today and am now paying under £40 per month. :T Sounds brill but of course I also buy solid fuel during the winter.

I guess it pays to check periodically even if you are planning on staying with the same provider

Cate1976

molerat wrote: »

Good manners to let him know who the supplier is but you do not have to ask permission.

Even if it wasn't in tenancy agreement to let landlord know before changing supplier, I would out of manners.

As to what I based my estimate of what I'll be paying for gas & electric, I did it based on what we pay for electric at the moment adding some on and gas being 1/3 of the price that electric costs.

Current costs: £10 week on pre pay meter with standing charge built into price per unit which is 14.81p. I estimated that electric in house we're moving to to be £65 month and going by gas being 1/3 of that brings it to £20-£25 month. Current heating and hot water is by oil, we set the heating to be on all the time when it's cold and set the thermostat in the hallway to either 18C or 20C depending on how warm/cool it is in the lounge. Think I need to get on the price comparison sites to see what I can find.

I assume that all the suppliers will let us keep the credit meters even though we're on low income and credit history isn't great? We don't want to be on pre pay as we'll be having to pay full rent and council tax while waiting for benefits to get processed. We'll ask electric supplier to let us pay quarterly to start off with then switch to monthly once benefits are sorted.