Southern Electric are introducing Standing Charges

silv.surfer

Southern Electric are going to bring in Standing Charges on Quarterly Bills and there will be a price increase in Oct. 2012 -Will they still good value.

Only consulation maybe is that in their Booklet arrived today is that they offer that if you want to Switch from them they will allow it within your Contract without penalty.

Looks like they are anticipating lots of Customers to jump ship.

Wywth

See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4166081

Martin has been advising that people should grab a good, low cost, long fixed rate for a couple of weeks now.

It sounds like the boat has already sailed on at least one such deal.

silv.surfer

When a Neighbour who was with nPower but didnt use gas - the old card meter was condemed - end of life. No communications from nPower for 4 years.

When the Council forced him to have a new Boiler but they couldn't Final Test because no gas available, Council said when you switch to Brit.Gas same as Elec. Card Meter let us know and Council will complete fix and test etc. now done.

I contacted Brit. Gas to make sure about their no Standing Charge Policy and they confirmed that they had removed the Standing Charge and they were being Flooded with ex-nPower and Others Customers because of their new No Standing Charge Policy. They said there is now no difference in the cost of Gas between Card and Quarterly - and that was the main reason they went No Standing Charge - Quite a good business stratagy I think. - They must have known that Others were going to start Standing Charges.

My Neighbour will not be using much gas only for Hot Water for clothes washing instead of Kettle and 2 hours occasionaly for Central Heating in Evenings only. No Gas cooker installed.

The last 4 years he was in serious debt and felt that he could only cope with Electric Card Meter.

Since he got a job in January and I helped him claim his PPI he is now well in Credit and so has started using the New Boiler and Gas Card Meter, with Brit. Gas.

I am with Southern Electric and I know of several Elderly Neighbours that when I explain this Scam to them, they will be jumping ship as well.

I will be looking around for Who else has no Standing Charges and then will be jumping ship.

Any advice of where I should look for another Supplier, I could be taking quite a few with me so it is important that I find the Best.

Thanks for any help.

molerat

Are there any real NSC tariffs out there *? The only couple I did see when doing my comparisons were way more expensive than anything else. A NSC tariff is only a real bonus if you use no or very little gas in a billing period. With E.on for example this would be 223 kWh per month if billed monthly. Use any more than that then the equivalent of a SC is paid. Standing charges are being pushed onto the suppliers by OFGEM to make tariffs more understandable to the public.

* It looks like Ebico is the only one but their unit prices are higher than most. Use a comparison site and see which one comes out cheapest and ignore the bluster of SC v NSC tariffs, I did a comparison of prepayment meters and the NSC came 7 out of 13.

Man_Overboard_2

molerat wrote: »

Standing charges are being pushed onto the suppliers by OFGEM to make tariffs more understandable to the public

I have never had any difficulty understanding a two-tier tariff, and with my gas consumption of 215kwh per annum, the switch to daily charges represents a quarterly increase in my gas bill from £4.50 to around £25.

My water consumption is similarly low (please refrain from asking the obvious questions about my personal hygeine!), but my water supplier has a special lo-user tariff for people in my position. If OFGEM is to impose standing order tariffs onto us all, then I think they should also find a way to protect low users from being massively penalised.

I am switching to npower gosave, which pays an annual bonus roughly three times my annual bill, so I should end up around £40 in profit!

Wywth

Man_Overboard wrote: »

I have never had any difficulty understanding a two-tier tariff, ...

Maybe you don't, but not everyone is as clever as you and unfortunately Ofgem is driving suppliers to the meet the undertanding levels of lowest common denominator amongst the GBP

Low users are not being penalised. Standing charges are the cost everyone incurs, even if they don't currently pay these costs. Think of this backward step in billing (as standing charges were always charged in years gone by) as a re-levelling of the field for all users. Well that'll be Ofgems view...

Man_Overboard_2

Wywth wrote: »

Maybe you don't, but not everyone is as clever as you and unfortunately Ofgem is driving suppliers to the meet the undertanding levels of lowest common denominator amongst the GBP

Low users are not being penalised. Standing charges are the cost everyone incurs, even if they don't currently pay these costs. Think of this backward step in billing (as standing charges were always charged in years gone by) as a re-levelling of the field for all users. Well that'll be Ofgems view...

I can well remember the days when Standing Charges were the norm. I can also remember all the head-scratching down my street as people tried to calculate the cost of their weekly bath!

In fact, I'm not sure that the two-tier system wasn't introduced in order to make those things easier...

I've thought about it and, mmm... yes - a sixfold increase in my gas bill definitely feels like a penalty

Man_Overboard_2

I've just remembered my experience with Southern Electric when I took over my present home two years ago (as an ignorant rookie of energy switching, having been with the same supplier for the previous 30 years).

I signed up to Southern Electric as required, and immediately initiated a switch to my previous supplier - it didn't occur to me to ask about tariffs. The switch took several weeks, during which time the property was unoccupied, and when the final bills arrived from Southern Electric they were stupidly high because they were on Standing Charge tariffs.

I emailed a query, and received a call within a couple of days. The very nice lady cancelled both bills in their entirety.

amiehall

Stupidly high?! A few weeks of standing charges surely can't be more than a few quid... What is the obsession with the standing charge? I found Southern Electric to be very helpful after they made a mess of my final bill as well though. Wouldn't convince me to go back though, not at their current prices. Not completely sure how they have any customers....

suzeesu2000

Have just had my bills from SE for gas & electric; there is a standing charge on both. The standing charge on my gas is three times the cost of usage!

Do you think Tesco and Sainsburys will introduce a "standing charge" ie. Charging us the customer to give them even more money??

Talk about Rip-off Britain!

flyingjock1

Technically the topic title is incorrect. Southern Electric have always had standing charges. As for people switching tariff because they dont like paying the daily standing charge, well im afraid if you are on a no standing charge, you still pay the standing charge. Instead of it blatently listed on the bills for standing charge tariffs, the standing charges are incorporated in the 1st block (higher price) of units on your quarterly/6 mthly bill and you pay for it through your usage. Unless you are away from the property for mths on end/or your a very low user, their is usually only a few pence difference if you compare a NSC and SC tariff over a 1 year price.