Atlantic customer needing help!

hulahoop09

Hiya

We have been with atlantic for quite a while and are on a prepayment meter due to a massive bill a few years back and I cant trust them plus I like a meter as I can budget better. Prices are going up in Oct and I am worried! We dont have gas as have economy 7 heaters (which are rubbish and even more so seeing as out living room, stairs and landing are all open). We have had a company come and check and we already have insulation. We have an almost 1 year old and my parents look after her at our home while we go to work. Come the winter our house is gonna be freezing again and seeing as someone will be home all day the .electric is gonna get bashed! Our unit costs are currently 17.41 for the day and 6.39 for the night. These will go up to 19.94 and 7.31 come october :eek: We dont have a standing charge on our meter.

I had someone from eon call me over on saturday and she gave me a quote (I was rushed and my daughter was playing up) and they seemed cheaper. She told me the prices were fixed til end of 2012 (though atlantic questioned if they would do this for a prepayment meter customer) and on a month to month rolling contract with no standing charge. I called eon today and they told me there is a standing charge of 2.23 (I believe this is per day??) and unit prices are 16.16 for the day and 6.00 for the night. I was annoyed that she had lied about the standing charge etc but I am wondering if even with this standing charge (not sure how they work) that eon will work out cheaper in the long run, at least for the winter while the price is fixed. I am not sure how all this works with standing charges etc but can anyone tell me if eon will work out cheaper for us in the long run compared to atlantics price increase?

Any advice is welcome as I am now panicking!! :eek:

Thank you in advance!!!

victor2

Put your annual kWh usage (not cost) for day and night rates into a comparison site, and it will tell you what tariffs with a prepayment meter you can switch to, and what the annual cost would be for that usage. You can probably get your annual usage from your latest bill, assuming you've been with them at least a year, or may have to contact your current provider if you don't know it.

hulahoop09

Thanks I will try to find something with annual usage. I am now wondering if it will be cheaper to go onto a standard prepayment tariff as my dad will be at home wathcing my little girl in the day now so a lot of electricity will be used then whereas before it wasnt. So so confused what to do for the best.

victor2

It's going to be difficult if your usage pattern is changing, as historic figures will have limited relevance. You could try looking for the best deal on a variable tariff for the time being and then see how it goes as winter approaches. Roughly speaking, you need to be using at least a third of your electricity at the night rate to benefit from E7 electricity. If you find you can't do that, then switching to a non E7 tariff would probably be better for you.

hulahoop09

Okay found my yearly usage statement from april 2011 to april 2012 (I was at home on maternity from sept last year to june this year and had a baby from the oct so usage would have been quite a bit).

Day units 3503
Night units 2173

I have used atlantics new unit costs from october and our new yearly cost based on the above units (I know not accurate) would be £857.34 (last years was £745.72).

I have checked Eons standard prepayment tariff (inc daily standing charge for the year) and based on the above usage our approx yearly bill would be £788.79

And on Eons economy 7 tariff (based on prices given to me on the phone) on prepayment our new yearly bill (including daily standing charge for the year) would be £778.10

SO I am wondering if to give eon a try on the economy 7. It is a monthly rolling contract so I believe I can change if I find not doing too well or someone cheaper.

victor2

So, there's very little difference between E.On's E7 and non-E7 tariff, and your figures show 38% usage at night.
See what a comparison site says for your postcode and a prepayment meter with those usage figures. Then try it again for the total usage and say you haven't got E7.
Looks like it could be worth you going to E.On on E7 for the time being though.
If you do go to a non-E7 tariff at some point, make sure the supplier knows and accepts that you want to switch, but currently have an E7 meter though.

YoYoY

hulahoop09 wrote: »

Hiya

We have been with atlantic for quite a while and are on a prepayment meter due to a massive bill a few years back and I cant trust them plus I like a meter as I can budget better. Prices are going up in Oct and I am worried! We dont have gas as have economy 7 heaters (which are rubbish and even more so seeing as out living room, stairs and landing are all open). We have had a company come and check and we already have insulation. We have an almost 1 year old and my parents look after her at our home while we go to work. Come the winter our house is gonna be freezing again and seeing as someone will be home all day the .electric is gonna get bashed! Our unit costs are currently 17.41 for the day and 6.39 for the night. These will go up to 19.94 and 7.31 come october :eek: We dont have a standing charge on our meter.

I had someone from eon call me over on saturday and she gave me a quote (I was rushed and my daughter was playing up) and they seemed cheaper. She told me the prices were fixed til end of 2012 (though atlantic questioned if they would do this for a prepayment meter customer) and on a month to month rolling contract with no standing charge. I called eon today and they told me there is a standing charge of 2.23 (I believe this is per day??) and unit prices are 16.16 for the day and 6.00 for the night. I was annoyed that she had lied about the standing charge etc but I am wondering if even with this standing charge (not sure how they work) that eon will work out cheaper in the long run, at least for the winter while the price is fixed. I am not sure how all this works with standing charges etc but can anyone tell me if eon will work out cheaper for us in the long run compared to atlantics price increase?

Any advice is welcome as I am now panicking!! :eek:

Thank you in advance!!!

hulahoop09 wrote: »

Thanks I will try to find something with annual usage. I am now wondering if it will be cheaper to go onto a standard prepayment tariff as my dad will be at home wathcing my little girl in the day now so a lot of electricity will be used then whereas before it wasnt. So so confused what to do for the best.

hulahoop09 wrote: »

Okay found my yearly usage statement from april 2011 to april 2012 (I was at home on maternity from sept last year to june this year and had a baby from the oct so usage would have been quite a bit).

Day units 3503
Night units 2173

I have used atlantics new unit costs from october and our new yearly cost based on the above units (I know not accurate) would be £857.34 (last years was £745.72).

I have checked Eons standard prepayment tariff (inc daily standing charge for the year) and based on the above usage our approx yearly bill would be £788.79

And on Eons economy 7 tariff (based on prices given to me on the phone) on prepayment our new yearly bill (including daily standing charge for the year) would be £778.10

SO I am wondering if to give eon a try on the economy 7. It is a monthly rolling contract so I believe I can change if I find not doing too well or someone cheaper.

According to energyhelpline.com, SP appear to offer you the cheapest tariff, saving you over a fifth of your annual enegy costs (based on historical usage data and future Atlantic pricing)

I don't know of any fixed deals for those on prepayment meters, but be aware that SP have not yet announced any price increases and so the above comparison does not take such increases into account but I doubt they will go up by over 20%.

hulahoop09

Ah okay fabulous thank you!! I did see the % bit for eco 7 but it didnt allow me to put seperate night and day units so not too sure how that works. Will have to have another nosey in a bit.

hulahoop09

YoYoY wrote: »

According to energyhelpline.com, SP appear to offer you the cheapest tariff, saving you over a fifth of your annual enegy costs (based on historical usage data and future Atlantic pricing)

I don't know of any fixed deals for those on prepayment meters, but be aware that SP have not yet announced any price increases and so the above comparison does not take such increases into account but I doubt they will go up by over 20%.

SP?

I have spoken to atlantic today who confirmed my unit costs WILL go up in oct from 17.41 to 19.14 for day units and from 6.39 to 7.31 for night units.

Eon did tell me my prices would be fixed until 31st dec 2012 but I am to call them in a couple of days when my details are on their system to confirm this.Even if they were to go up I cant see them being more than the prices atlantic are going up to I dont think. Lol. Would have to go up from 16.16 day units and 6.00 night units.

hulahoop09

hulahoop09 wrote: »

SP?

I have spoken to atlantic today who confirmed my unit costs WILL go up in oct from 17.41 to 19.14 for day units and from 6.39 to 7.31 for night units.

Eon did tell me my prices would be fixed until 31st dec 2012 but I am to call them in a couple of days when my details are on their system to confirm this.Even if they were to go up I cant see them being more than the prices atlantic are going up to I dont think. Lol. Would have to go up from 16.16 day units and 6.00 night units.

Ah scottish power? So shall I stick with eon seeing as prices are fixed or risk going to scottish power? Lol. I always thought atlantic were scottish power

Wywth

hulahoop09 wrote: »

Ah scottish power? So shall I stick with eon seeing as prices are fixed or risk going to scottish power? Lol. I always thought atlantic were scottish power

If you think Eon offer a fixed rate tariff for prepayment customers, ask them what the exact name of that tariff is, post the name here and see if you can find any reference to it on the Eon website.

Atlantic are owned by SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy) - a different Company to Scottish Power entirely.