MSE's Cheap Energy Club: Discuss & feedback

New2Forum

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

The aim is to have as near as possible to a zero balance by the time of the 12 month review. At this point, any credit balance over a fiver will automatically be refunded.

I have expressed my scepticism of E.Ons annual estimated usage here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5252410 providing my full history of monthly meter readings (In summary, my usage from 1st December to 1st July was 9.65 kWh per day, my account is set for a credit balance when the direct debit is taken out today and my direct debit is a reasonable £39.50 per month - from today until 30th November you estimate that my usage will be 34.93 kWh per day and to cover this more than trebling in my usage that you estimate, you want to increase my direct debit to £81 per month. The direct debit manager will only allow me to reduce the monthly payment to a still over the top £66 per month).


I am curious - are you able to disclose what proportion of accounts need a refund on their first 12 month review because they are in credit by more than a fiver? (I only ask about the first 12 month review, because I don't know if your estimates make more sense when you have over 12 months history). This will show how good you are at achieving your stated aim "to have as near as possible to a zero balance by the time of the 12 month review".

The_Wingco

Got an alert notifying of savings on my current contract with Flow Energy, entered my annual consumption figures, which indicated that I currently pay £804/year, when in fact I cough up £1080. The best deal offered to replace it was also with Flow Energy, giving a saving of £24 on the £804 figure. Can someone please explain the discrepancies here. - Thanks.

Consumerist

The_Wingco wrote: »

Got an alert notifying of savings on my current contract with Flow Energy, entered my annual consumption figures, which indicated that I currently pay £804/year, when in fact I cough up £1080. The best deal offered to replace it was also with Flow Energy, giving a saving of £24 on the £804 figure. Can someone please explain the discrepancies here. - Thanks.

I'm assuming this "alert" is notice of your current contract coming to an end.

I'm guessing here that you currently pay £1080/12 = £90 pm DD whereas the tariff cost, according to your consumption, should be £804 pa. or £67 pm.

If I have assumed correctly, it would seem you have been overpaying during the contract and that you should therefore have a credit balance on your account.

I don't trust the costings my supplier gives at the end of a contract so I would suggest you use only your actual consumption (kWh) over the past year to plug in to one or more energy comparison sites to determine the estimated annual cost for yourself - disregard any "savings" claimed and just compare costs. Clearly, the lower the cost of a tariff the greater are the actual savings irrespective of how much "saving" is claimed by the comparison site.

Former_MSE_Weleid

Hi The Wingco,

If you drop us an email at energyclub@moneysavingexpert.com we'd be happy to have a look at this for you.

MSE Weleid

The_Wingco

Thanks Consumerist - I did use my actual kWh consumption figures, and I do have a surplus of £262 on my account, which neatly bumps up my payments from the projected £804pa to close to the actual £1080.
Thanks MSE Weleid - am contacting you via email for your further thoughts.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

New2Forum wrote: »

I have expressed my scepticism of E.Ons annual estimated usage here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5252410 providing my full history of monthly meter readings (In summary, my usage from 1st December to 1st July was 9.65 kWh per day, my account is set for a credit balance when the direct debit is taken out today and my direct debit is a reasonable £39.50 per month - from today until 30th November you estimate that my usage will be 34.93 kWh per day and to cover this more than trebling in my usage that you estimate, you want to increase my direct debit to £81 per month. The direct debit manager will only allow me to reduce the monthly payment to a still over the top £66 per month).


I am curious - are you able to disclose what proportion of accounts need a refund on their first 12 month review because they are in credit by more than a fiver? (I only ask about the first 12 month review, because I don't know if your estimates make more sense when you have over 12 months history). This will show how good you are at achieving your stated aim "to have as near as possible to a zero balance by the time of the 12 month review".

Hi New2Forum

I've just posted about this on the other thread you've mentioned. It's at the link below.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/68713525#Comment_68713525

I don't have any information about accounts with credit balances I'm afraid. I'm also not aware of any particular issues or complaints about credit balances at annual reviews. Sorry I'm unable to help with this.

Malc

Consumerist

The_Wingco wrote: »

I did use my actual kWh consumption figures, and I do have a surplus of £262 on my account, which neatly bumps up my payments from the projected £804pa to close to the actual £1080. . .

Flow's rates do seem quite competitive at the moment so if you're reasonably satisfied with their customer service then staying with them seems like a good choice.

Don't forget to deduct the £262 credit balance from the estimated annual cost when deciding on the level of your DDs going forward. Alternatively, ask for a refund of your credit.

Edit
There is even a good argument, in your case, for both a refund and a lower DD going forward.

The_Wingco

Consumerist wrote: »

Flow's rates do seem quite competitive at the moment so if you're reasonably satisfied with their customer service then staying with them seems like a good choice.

Don't forget to deduct the £262 credit balance from the estimated annual cost when deciding on the level of your DDs going forward. Alternatively, ask for a refund of your credit.

Edit
There is even a good argument, in your case, for both a refund and a lower DD going forward.

Yes, I've just had a detailed response from MSE Weleid, which includes among other info that Flow have just reduced their tariff so that the variable is actually cheaper than the fixed rate I'm due to come off. So I'll be staying with Flow, claiming a refund, and be £25 a month better off. Yippee, and thanks for all the advice received.

Consumerist

The_Wingco wrote: »

. . . the variable is actually cheaper than the fixed rate I'm due to come off.

But is it cheaper than the new fixed-rate they are offering? If prices start to rise, you'll be better off on a fixed-rate than a variable and the current offering may not be available when you need to switch.

I only suggest that you think it through before deciding.

The_Wingco

That remains to be seen on 31st August . . .