Is online billing really cheaper for you?

Elan

I have a prepayment meter at the moment and am considering swapping to online billing because I keep hearing over and over that it's cheaper and has better deals. Now I want to pay less but I feel anxious about giving up the control a prepayment meter offers me.

So what I want to know to anyone who does online billing or has changed from prepayment to online billing, in your experience does paying the online billing way work out cheaper, has it worked out cheaper for you?

macman

A PPM costs the same as the supplier's Standard tariff. What a credit meter gives you access to are the online discount tariffs, which usually come with some kind of DD discount as well.
Typically up to 6% cheaper-a comp site will tell you how much.
Certainly there would be little point in switching to a credit meter and the remaining on a Standard tariff.

MillicentBystander

Controversial opinion alert -it is my absolute belief that if EVERYONE was on a PPM the OFGEM average consumption figures would reduce massively! Credit meters, to the vast majority of the GP, are the hidden ticking financial time bomb in your house - generally out of sight so certainly out of mind, usually until it's too late. Actually paying for your gas and electricity before you use it is the best form of saving on your usage imo. That 6% difference mentioned could easily be recouped when you have to actually think about what you are using on an hourly basis.

It really is about time the energy companies gave people some sort of incentive for submitting regular meter readings. Monthly billing would be a start.....but in some cases now even those on standard paper tariffs only get an actual bill every 6 months! Ridiculous.

fishybusiness

A quick look at the Scottish Power website helps give an indication of the savings available.

Standard variable rate for 1 year, £1348
Online Saver 21, £1164

That's a comparison for direct debit payment, both gas and electricity, their 'standard useage'.

MillicentBystander

fishybusiness wrote: »

A quick look at the Scottish Power website helps give an indication of the savings available.

Standard variable rate for 1 year, £1348
Online Saver 21, £1164

That's a comparison for direct debit payment, both gas and electricity, their 'standard useage'.

I think this sort of gap is going to get smaller with the new Govt initiatives. And rightly so. How can it be almost £200/yr cheaper for SP (or any other supplier) to administer an online account as opposed to a standard one?

MoneyMate

fishybusiness wrote: »

A quick look at the Scottish Power website helps give an indication of the savings available.

Standard variable rate for 1 year, £1348
Online Saver 21, £1164

That's a comparison for direct debit payment, both gas and electricity, their 'standard useage'.

Scottish Power is cheaper for me using DD, prices frozen till March 2014.
Combined Electric & Gas.

Wywth

Elan wrote: »

I have a prepayment meter at the moment and am considering swapping to online billing because I keep hearing over and over that it's cheaper and has better deals. Now I want to pay less but I feel anxious about giving up the control a prepayment meter offers me.

So what I want to know to anyone who does online billing or has changed from prepayment to online billing, in your experience does paying the online billing way work out cheaper, has it worked out cheaper for you?

You will be able to get yourself a better deal if you can switch to a credit meter. However, you say you don't really want a credit meter and you may not even be able to get one.

A comparison site will indicate the costs with a credit meter, but more importantly, perhaps, indicate if you are on the best possible deal with the PPM you currently have and are happy with.

Bradfield

Elan wrote: »

I have a prepayment meter at the moment and am considering swapping to online billing because I keep hearing over and over that it's cheaper and has better deals. Now I want to pay less but I feel anxious about giving up the control a prepayment meter offers me.

So what I want to know to anyone who does online billing or has changed from prepayment to online billing, in your experience does paying the online billing way work out cheaper, has it worked out cheaper for you?

I once rented a flat where there was an electric PPM. The meter reader had to come round regularly to see that the meter was in order and to calibrate it if the prices of electric went up. I suppose that is why PPM's cost more than online billing where these calculations are made at HQ and customers supply their own meter readings.

The only negative I remember was that I had to buy a constant supply of meter cards to feed the meter. I am sure that I read in another post that it is now possible to get meter cards on-line and that would be a much better option.

If you change to online billing you dont have to worry about prepayment cards but you do have to be careful that your fuel usage is equivalent to the Direct Debits that you are making. If you use more fuel than you have paid in DD's then you will owe the supplier money.

Is online billing cheaper. Yes! As others have pointed out. But as was pointed out by "MillicentBystander" You may only get a statement once every six months (if you are lucky). If things go wrong and you need the help of customer services you may hit a brick wall. Maybe a new computer system has been installed and the whole system has crashed. That will cause you a lot of stress that you would never ever have experienced with the old PPM.

The savings available by going on to online billing is a financial consideration that most customers cannot afford to overlook.

I would only suggest that when you make a decision as to which fuel supplier to go for choose those with the best customer services ratings and preferably one of those who will give you an updated statement every time you supply them with an online meter reading.

Ecodave

The biggest plus for me in having a credit meter is the ability to spread the cost of my energy usage throughout the year. If I had to pay for my winter usage at the time of consumption, my house would probably be a lot colder in winter. So I suppose millicentbystander is right in that you will tend to consume more energy on a credit meter, but it is partially offset by the 6% reduction in rates.