First Time Buyer Help

piperm87

Hi all,

I've purchased my first home and moved in over the weekend. I'm a little confused though at the moment with my energy suppliers.

The last occupiers were with British gas for both gas and electric. When they moved out I was told they would get intouch with British gas to hand over the metre readings and to tell them that the house is under new ownership.

Now this is where I'm confused! Do I need to wait for British gas to write to me offering me their deals or do I need to get intouch with them myself to tell them I'm the new owner or can I get intouch with any suppliers to inform them that I want them to supply my power and gas?

As it stands I'm not currently signed up to any of the energy suppliers and therefore none have my account details for payments

zerog

You are in a deemed contract with BG, if the previous owners have already contacted BG with meter readings BG will contact you soon.

You should contact BG with the meter readings too and give your details as the bill payer. If you don't want to go with BG you can switch supplier, which I would do online.

If you switch supplier and don't contact BG, they will eventually send you a bill for the first 6 weeks, which you should pay.

cootuk

I would ring BG to confirm the meter readings and get payment details sorted, then look into whether better deals are out there.
BG may have put you onto an expensive account if you don't have direct debit etc set up.

piperm87

Yeah of if they previous owners were on a tariff that I won't want them I may be paying more than I want.. Never thought of that l!!

Ill give them a ring tomorrow just to make sure all is ok.

dude89

piperm87 wrote: »

Yeah of if they previous owners were on a tariff that I won't want them I may be paying more than I want.. Never thought of that l!!

Ill give them a ring tomorrow just to make sure all is ok.

When your account with BG is setup you will be on there standard tariff, (the most expensive). It is in your interest to get onto a better tariff ASAP.

The best thing to do is pop your details into a comparison website and choose your tariff there. If you have had your own property before them using the usage figures from there would be a good start (unless there has been a significant change between property size etc)

If you don't have previous usage figures use the national average of 3300 kwh for elec and 16500 for gas

macman

It's your job to register for an account when you move in-nothing to do with the outgoing occupiers. All they need to do is supply closing readings. The longer you delay, the longer you'll be billed on Standard tariff rates.
Same applies to all other utitlies such as water-you neeed to contact them, unless you want to potentially be paying other people's bills.

piperm87

Well if I was to ring up BG and i elected to stay with this. That's the best tarrif they do which would be suitable for us?

Currently theres just me and my gf.. We live in a 2 bed semi detached house and both work during the day time so are only at home on an evening and night

keith1950

If you are going to switch register on BG's standard tariff first , if you are staying with BG then research their best tariff using average usage figures of 3300 kWh electricity and 16000 kWh gas.

If you are switching don't let BG put you on a tariff with exit fees !