Timing of swapping gas & elec providers has cost me more!

markandjayne

My learning is that you need to end up with the new supplier at the start of a quarter to maximise savings

My BG websaver tariff finished on 31/12/12 so onto their standard rates.
Scott Power fixed tariff was best big company tariff at the time (according to comparison sites). Asked to switch on 2/1
Gas moved middle of Feb (c. 6 weeks)
BG refused to move elec as account in debit (despite having DD)
I cleared debt straight away (mid Feb) by debit card and Elec moved mid March (again 6 weeks lag)
So by transferring companies roughly at mid point through a quarter, I paid the more expensive unit price(20.71p rather than 11.03p elec) with my first supplier and then again with my second supplier, so I paid top whack unit price for more of my gas and electric than if I had been wth 1 supplier.
If i had known about the 6 week lag, I would have timed my move to be around the start of the quarter and so would have saved on the number of units paid at the higher charge
Also I would have made sure there was no debit balance on the account when starting the switch.
Does anyone know why it takes 6 weeks?
Do any companies offer a date to start new supply option - as this would resolve this issue?

macman

No, you can't specify a precise start date. Typical timing is 4-5 weeks, and has been so since deemed contracts began at the time of privatisation, some decades ago.

keith1950

If i had known about the 6 week lag

The lag was mainly due to you being in debt so that's down to you.

If you had been more pro-active and initiated your switch on 15th December , without debt, the switch would have occurred between probably the 10th and 31st of January.

My fastest switch was 21 days and my longest 8 weeks but on average it now takes 4-5 weeks, if you don't put obstacles in the way !!

Nada666

That should not be the case - in fact, you are more likely to be 'mischarged' if your switch coincides with standard quarters.

On an irregular changeover the bill will be calculated to accommodate the exact number of days. If it covers six weeks then you will only pay six/thirteenths of the quarterly limit at tier 1 prices.

Bigger anomalies come from adjustments to accommodate actual readings - that will typically be more significant. As you found, that is where differences accrue - when you paid off the electricity you would have probably received an advantage with the tier 2 units by paying off the balance. Chances are you are a winner, not a loser, from two-tier prices.