Switching newbie- who should I switch to? (electricity, North-West)

vitamin_joe

hi, I've not done a switch before. I'm with Scottish Power for electric, which came set up with the flat, and only want to switch that. I'm on a prepayment meter, and am in Manchester.

Who's a good company to go with, long-term? I'm not keen on switching again really. Also, should I swap pre-payment for an account where I get bills, would that save me money?
Thankyou!

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

vitamin_joe wrote: »

hi, I've not done a switch before. I'm with Scottish Power for electric, which came set up with the flat, and only want to switch that. I'm on a prepayment meter, and am in Manchester.

Who's a good company to go with, long-term? I'm not keen on switching again really. Also, should I swap pre-payment for an account where I get bills, would that save me money?
Thankyou!

Switching will only benefit you short-mid term. The lengthiest tariffs run up until 2017, after that you will be back on Standard (most expensive) tariff.

Why would you only want to switch one? Commonly (but not always) it's cheaper to combine fuels.

Some suppliers will charge to switch from PPM's to Credit meters, the list is here. You will normally have to pass a credit check.

To find the cheapest tariff, enter your usage into a price comparison site.

matelodave

If you trawl through the forums, all the companies have their problems, some more than others, so you might as well have a go at a couple of the comparison sites to see who would work out cheapest for you. You must use a reasonable estimate of your consumption in Kw rather than what you've been paying to get an accurate estimate of what you should be paying

Nearly all credit tariffs will be cheaper than pre-pay although if you change to a credit tariff you will have to make sure that you get the DD right or pay the bills when they come in. Crucial to all of this is reading your own meter and making sure that the bills accurately reflect your consumption - if they don't then make sure they are corrected.

This forum is full of horror stories from those who just hope that someone else is sorting it out and can't understand why they get big bills. They blame the suppliers for wrongly guessing what they are using without reading their own meters and getting estimated bills corrected. They invariably end up with ginormous debits. Take control and you can save money, let it drift and you are in trouble

macman

Use any comp site with your annual kWh usage to find the best tariff. There is no universal cheapest, it depends on region and consumption.
A typical online discount tariff will save you around 6% over PPMs or Standard tariff.

vitamin_joe

Thanks all! I can only switch one because my housing association deals with my gas, otherwise I'd try to get a deal with both.

I don't know... I might just leave it to be honest, I have a mental block with maths due to bad experiences at school. Just thinking about trying to work out how much electricity I use in a year in KWH brings on a headache. Oh well, thanks for your advice- I might see if I can face this task, which for me feels horrible, in a few months.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Have you been there a year? If so, you should have an annual statement from SP telling you what your annual usage has been. Failing that, if you call them they'll be able to tell you straight away.

Switching away from PPM's is a more tiresome process, but there's nothing to stop you changing supplier to a better pre payment tariff. It'll take less than half an hour, once you know your consumption. Good luck!

macman

vitamin_joe wrote: »

Thanks all! I can only switch one because my housing association deals with my gas, otherwise I'd try to get a deal with both.

I don't know... I might just leave it to be honest, I have a mental block with maths due to bad experiences at school. Just thinking about trying to work out how much electricity I use in a year in KWH brings on a headache. Oh well, thanks for your advice- I might see if I can face this task, which for me feels horrible, in a few months.

Since you are already billed in kWh, it shouldn't be too onerous-no conversion is necessary. But alternatively it's a) written on your annual statement or b) by a phone call to your supplier.
Armed with that info, and your postcode, a comp site search will take you 2 minutes-less time than you've spent posting why you can't face doing it. Not much point in leaving it until winter is over if you want to save some money.

vitamin_joe

Oh, I've only been here a few weeks. I don't have a statement- not sure if you even get a statement for PPMs?
Anyway, switching to the best rate for prepayment is an excellent first step, and one I can definitely handle. I'll do that first.