SSE No Standing Charge tariffs finish.

andyt8

The ofcom ruling on simplification of energy charges has resulted in my costs increasing by 40% or more. I have been on a no standing charge tariff with SSE (ideal for a little used holiday caravan) which now will incur £100 standing charge per year (before discount).

So low or occasional usage customers will now pay MORE. Thanks Ofcom we could do without your help on this. SSE and others say they have to have a simple single unit rate per tariff - so out goes the no standing charge with two rate tariff.

Now to look to change to a supplier who still offers zero standing charge.

WestonDave

I'm sure this is unwelcome to you, but to some extent as you retain a grid connection year round its not so unreasonable to pay towards its maintenance to ensure that when you do go to the caravan it has a maintained supply. At least part of that £100 covers ensuring the mains connection, sub stations etc that feed your caravan stay in action.

flyingjock1

As youve said yourself Andy if its Ofgen who are insisting that all energy suppliers now charge a standing charge (even for zero pence), then by reasoning youll find it impossible to find a supplier who still offers a nil standing charge. Low users and owners of vacant properties etc will lose out but this is a consequence of people wanting regulations brought in that want the playing field made even so that people can make easier comparisons between suppliers.

DragonQ

If £100 per year standing charge is going to make a big difference to your usage then you're probably a very low user, in which case Ebico would likely be the cheapest provider for you. They have no standing charge.

MillicentBystander

OP, what's your annual consumption and billing region? It will be interesting to see what the switching sites come up with now.

andyt8

DragonQ wrote: »

If £100 per year standing charge is going to make a big difference to your usage then you're probably a very low user, in which case Ebico would likely be the cheapest provider for you. They have no standing charge.

Thanks for that lead. Never heard of them before and I see they 'partner' with SSE anyway.

Farway

andyt8 wrote: »

Thanks for that lead. Never heard of them before and I see they 'partner' with SSE anyway.

I am low user domestic customer of Ebico, very good, not for profit, choice of payment, even cheques in the post, paper bills, etc,no surcharges

You may not find them on all switching sites, they do not pay commission or cash back

DragonQ

andyt8 wrote: »

Thanks for that lead. Never heard of them before and I see they 'partner' with SSE anyway.

Yup. Since you're an SSE customer, you should be able to switch with immediate effect and lose the standing charge. The switch will still take 4 weeks or so but they'll back-date the Ebico prices to the date you initiated the switch.

NittyGritty

andyt8 wrote: »

The ofcom ruling on simplification of energy charges has resulted in my costs increasing by 40% or more. I have been on a no standing charge tariff with SSE (ideal for a little used holiday caravan) which now will incur £100 standing charge per year (before discount).

So low or occasional usage customers will now pay MORE. Thanks Ofcom we could do without your help on this. SSE and others say they have to have a simple single unit rate per tariff - so out goes the no standing charge with two rate tariff.

Now to look to change to a supplier who still offers zero standing charge.

so much for helping/making things simplier for customers hey?

with their reduction of tariffs and the standing charge to make things as they put it "simpler", its only made it worse and more expensive,
just goes to show theres little of no thought put into these things before hand

if they want to help people, Vat should be removed for something that's considered essential

but again it anything they can think of to squeeze every little penny out of us all, just like the bedroom tax , pasty tax etc etc lol,

its a joke

Nada666

Farway wrote: »

You may not find them on all switching sites, they do not pay commission or cash back

They are available on every comparison site I have seen. What is important is that you have to change from the default 'only show tariffs that we can make money from' to 'show all tariffs' on some sites.

This is a massive failure by Ofgem (originated by Consumer Focus) - they have no right allowing sites that practise that deception to display a Confidence Code kitemark.

Anthorn

andyt8 wrote: »

The ofcom ruling on simplification of energy charges has resulted in my costs increasing by 40% or more. I have been on a no standing charge tariff with SSE (ideal for a little used holiday caravan) which now will incur £100 standing charge per year (before discount).

So low or occasional usage customers will now pay MORE. Thanks Ofcom we could do without your help on this. SSE and others say they have to have a simple single unit rate per tariff - so out goes the no standing charge with two rate tariff.

Now to look to change to a supplier who still offers zero standing charge.

Ebico which has SSE as its partner to provide energy is still free of a standing charge and its tariff is still a little bit cheaper than the SSE equivalent. Not only that but all Ebico customers pay the same tariff regardless of the billing method and meter and they have no tiered rates. The change for you will be in the name of the energy company only since SSE will be the provider of the energy and bills still come from SSE.

The drawback is that SSE is increasing prices rather dramatically, 9.4% for me, on November 15th. I got the letter about it from Ebico this morning. But I think it won't be long before other energy companies follow suit!

https://www.ebico.org.uk/