Pay for what you use

hansi

I am currently on the British Gas Energy Smart tariff paying by variable direct debit which means that I only pay for what I use. In view of the price rises, are there any other suppliers out there who use the same method. The only thing I can see in favour of staying with BG is the Nectar points which are very useful.

DragonQ

Variable direct debit is common but it's usually quarterly rather than monthly like fixed direct debit. It also doesn't always mean you keep the "direct debit discount" for that supplier.

footyguy

hansi wrote: »

I am currently on the British Gas Energy Smart tariff paying by variable direct debit which means that I only pay for what I use. In view of the price rises, are there any other suppliers out there who use the same method. The only thing I can see in favour of staying with BG is the Nectar points which are very useful.

Most suppliers will allow you to pay quarterly on receipt of bill.
Those that do often allow you to pay that bill by a variable Direct Debit arrangement

Smart meters are not widely used at the moment (BG is ahead of the rest, but the reason smart metering hasn't taken off yet is there is no universal agreement to what a smart meter actually is, so you may need to have a new meter when other suppliers start using smart meters.)
If you regularly supply your own meter readings then you should only be billed for what you have used.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

To my knowledge no other supplier has a product similar to Energy Smart, where you have variable monthly DD's covering exact usage.

You can do quarterly DD with other suppliers, which will still get you (I think) the 6% DD discount, however obviously 3 months in 1 go is more of a financial burden than 1 month.

footyguy

Eon bill new customers monthly

But they don't have smart meters, at least not widely available yet, for the reasons I gave earlier - you need to provide regualr meter readings to only be billed for what you use.

Pincher

I don't see the difference between me submitting meter readings four times a year and having a "smart meter". It does save them some money on meter readers, and I don't have to be in when he calls.

hansi

I already have smart meters fitted and I still get the DD discount paying monthly by variable DD. So it appears that no one else offers the monthly payment facility.

SwanJon

As far as I know, E.ON & Utility Warehouse offer pay in full monthly options too.
Energy Smart is not the same as a smart meter - it's a tariff bolt on that usually comes with an energy monitor

hansi

Thanks. Not going with UW. Had a bad experience with them.