how to switch when you have an outstanding debt

emmalouisejohnson

I want to switch from Sainsbury's energy supplied by BG and did a comparison on line and joined your energy club and all said I could save but...... I owe over £600. What do I do? I can't afford to pay this off in one go and now my monthly payments are £260, they've jumped from £150 and we've not even entered the cold season yet! Any advice would be greatly received.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Not sure if you're in Australia but it's definitely the cold season where I am!

I'm afraid (assuming you're on a credit meter) you can't switch until the debt is paid. If you're paying that much, you need to look at getting your consumption down - this will allow more of your money to go on the debt rather than your ongoing usage.

What tariff are you on with Sainsburys? You can always transfer to a cheaper one with them (if there is one).

matelodave

If you have an overdue bill with your current supplier, they can prevent you from changing supplier until the bill is paid.
This is called an ‘Objection’. If you do try to switch and they prevent it from taking place, they have to write to you and explain why they have objected to the switch, and what steps you can take to put things right. Usually this will be settling what you owe.


If you have a prepayment meter and have a debt of less than £500 per fuel you might be able to switch. The debt can be transferred to your new supplier via something called the ‘debt assignment protocol’. Ask the supplier you wish to switch to about this

dogshome

Hmmm - Your original monthly D/Debit payment of £150 totals £1,800 a year which is around 33% higher than the average, and yet still not enough to pay for what you are actually useing.

There may be good reasons for this - Large family in a very poorly insuated house ? - But if this doesn't apply it's worth looking closely at the bills to see that they are correct.
Have the latest bills been Estimated ?
Do the Start & End meter readings on the bills run concurrently ?
Are you being charged for the correct type of gas meter ? *
* Your Gas meter will be marked either m3 as a Metric type, or ft3 if it's an Imperial model
Check how yours is marked and if it's m3, look at the line on the bill that says how many meter units you used and how many chargeable Kwh the meter units were conveted to - Divide the Meter units into the Kwh charged - If the answer is close to 11.2 you are being correctly charged for a Metric meter, but if the answer is around 31 get onto Sainsbury/BG immediately as you being overcharged by appx.200%

emmalouisejohnson

No not in Australia, just down South so not as cold as up North, yet! Thanks everyone for responses. I guessed that was the case. I have the option of putting the debt onto an interest free credit card and then switch is this a good idea? I want to pay the debit off asap but am aware that as I pay it off I am also creating more debt through consumption. I've put the boiler/heater on a timer, am switching all light bulbs to energy efficient and have told the family to put on more layers!

macman

Basics: tell us how the property is heated and hot watered, it's size, and your annual kWh usage on each fuel. Without that, no one can give constructive advice.
With your excessive consumption, what matters is heating and hot water, and insulation-not light bulbs.
Suppliers will usually object to a switch if you have arrears of more than £200.

emmalouisejohnson

I shall be carrying out the above checks and will come back with my findings, thank you dogshome. As for your post macman, I can confirm our property is heated by gas central heating from a combi boiler that also gives us our hot water. We live in a Victorian end of terrace, 3 bed home and my annual KWH usage on each fuel is as follows:Gas - 5/12/12 - 4/12/13 used 25943.61 kWh. Electric - 5/12/12 - 4/12/13 used 5965.07 kWh. I've been told that using the same amount of gas over the next 12 months will cost me £1358.90 and using the same amount of electricity over the next 12 months will cost me £860.95 - I must be going wrong somewhere and like you say it could well be insulation?! I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate all your feedback.

macman

Your gas is high (average is around 16,500kWh), but not exceptionally so if the property is occupied and heated during the day.
I'd be more concerned about your leccy, which is much higher than the average of 3,300kWh. Where's that going? Back up immersion heater left on 24/7?

matelodave

Your electricity looks decidedly on the high side, £500 would be more appropriate if you were on a decent tariff and using average consumption of 3500-4000kwh a year. So is the gas but an old house with solid walls might explain some of that


Perhaps doing some energy saving or conservation measures would save you some money. Have a look at what you are using by reading the meters regularly, ideally weekly or even daily. Put it into a spreadsheet and see how it fluctuates when you use stuff - see what is using most and try to reduce it.


Turn stuff off when it's not being used, turn your thermostats down a bit, keep doors & windows closed and make sure you've got a decent amount of insulation in the loft. Only use the the washing machine, dishwasher & tumble dryer when they' are full unless they've got half load settings - it costs just as much to run them empty as when they are full. Don't run hot water down the sink when washing yourself or rinsing stuff. Take shorter showers or shallower baths (or fewer of them).
Halogen spotlights use a fair amount and if you don't turn them off you can waste a lot of energy (our kitchen had 10 x 50watt ones = £45 a year if they are left on for two hours a day. I spent £60 on replacing them with LEDS = 10 x 4watts saving over £40 a year at two hours a day - even more if you leave them on longer - ours have paid for themselves already)

I'd bet that with a bit of effort you could save £100-£150 a year

StuC75

try and get a meter monitor to give an idea of whats using the most electricity - old style bulbs especially halogen & outdoor security lights (along with the usual suspect of hot water heater)..

Whats the heating thermostat like? is it just a basic on/off at the boiler? or is it on for long periods of time..

dogshome

With a Victorian era End of Terrace, ( high ceilings and solid brick walls ? you are never going to get your heating bill down to the "National Average", but beefing up the insulation and excluding draughts will still save £'s on the gas Bill - Loft insulation is the first priority

The Electric is a different story - How big the bill is, is up to you
Low energy light bulbs and educating any children in the house that switches also turn things off will help, but the BIG BILL creators are anything that uses heat - Tumble driers/ auxilery electric heaters. Also Plasma TV's and anything left on standby 24/7

For around a tenner you can buy a Wattmeter - This plugs into the wall socket and any appliance is plugged into it - It's screen will tell you how many watts the appliance is useing when working or on Standby, or can be set to show how much power has been consumed in 24 hours, and/or the cost