Moving into my first home - help!

AshAlee_2

Hello,

My boyfriend and I are moving into our first home (hopefully) within the next six weeks.

I don't know where to start on looking for energy providers and wondered if anyone had any recommendations/suggestions on where to begin?

It is a two bedroom flat, and will have someone there during the day the majority of the time.

Thanks!

matelodave

The very first thing you should do on the day you move in) is to read the gas, electricity and water meter. Write it down and put it somewhere safe and then phone the suppliers who are already supplying the property to give them the readings and let them know that you are now the occupiers. You will automatically become their customers and they should put you onto a standard tariff. This should ensure that you don't end up paying for anything that the previous owners or tenants might owe.

Once you've done that you can then transfer your energy suppliers to who ever you want.

There's nothing to stop you using the comparison sites to look around for the best deal before you move in. All you need is your new post code and a realistic estimate of what you might use. A good guess would be about 15,000kwh a year for gas and about 3500kwh for leccy. If the site askes you who your present supplier is just use British Gas and their standard tariff. You are looking for how much it's going to cost, not how much you'll save.

Ideally you should then keep a log of your meter readings (do it monthly) so you can keep track of your consumption and check your bills. Always make sure that you correct any estimated bills to ensure that you pay for what you are using and don't rack up big arrears.

AshAlee_2

matelodave wrote: »

The very first thing you should do on the day you move in) is to read the gas, electricity and water meter. Write it down and put it somewhere safe and then phone the suppliers who are already supplying the property to give them the readings and let them know that you are now the occupiers. You will automatically become their customers and they should put you onto a standard tariff. This should ensure that you don't end up paying for anything that the previous owners or tenants might owe.

Once you've done that you can then transfer your energy suppliers to who ever you want.

There's nothing to stop you using the comparison sites to look around for the best deal before you move in. All you need is your new post code and a realistic estimate of what you might use. A good guess would be about 15,000kwh a year for gas and about 3500kwh for leccy. If the site askes you who your present supplier is just use British Gas and their standard tariff. You are looking for how much it's going to cost, not how much you'll save.

Ideally you should then keep a log of your meter readings (do it monthly) so you can keep track of your consumption and check your bills. Always make sure that you correct any estimated bills to ensure that you pay for what you are using and don't rack up big arrears.

Thanks for this, it is really helpful. We should be moving in within the next couple of weeks so I think I will stick with the current supplier for the time being, see what the usage is and then shop around