Gas & Electric in New Hosue

R6TTJ

Apologies if this has already been asked.

We are looking at getting the keys to our first house next Friday, thecurrent owners use Scottish Power ... up till now we have lived with parents sohave never had to get Gas or Electric on our names (we just paid towardsbills).

My question is how are we supposed to shop around for a good deal when wehave no clue what to look out for? The house will be occupied by 2 adults and a1 year old.

I read somewhere that if I do not want to use the current suppliers I needto contact the supplier I want to use and they will do the switch automatically- should I give the old suppliers the gas and Electric meter readings?

Any help would be appreciated.

dumpallhere

Use any of the comparison websites (e.g. - Uswitch or CheapEnergyClub).

You will need some sort of estimate of your potential usage. Look at the last years' usage (kwh) in your current home (4 adults 1 child), reduce it by 25%-50% (2 adults 1 child in new house) and feed in those figures on the comparison sites, along with the details of provider and tariff plan you are on. Do comparisons at different % between 25%-50% and it will give you a good idea on who is/are providing the best deal.

Alternatively, use Ofgem's average usage figures of 3300kwh (elec.) and 16500kwh (gas) to compare.

Cardew

Firstly you will automatically placed on a contract with Scottish Power; this is called a deemed contract and it will be on their most expensive standard tariff - unless you opt for one of their other tariffs.


It is essential that you take a note of the meter readings - take a photo and inform Scottish Power of those readings. At the moment they are taking hours to answer phones, so send an email giving meter number(s).


You can then start the process of switching to another supplier. As you don't know your future consumption I suggest you use a comparison website like www.energyhelpline.com and enter the UK average of 13,500kWh for gas and 3,300kWh for electricity.


Actually Scottish power have some competitive tariffs at the moment.

R6TTJ

Hi

Thank you very much, great advice i will check the comparison websites as suggested.

R6TTJ

Really confused...

As the current vendor of my new property is using Scottish Power I thoughtwhen I move into my new house I will continue to use Scottish Power... That’s untilI started to read nightmare stories about their service.

Can anyone recommend a good company to use, to be completely honest I’m not massivelyconcerned about the cost but obviously don’t want to pay over the odds, this issimply as it will most likely take a year for us to figure out how much we willbe spending before we can look at getting good deals.

I just want to move to a company with no haste and good customer serviceshould i need to call them - thinking of EON...

Thanks for your help in advance MSE community

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

R6TTJ wrote: »

Really confused...

As the current vendor of my new property is using Scottish Power I thoughtwhen I move into my new house I will continue to use Scottish Power... That’s untilI started to read nightmare stories about their service.

Can anyone recommend a good company to use, to be completely honest I’m not massivelyconcerned about the cost but obviously don’t want to pay over the odds, this issimply as it will most likely take a year for us to figure out how much we willbe spending before we can look at getting good deals.

I just want to move to a company with no haste and good customer serviceshould i need to call them - thinking of EON...

Thanks for your help in advance MSE community

You'll find nightmare stories about every single energy supplier. I find OVO to be fine, yet there's a story today that they've cocked up 13,000 bills.

matelodave

You should be concerned about your energy bills - being on an expensive tariff could easily cost you £300-£500 more than you need to pay.
Most people get all their problems by not reading their meters regularly, not checking their bills to make sure they are correct or bank statements to ensure that direct debits are being taken.

As advised above send SP your meter readings (and meter serial numbers) on the day that you move in - record the readings yourself and don't lose them.
I'm not sure that SP are any better or worse than the others - I was with them for a year and had no problems although it took 10 weeks to get my credit returned when I swapped from them.

Use the comparison websites to see what tariffs are available using the 13500kwh gas & 3300kwh electricity - look at how much they are going to cost you not how much you are going to save.

If you decide to swap then sign up with the new company using the above averages which should end up with a direct debit of around £100 a month - then make sure you read your meter at least monthly and send the info to your supplier.

Make sure you check that your bills are based on your monthly inputs or read to meters to make sure that the bills are correct - any estimates should be corrected immediately.

Check that your direct debit is being collected (by looking at your bills and bank statements) and is covering your consumption and you should be fine.

Make sure you stay in charge

R6TTJ

Thanks for the advice - I shall deffo take this onboard

Still not sure if I should choose to use a different supplier to ScottishPower, suppose i just need to shop around!

matelodave

Just go with who-ever you feel comfortable with. Non of them are all that good but some can be truly dreadful - Npower for instance.

I note that SP have just been given a good kicking by Ofgem to sort themselves out by December or they'll be banned from any sales activities until they do. Hopefully that means they should get significantly better than they have been

AndyPK

one option is to more to the cheapest tarrif for your current supplier. (but one without exit fee's)

and they when you know who you want to go with long term, switch to them as it can take a month or 2 to sort