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Changing tariff.

At present I'm with M&S energy and have a fixed price till December 14 tariff.
I'm a very low user. My latest online bills give me an annual usage of 1358.99 Kwh for gas, and 1326.14 Kwh for electricity.
I've done a price comparison on three different websites including Cheaper Energy Club. The top two results are npower and Ebico. I've heard a few horror stories about npower and am reluctant to switch to them. So I'm wondering if I should switch to Ebico, especially as it appears they do not levy a standing charge, although their unit charges for energy are higher.
What do you think, should I switch to them?
Thank you.

Comments

  • Nada666
    Nada666 Posts: 5,004 Forumite
    Also consider separate tariffs.

    npower's Feb 2017 fix should be cheaper for electricity and their Jan 2016 fix for gas is also reasonable (but probably more expensive than Ebico but does not tie you to never using your heating more.)

    First Utility also have a tariff with standing charges of only £10 per year - but it is variable and is dual fuel only. So the standing charge may well increase (they quickly abandoned their fix).

    As to npower's reputation - I would not worry. Read your meters, check your usage, contact them to ensure the transfer took place.
  • Nada666 wrote: »
    Also consider separate tariffs.

    npower's Feb 2017 fix should be cheaper for electricity and their Jan 2016 fix for gas is also reasonable (but probably more expensive than Ebico but does not tie you to never using your heating more.)

    First Utility also have a tariff with standing charges of only £10 per year - but it is variable and is dual fuel only. So the standing charge may well increase (they quickly abandoned their fix).

    As to npower's reputation - I would not worry. Read your meters, check your usage, contact them to ensure the transfer took place.
    Thank you very much for the advice. I've just been looking at E.ON's website and they offer a two year fixed tariff for over 60's which looks reasonable, based on my figures I'll be paying £30.44 per month until 2017.
    So I may will give that one a go.
    Thanks again.
  • footyguy
    footyguy Posts: 4,157 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 21 November 2014 at 11:01AM
    At present I'm with M&S energy and have a fixed price till December 14 tariff.
    I'm a very low user. My latest online bills give me an annual usage of 1358.99 Kwh for gas, and 1326.14 Kwh for electricity.
    I've done a price comparison on three different websites including Cheaper Energy Club. The top two results are npower and Ebico. I've heard a few horror stories about npower and am reluctant to switch to them. So I'm wondering if I should switch to Ebico, especially as it appears they do not levy a standing charge, although their unit charges for energy are higher.
    What do you think, should I switch to them?
    Thank you.

    Do you really only use 1358.99 Kwh of gas per year?
    (particularly since you only use 1326.14 Kwh of electricity)

    Or is that the metered units of gas, meaing kwh would be about 11x more (or about 33 x more if an imperial meter)?

    If your numbers are correct, I would definitely suggest you look at possible separate suppliers as I think you will save even more. (or in this case perhaps 2 different tariffs from nPower - probably save you about £100 a year/35% compared to the Eon figures you mention later)

    You will find 'horror stories' about all suppliers if you look.

    If you decide you do want to go with Ebico, note you can easily do this by just calling SSE and requesting a tariff transfer as both M&S & Ebico are supplied by SSE.
  • footyguy wrote: »
    Do you really only use 1358.99 Kwh of gas per year?
    (particularly since you only use 1326.14 Kwh of electricity)
    Well, that's what my online bill from M&S shows.
    Yes, it's good advice about using separate suppliers. Will use Ebico for gas and E.ON for electricity.
    Thank you.
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