Moved to new house - confused

Worried

Hi, I am new to this homeowner business. Just moved to new house and are with Scottish power for gas and EDF for electric.

Gas- Scottish power are charging us £25 a month for first 3 months, this is based on previous owners usage and then they are going to adjust it. Will we get anything credited back to us if we're overpaying? Can we not just give metre readings and pay for what we are actually using? It's just that we are getting a new boiler, as the existing one is ancient and I know previous owners used the emersion and gas fire a lot, which we won't be doing when it's upgraded to a condensing combi.

Elec- They had a key metre, so we got EDF to change this. Phoned today to set up monthly DD and they said the computer was giving them a suggested price of £35 a month. I thought that sounded a lot. They asked me what I would like to set it at, so I said £25. I haven't a clue what it should be. They say they review this after 6 months and adjust it. I don't quite understand this estimated usage business. Can anyone explain?

I think £50 a month for gas and elec sounds a lot though, but as this is all estimated, how can I guage whether I should be switching. advice please!

We are a three bed terrace

astroelle

It is very dependant on the age and size of your house, as well as how you use heating/water etc
I live in an openplan two bed terraced house and my bills averaged over the year are £100 a month. But I dont have the option of just heating one room. If you described your house people will be able to give you an idea based on their similar situation.

Badger_Lady

From the conversations I've had with electric companies (I've never had gas), they have to take a fixed amount by Direct Debit, which means they can't base it on meter readings.

The fixed amount of £25 a month might be too much or too little, so you'll either end up in credit or owing extra after your 6 months. They'll then take your usage history (as long as you bully them), and work out a more accurate figure for your next 6 months.

Just watch it though - I was paying £25 a month electric for my 1-bed flat, and after a year the company told me I owed them another £300!!! I'd have rather paid too much and got a rebate!

Does seem silly though - if mobile phone companies can set up a direct debit for variable amounts, why can't fixed utility companies do the same?

tripled

With a direct debit scheme you pay a fixed payment designed to cover your consumption. Every time your meter is read you will get a statement, a bit like a bank statement, showing how much you have used, what payments you have made, etc. The computer will regularly reassess the payments to ensure they continue to reflect what you are using. It is designed to put you in to credit in the to carry you through the winter.

You can pay just for what you use every quarter, but this usually works out more expensive as you don't get a direct debit discount.

The national average monthly gas bill is around #40 for gas and #25-#30 for electricity, so you payments don't seem unduly excessive whatever the size of your property.

magyar

Worried wrote: »

Hi, I am new to this homeowner business. Just moved to new house and are with Scottish power for gas and EDF for electric.

Gas- Scottish power are charging us £25 a month for first 3 months, this is based on previous owners usage and then they are going to adjust it. Will we get anything credited back to us if we're overpaying? Can we not just give metre readings and pay for what we are actually using? It's just that we are getting a new boiler, as the existing one is ancient and I know previous owners used the emersion and gas fire a lot, which we won't be doing when it's upgraded to a condensing combi.

Elec- They had a key metre, so we got EDF to change this. Phoned today to set up monthly DD and they said the computer was giving them a suggested price of £35 a month. I thought that sounded a lot. They asked me what I would like to set it at, so I said £25. I haven't a clue what it should be. They say they review this after 6 months and adjust it. I don't quite understand this estimated usage business. Can anyone explain?

I think £50 a month for gas and elec sounds a lot though, but as this is all estimated, how can I guage whether I should be switching. advice please!

We are a three bed terrace

Firstly, answers to your specific questions:

- Yes, if you overpay SP then when/if you switch they'll correct your overall payments to them. The best way to view direct debits to utilities is 'cash in a piggy bank' which is used to pay the bill when it arrives.

- Estimated usage is just that; they will look at the average usage for a three-bedroom house, and generally they're extremely accurate, as they build in all sorts of factors like weather forecasts and so on. But again, this is all just 'money in the piggy bank', so it doesn't matter if you get it wrong, it just means that if you've been underpaying, then when the bill comes you might owe EDF some money, and if you've been overpaying, they'll owe you some money. Obviously it's ideal to get it spot on.

- For a three-bed semi, then I'd expect to be paying between £50-80 a month, depending on usage, insulation, age/style of house etc., but it's very variable.

In answer to 'should you switch', the answer is you should almost definitely switch to someone, because nearly all companies will give you a discount for getting both fuels (i.e. gas/electric) from the same company.

Look on Martin's main board for the article on switching
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

tanith

I have a small 2 bed house with 3 adults and our combined bill with Scottish Power is £55 per month , if you are with SP they have an excellent website on which you can put in monthly meter readings yourself and look at your consumption etc... if you are overpaying they will adjust your monthly payments accordingly but its always better to be in credit than debit just in case your winter usage is a whole lot more than the summer ... it can always be adjusted and if the overpayment is a lot they will refund it to you....

magyar

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Does seem silly though - if mobile phone companies can set up a direct debit for variable amounts, why can't fixed utility companies do the same?

They could do it, but your meter isn't read nearly as often as your phone (i.e. the phone's read 'instantly') - and if it's all based on estimates then you might as well pay the fixed amount.

Effectively, you're prepaying, rather than postpaying, and most companies give you a small discount for doing so, which reflects the fact that your money is in their bank account and they don't have to chase you when the bill's due.

---lee---

I pay quarterly by direct debit for what I’ve used only (Southern Electric for gas + elec). I still get the direct debit discount but I don’t have to worry about over or under paying. I did this because I found the monthly estimated amounts never worked (always taking too much money). I file meter reading online every month but often when the bills come they are still just estimates. When they are estimates, I ring up with the correct meter readings and they send new bills. I get about 2 weeks notice of when they are going to take the money.

Worried

Thanks, I've asked them to set it at £35 and then will see what usuage is like after 3 months and look at switching etc.