Switching or Meter Reading - which to campaign for?

modsandmockers

MSE is not alone in promoting the idea that regular switching is the best way to manage your energy costs, and they favour the idea of more and more tariffs and more and more price differentiation. They say that there should be a more intensive campaign to encourage people to switch - http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/documents/Response-CMA-Energy-Market-Investigation.pdf?_ga=1.195505900.1940836422.1426946071

But I disagree. I think that more people would be helped by a campaign to encourage them to understand that energy suppliers no longer accept the responsibility of taking quarterly actual meter readings, and that customers need to provide these readings themselves if they want to be sure of paying the correct amount of money for their energy consumption. I think that if an energy supplier produces a bill based upon an estimated meter reading, then they should be required to highlight the fact that the customer is at risk of getting into difficulties (rather than burying the letter (E) deep down in the pages and pages of unintelligible numbers and information which many many customers simply ignore).

Cardew

SP asked me for an on-line meter reading which I provided; two days later a meter reader called and I checked his readings were only slightly different from mine.


A few days later I got a bill based on estimated readings - the estimated readings were pretty accurate; but why ESTIMATED.


I have one dual fuel account with SP but on-line it shows 3 accounts all with identical account numbers.

modsandmockers

Cardew wrote: »

SP asked me for an on-line meter reading which I provided; two days later a meter reader called and I checked his readings were only slightly different from mine.


A few days later I got a bill based on estimated readings - the estimated readings were pretty accurate; but why ESTIMATED.


I have one dual fuel account with SP but on-line it shows 3 accounts all with identical account numbers.

Cardew - you are amongst the minority of energy suppliers' customers who are able and willing to take the time to work out the meaning of the nonsense which they churn out. The point of my original post was that, imo, the idea that repeatedly switching supplier is the best and/or the only way to get fair treatment from an energy supplier is completely misguided/misleading. The price comparison industry feeds itself from the shambles of the energy industry, and that's the way they like it.

JJ_Egan

I take readings monthly .
But i agree many who are in trouble would have a better idea/ case if they took meter readings .

Better still would be for users to understand the basics tariff unit rates x usage + standing charge

System

I hate to say this but the answer to estimated bills is the roll-out of smart meters.

As far as switching is concerned, then we all need to recognise that there is a cost to this activity - payments to switching sites being one, and the cost of administration being the other. Personally, I would abolish commercial switching sites in favour of a single switching site (overseen by Ofgem) funded by the suppliers.

Time to start the car.

modsandmockers

Hengus wrote: »

I hate to say this but the answer to estimated bills is the roll-out of smart meters.

As far as switching is concerned, then we all need to recognise that there is a cost to this activity - payments to switching sites being one, and the cost of administration being the other. Personally, I would abolish commercial switching sites in favour of a single switching site (overseen by Ofgem) funded by the suppliers.

Time to start the car.

I haven't done any homework on the objections to smart meters - to me, they seem like a no-brainer. Rather than "a single switching site (overseen by Ofgem) funded by the suppliers" why can't we just limit the number of tariffs to the point where it would be easy to compare each supplier's single tariff prices against the prices of their competitors' single tariff prices. Buying electricity and gas doesn't need to be any more complicated than buying petrol - the price is prominently advertised before you drive in and, if you don't like it, then you have the freedom to drive on.

[Deleted User]

JJ_Egan wrote: »

I take readings monthly .
But i agree many who are in trouble would have a better idea/ case if they took meter readings .

Better still would be for users to understand the basics tariff unit rates x usage + standing charge

I agree, people glaze over at the mention of price per kwhr and I speak to enough people..something like a public information advert, similar to Mr Savilles ( sorry !) clunk click advert is needed. Just a few a week, simple five minute ads would go a long way to unlocking the mystery of an energy bill.