Best Deal for low usage and no DD

S0litaire

DavidP24 wrote: »

I went to Ebico site for a quote, several things bugged me

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I did a quick spreadsheet to compare Scotish Power deal with Ebico based on usage below

Gas 8570 kWh a year
Elec 2377 kWh a year

Was this Direct-Debit or a Pre-Payment Tarrif???

DavidP24 wrote: »

It does not look good for Ebico, not only does it cost a LOT more but you have to use just one third of the energy just to break even for price with standing order.

I guess the energy market just love to stick it to those on low incomes, punish the impoverished


Total per Month £53.78 vs £70.08
Total per Annum £294.23 vs £445.64

IMO Any poor bar tender who thinks Ebico offers a saving is really be stichted up

Again Pre-Payment usualy has a higher standing charge and tariff than Pay-monthly, So those on Lower / No incomes are more likely to be on Pre-Payment, that's where Ebico's savings start to come in.

DavidP24 wrote: »

It is time that OFGEM got the energy companies to abolish the standing charge and not allow them to add it to energy rates.

Consider British Gas ALONE, Profits have risen by 31% to £574m for the 12 months to 31 December and the parent company despite the fall of 12% profits at they still made a whopping £1.46bn, so £2.03 billion in profits. With 14.4m customers that is enough to give customers £138 each
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And people wonder why people say corporations are evil.

*Note*
Scottish Power's Pre-Payment tariff (in my area!) is as follows
Electricity = 13.841p/kWh Standing charge = 27.39 pence per day
Gas = 3.982p/kWh Standing charge = 27.39 pence per day

Total Standing charge per year = £199.95 per year

*edit* added my own math (can somone double check it for me)
Based on your example calculations you are using :
Electricity = 2377kWh per year
Gas = 8570kWh per year

Giving a total of :
Electricity per year £328.86
Gas per year £341.25

2377 * 13.841p =£329

8570 * 3.982p = £341.26

Total = £670.26

Total plus Standing charge = £870.21

silverwhistle

Oh for goodness sake. You just need to understand your own usage and decide whether you want to use a particular company.

I'm with Ebico, because FOR ME they are the cheapest. When people hear about the high unit charges they tell me I should change. My total annual gas bill for the last year is (quick arithmetic..) £35.92, so with any alternative supplier I'd be paying more just for the standard charge.

I've a three bedroom terrace but have PV and a woodburner, so I repeat, for me they have the best tariff. It's dead easy to work out once you know charges and your own consumption.

footyguy

DavidP24 wrote: »

200% increase in rate is a rip off, ...

I'm still not sure that is a rip-off, as the supplier makes no attempt to disguiuse their prices.
In fact they arguably use the simplest pricing possible, and those prices are available from their website ... or as you were advised to do in post#2, by consulting a comparison site.

But following your argument, if 200% is considered a rip-off, what percentage would it need to be no greater than for you to consider it not to be a rip-off???

footyguy

DavidP24 wrote: »

...you would need to use

Gas 2856.381
Elec 792.2541

To pay the same as Scottish power, that is a 66.6% reduction of average for property and occupancy, cutting back is one thing, is really a heat or eat scenario.

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I'm not sure where you are getting your figures from. :huh:

I have just used Energyhelpline to compare the cost of electricity for someone in the West Midlands region who did not wish to (or as in the case of your nephew, is unable to) pay by direct debit.

I used a nice round figure of 1000 kWh per annum.

Ebico appears to be the cheapest supplier costing £168pa
Scottish Power is the second cheapest supplier, costing £185pa - that is over 10% more than Ebico.

For reference, the SP tariff is their Online Fixed Price Energy June 2017 tariff which also has a £30 early exit fee
There are no early exit fees with Ebico

System

It is a pity that this site doesn't have moderators that close off threads when there serve no further useful purpose. The OP sees everything as a 'rip off' so much or what is being posted here is just being challenged for the sake of it. With its pricing structure, Ebico wouldn't have remained in business for nearly 20 years had it not offered best value tariffs that suited certain categories of energy users. Ebico doesn't suit my usage so they will not get my business.

silverwhistle

Exactly, and as it should be. They suit my usage so get mine. Still, a good rant gets if off your chest, I suppose! :-)

matelodave

Well said Hengus

CashStrapped

DavidP24, you seem to have mis-understood/misconstrued the advice that people have been trying to give you. This has now turned into a rant against ebico for some random reason.

Please let me clarify

The tariff that is best for your situation should be based on your annual KWH figures. Only that will give you the best indication.

No one is saying Ebico is the best deal for your situation and energy use. We only mentioned Ebico because you were looking for an alternative to a normal tariff and one for a low user.

The thing to understand is that standing charges are meaningless as a way of assessing the total expense/cost of a tariff.

It is quite simple. All you have to do is put accurate annual KWH figures into a comparison site and you will get the cheapest tariff for your use.

You seem to be having a rant about ebico, but you forget that there are some situations where Ebico may be cheaper. As I said, it all depends on your annual usage, property type and specific circumstances.

For example: Holiday homes, empty properties, work/commuting properties.

In all these cases Ebico would/could come up as one of the cheapest tariffs if the annual KWH figures were low enough.

So you need to forget the standing charges and stop going round in circles.

Just put your annual figures into a comparison site and pick the cheapest tariff.

If you do not have annual figures, use the typical figures for low users as a guide. I explained this in the third post in the thread. Once you have a years worth of data, do another comparison.

It is that simple.

If you do not like the cost of any of the tariffs available, then unfortunately, there is nothing you or we can do about it. You have to pay for your energy, so pick the best tariff available.

So, go to energyhelpline.com and input all the details you can including the preferred payment method and see what comes up.

Good Luck.

S0litaire

DavidP24 wrote: »

Thanks

So what you are saying is that EBICO are only cheap if you use virtually no energy at all and have an alternative means to heat water and provide heat.

I am glad we cleared that up

So all I have to do is get a woodburner put in and it will be fine, bit tricky for a flat, smoke and all that.

Should I factor in the cost of the wood?!?!

Nope!

Ebico's is the cheapest provider I've found when it comes to pre-payment.
Yes I am a light user. Try comparing Scottish Power's Pre-payment tariff against Ebico's! And see who's getting fleeced!