Is it worth going to the cheapest gas/electric provider?

pcyam

Hi All,
Just reviewing parents gas/electric. and the usage has gone up a tad but the DD has shot up!
They are with SE and on the argos tariff..normally do keep an eye on it for them but missed a year. Normally they are able to offer quite reasonable prices so not looked in changing provider (lack of spare time).

Did a quick comparison and the cheapest is effect energy, never heard of them. read a few reviews and its a positive review. But the con is that they are fairly new to the market.

So apart from cheap tariff's. What other things do you all look at when switching providers! I dont like at home anymore, so trying to avoid parents having to go without gas/electric!

Thanks All

Smodlet

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71121811#Comment_71121811

Edited to add: Sorry, had a delivery arrive, meant to say, have you seen this and HTH.

victor2

If you are prepared to look after two separate accounts, then you can almost certainly find a cheaper supplier for electricity and another for gas. Gone are the days of dual fuel accounts with beneficial discounts.
There is no interruption to service when you switch providers, so no need to worry there, but only you can decide if you're prepared to take a leap into the unknown with a supplier fairly new to the market.
Note that some suppliers (particularly the smaller ones) take the monthly payment up front, where bigger ones often take it effectively in arrears. It all works out in the end, but can catch you out if you switch from paying in arrears to paying up front and get hit for two payments in the month you switch.
I assume you used annual kWh usage to do a comparison and not monthly DD amount...

JJ_Egan

They wont go without it is not something that is switched off if billing problems .
DD may have gone up to to underpaying would be my first thought .
Leap into the unknown in preference to the big 6 many who have had problems and been fined by the regulator .

I totally ignore estimated direct debit/ annual usage .Only interested in the actual price per unit and standing charges .

sniggings

JJ_Egan wrote: »

I totally ignore estimated direct debit/ annual usage .Only interested in the actual price per unit and standing charges .

You would need to factor in your usage somehow to get a accurate idea of the cost.


OP, I would try and stay with a provider that sets out their payment methods on DD, as some put up the DD lots without much say from the sustomer and it can be hard to get them to lower it again if they get it wrong


I was with GB and they increase the DD in winter by 50%, to cover winter usage, which is good as you pay half the rest of the year, they do request a monthly reading and if you miss it chances are you'll get an estimated bill.


So in your shoes paying slightly more for better customer service and a billing system that suits you will be worth it.


There is no need to go for the lowest provider, as only paying a £1 more a week will open up a lot more choice for you, saving that £1 and getting a load of hassle is not worth it.

lstar337

I would say searching for cheap energy is very worth it for those willing to put in a little effort.

I would say that if you are the kind of person who never bothers to read your meter and/or submit readings, then going for cheapy providers can land you in trouble.

On the other hand, if you keep on top of it you can save hundreds.

Lots of people end up in trouble for not submitting readings (the attitude that it is the suppliers responsibility), but people who switch often blame these problems on the new supplier rather than themselves.

JJ_Egan

sniggings wrote: »

You would need to factor in your usage somehow to get a accurate idea of the cost.

Usage when i sign up is given to allow a DD payment in line with possible usage .

teddysmum

[QUOTE=JJ Egan;71145732


I totally ignore estimated direct debit/ annual usage .Only interested in the actual price per unit and standing charges .[/QUOTE]



An idea of likely usage is important as high standing charge but low unit rate may suit higher users, while low standing charge and a higher rate may suit a low user, with a changeover point between the two.

sniggings

JJ_Egan wrote: »

sniggings wrote: »

You would need to factor in your usage somehow to get a accurate idea of the cost.

Usage when i sign up is given to allow a DD payment in line with possible usage .

You must factor in useage before signing up? as some providers have higher standing chargers or lower unit rates, you will need to know usage to see if maybe it's worth going with the higher standing charge to get the lower unit rate or vice versa.

Edit teddysmum beat me to it. Just read that post.

SammenForLivet2

If you have no problems with the switch, and are quite on-line savvy, plus have an easy meter setup - then Yes, please go with the cheapest provider.

Otherwise, if something goes wrong, remember that you choose the cheapest supplier. Generally, some of the mid-market boutique energy suppliers have extremely good service and still can save compared to the Big Six, not because of lack of investment in Customer Service, but because they don't have the financial obligations that the Big Six have (yet!)

Sosumi

teddysmum wrote: »

An idea of likely usage is important as high standing charge but low unit rate may suit higher users, while low standing charge and a higher rate may suit a low user, with a changeover point between the two.

sniggings wrote: »

You must factor in useage before signing up? as some providers have higher standing chargers or lower unit rates, you will need to know usage to see if maybe it's worth going with the higher standing charge to get the lower unit rate or vice versa.

What you point out is all very well in principle but in practice the calculation is far more complex than that.

There are all manner of variables involved.

For a start, the calculation will depend in part upon whether you heat with electricity or with gas.

To keep it simple, let’s take just one (of many) possible scenario(s); a house with gas central heating and a hot water tank. Let us suppose further, again to keep things simple, that you receive your gas and electricity from different suppliers.

In this situation and in a mild winter, you would want, for gas, low standing charges and high unit charges. But in a severe winter you would want it the other way round – high standing charges and low unit charges. The problem is that when you are being faced with taking out a new one-year fix in August (like now) you don’t know whether the following winter is going to be mild or whether it’s going to be severe. So, which gas tariff do you choose?

Keeping that same set-up, you’ll probably want to switch off the (gas) heating entirely in the summer months, perhaps (as we do) even switching off the boiler entirely and using the electric immersion heater in the hot water tank instead.

Well, for that, to deal with a severe winter, you’d want high standing charges and low unit charges for gas during the winter months and low standing charges with high unit charges for gas during the summer months. Are you going to switch your gas tariff or supplier twice a year? And, even if you’re prepared to do that, you won’t know at the autumn switch whether the imminent winter is going to be a mild one or a severe one.

But this, as I pointed out is just one of the possible scenarios. If the house is heated with electricity, you’re going to have to work out what percentage of your electricity usage is for heating and what percentage is for other devices. And then apply that to the same variables that applied for gas central heating.

We could probably reduce our own annual energy costs by a bit if we separated the gas supplier and the electricity supplier and then switched gas tariffs twice a year, in November and March, but we still wouldn’t know in November whether the forthcoming winter was going to be mild or severe, each one requiring a different standing charge to unit charge ratio in order to optimise the cost.

Bring Saver-7 or Saver-10 into the electricity equation and the calculations would become even more complicated.

In practice, we just use our average annual consumption figures, taken from weekly (when we are at home) meter reading over the last eight years, stick them into an energy comparison site and check them on a spreadsheet. We keep a close eye on the market and go with the best dual-fuel (usually collective) fixes on E.ON as and when they come on offer.

It’s not the very cheapest way to do it but it’s simple, hassle-free, doesn’t cost a whole lot more and it lets us get on with our lives.

It’s possible, but complex and time-consuming, to do the calculations you suggest – and I realise that some people do need to save every penny they can – but the Joker is still not knowing how cold next winter is going to be, and Early Exit Fees can outweigh the savings from switching tariffs twice a year.

(Edited to correct a formatting error. )