Bought first ever house -Now what?

labradorlove

Me and my partner get our keys tomorrow for a 3 bed semi, not a massive house but not too small either. Only us 2 living there, both work full time, the gas and electric meters are both credit and not pay as you go. Never had to set up energy accounts before and comparison websites are asking us what tariffs we're already on etc but we're both living with parents prior. Any advice on the best energy supplier and the best deals for us?

Raxiel

The most important bit of advice is Make sure you find out who the existing suppliers are and set up an account with them first, before you try to choose your own supplier, that's something that can catch a lot of people out.

for the PCW's, Is it a new build or just new to you? If the house has a history, the existing supplier will be able to give you a historic average consumption for the property. Your usage may differ but it should be a reasonable start. If not, 3100 units of electric and 12500 gas shouldn't be too unreasonable a guess (although in your circumstances, I'd expect they are on the high side).

Once you are in and get set up with a tariff, make sure you submit monthly meter readings to stop any big surprises and build up an accurate average for your own usage - bear in mind at this time of year you'll use hardly any gas which will skew the average down until winter.

Finally, Don't get hung up on the direct debit payment (if you choose to pay that way - its optional but usually cheaper), that's just the suppliers guess of 1/12 of the annual total, some suppliers might lowball that guess, but you'll still have to pay the difference if the metered total ends up more.

Tariff's vary across the country, as well as between companies, so it's hard for others to advise which supplier is best for you, and why the comparison websites (or suppliers websites if you go direct) need your postcode.

macman

Put in any supplier or tariff you like as current on the comp site, the point is to get the comparative data.
As above, you are in a deemed contract with the existing suppliers from day one.