Electricity Price Quote. Should I go via Broker or Direct?

Aubrey_Thicket

Hi all

My family have a business in Manchester and their Electricity contract is up for renewal. Now, whilst it may seem a really obvious thing to tell them to shop about they have done this before and involved brokers and also gone direct. On one occasion a few years ago they were double charged (a broker negotiated a contract and British Gas failed to stop it) to the tune of £9,000. Thankfully everything was on paper and they were refunded every penny of the near £9,000 by British Gas. Also, a couple of years ago they had problems with a broker again when the broker failed to negotiate the correct contract changing dates etc. Again, all was sorted eventually, but only after a lot of stress. So, readers of this thread might say...So, if you've suffered at the hands of brokers before why would you do it again?

Well, my family have been told by several brokers "We get heavily discounted rates because we buy in bulk and then we are able to pass those savings on to businesses". So, my first question to you guys here is...

Do these brokers or third party companies get massively reduced rates to be able to pass on to businesses? Are these rates worth bothering with these companies or not?

So, the quote we have just received from British Gas (DIRECT via email) is as follows...

1 YEAR CONTRACT – Account 1
Standing Charge
0 p/day
Unit charge
13.45
p/kWh

2 YEAR CONTRACT – Account 1
Standing Charge
0 p/day
Unit charge
13.95
p/kWh

1 YEAR CONTRACT – Account 2
Standing Charge
0p/day
Unit charge
13.78
p/kWh

2 YEAR CONTRACT – Account 2
Standing Charge
0p/day
Unit charge
13.63
p/kWh


Don't know if it matters or not but combined usage is about £8,000 per years in electricity

Please could somebody tell me if these rates are attractive or if I really should be dealing with a broker (who can promise better savings).

Thank You in advance all

Robin9

So existing consumption is about 60,000 units. ?

Aubrey_Thicket

It is up and down but that wouldn’t be so far off.

Robin9

You need to do your own sums - I'm paying 12.83 plus 39.5p a day (for 2017, not had my renewal terms yet)

My experience of brokers has not been good - very persistent. They also need to make a profit

Ring the Big 6 and get quotes direct. I think Ovo do a online quote.

Trikkitt

I pay about £4k per year. I really do hate the way you have to renew contracts, give notice at specific times, depend upon switching on a specific date to avoid crazy out of contract rates etc.

When my most recent contract was coming to an end I switched to Bulb. They were the cheapest quote I got. What really won it for me was that they don't tie you in to a contracted rate, it is variable but they were cheaper than any contracted rate and have so far actually put their prices down rather than up! Plus the tariff is 100% renewables, so helps with the green credentials.

Looking at my bill I pay 27.4p daily charge and 10.96p per unit. Then chuck on CCL of 0.57p (which everyone charges on top). They were by the cheapest option.

I've never used a broker so I can't comment. You can sign up via a referral code, it gets your £50 of the bill (at least, it does for residential, not tried it on business). Mine is trikkitt. I can't post the URL as it is blocking me, but just go to bulb /refer/trikkitt.