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Time to switch again headache

Muppet81
Muppet81 Posts: 951 Forumite
Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
Time to switch again. Another few hours of my life I won't ever get back :)
I always like to be in control of my own money. For this reason, I do not like the idea of paying a fixed monthly amount each month by DD.
I budget for my fuel usage and like to see exactly what I use and pay for it promptly online.
I hate it that when I am searching for a new provider, I am penalised for looking after my own money carefully.
Unless I am willing to pay a fixed amount by DD, I struggle to find a competitive quote.
It really p****** me off each year!
Can anyone suggest companies which don't have a problem with dealing with someone who is able to competently budget for their own bills? Would really appreciate any feedback. Thanks
Thank you for this site :jNow OH and I are both retired, MSE is a Godsend

Comments

  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 34,816 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Many suppliers will deal with a customer like you. It is not about you managing your budget but the suppliers managing their cash flow and having the funds to pay for energy up front. If you wish to buy energy on the spot market you will have to pay a lot more for it.
  • Skools_Out
    Skools_Out Posts: 258 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Muppet81 wrote: »
    Time to switch again. Another few hours of my life I won't ever get back :)
    I always like to be in control of my own money. For this reason, I do not like the idea of paying a fixed monthly amount each month by DD.
    I budget for my fuel usage and like to see exactly what I use and pay for it promptly online.
    I hate it that when I am searching for a new provider, I am penalised for looking after my own money carefully.
    Unless I am willing to pay a fixed amount by DD, I struggle to find a competitive quote.
    It really p****** me off each year!
    Can anyone suggest companies which don't have a problem with dealing with someone who is able to competently budget for their own bills? Would really appreciate any feedback. Thanks

    Follow this
    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

    Look for tariffs that allow you to pay on receipt of bill.
    Many of the comparison sites allow you to filter results this way.

    It's chaeper for suppliers to collect via DD, and hence why the cheapest tarioffs are usually those that expect you to pay this way.
    Have you considered paying quarterly by DD? This usually means you still pay on receipt of bill, but payment of that bill is collected from you via DD. Sometimes this can be as good as payimng monthly by DD.

    Again, comparison sites often allow you to filter results this way.

    Whilst you may need to check a few comparison sites to find one that allows you to filter results the way you want, it really should not take as long as an hour for you to find a new supoplier and switch.
  • I'm with you OP. Every year, same old waste of time. Same for insurance etc etc.

    I wonder if Government factor into their precious economic models the opportunity cost of us using our time for this administivia? Of course not, because "all that matters is GDP".

    At least we can fix it for energy, by lowering our energy use we can make it essentially irrelevant, removing the need to move. Only Government fail to tackle energy efficiency too, even in new build homes, so that's closed off for all but the wealthiest and/or most educated.

    One wonders if they attended Economics 101 but failed to turn up for 102...
  • takman
    takman Posts: 3,876 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Muppet81 wrote: »
    Time to switch again. Another few hours of my life I won't ever get back :)
    I always like to be in control of my own money. For this reason, I do not like the idea of paying a fixed monthly amount each month by DD.
    I budget for my fuel usage and like to see exactly what I use and pay for it promptly online.
    I hate it that when I am searching for a new provider, I am penalised for looking after my own money carefully.
    Unless I am willing to pay a fixed amount by DD, I struggle to find a competitive quote.
    It really p****** me off each year!
    Can anyone suggest companies which don't have a problem with dealing with someone who is able to competently budget for their own bills? Would really appreciate any feedback. Thanks

    I understand where your coming from but it's not worth spending hours to find the right tariff when it's just easier to find the cheapest tariff with DD payments and quickly switch to that.
    You should also look into a cashback current account for getting cashback on your energy direct debits.
    As long as the DD is set to a reasonable amount the savings you will make by being on the cheapest tariff and getting cashback will be higher than any interest you would have got from a standard savings account.
  • AndyPK
    AndyPK Posts: 4,374 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Simply tick the box which says quarterly direct debit and you can pay for exactly what you have used over the last 3 months.

    perfect if you have loads of money in the bank.

    Some suppliers won't advertise this, but if you phone up they will do it.


    Obviously you get 2 massive bills around Christmas.
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