British Gas now requiring smart meters with new tariffs

Carrot007

chrisw99 wrote: »

The reason I've resisted so far is due to having to take valuable time off work to be in, and due to the amount of sorting out in the room under the stairs to provide them the access they'd need.

Wheather it's gonna be a smart meter or not meter changes are gonna happen at some point. Any idea when your current one is due to be changed? (Though the requirements for non smart has been allowed to be ignored currently so suppliers can (try to) meet their smart requirements).


You can of course ask for a weekend appointment or a 2 hours slot (2 hour arrival slot not it's done in those 2 hours).

chrisw99 wrote: »

It takes me at least 30 mins to plough through the pile of junk under the stairs just to physically see the meters to be able to read them!

Sounds like you are a perfect cancidate for a smart meter then!
Or a tip trip!

AndyPK

The op will be with bgas until they die

chrisw99

The_Big_Bamboo wrote: »

That’s interesting;...what collective deal are you on at the moment?...and how did you come by it?

My MSE collective Br.Gas deal ended last year and at that time there was no collective fix deal to be had anywhere;...I had to leave Br.Gas and my smart meters behind because staying with Br.Gas on the cheapest tariff they were offering would have meant a whopping 50% increase,... and that wasn’t on their standard tariff!:eek:

I'm not on one at the moment, that's why I'm looking at other tariffs. Was probably on the same one as you.

chrisw99

AndyPK wrote: »

The op will be with bgas until they die

Probably! But that's because they've always been cheapest.

Just tried uswitch via quidco, put in all my usage from the last 12 months, and apart from Bulb (who it seems will put their prices up in November), this is what I get...

1. Lumo - Save 209.59 a year
2. British Gas Energy Plus plan - Save 199.77 a year
3. Powershop - save £180.34 a year
4. Octopus - Save £171 a year
5. British Gas Everything Online - Save 165 a year
6. ESB - Save £139 a year

So apart from Lumo at £10 a year cheaper, the next cheapest is the BG plan I was looking to switch to which requires smart meters.
This happens every time I do a comparison, BG come up at the top. There may be some a few quid cheaper, but it seems too much hassle to switch just for a £10 savings per year.

molerat

The problem is you are comparing apples with apples, you need to compare apples with pears. By not paying by monthly direct debit you are restricting yourself to expensive tariffs. BG do come out well in the pay quarterly tables, for me second behind Ebico. But in monthly direct debit tariffs they are well down the list at around £200 more expensive than the cheapest which is still £50 more than I am currently paying.

chrisw99

molerat wrote: »

The problem is you are comparing apples with apples, you need to compare apples with pears. By not paying by monthly direct debit you are restricting yourself to expensive tariffs. BG do come out well in the pay quarterly tables, for me second behind Ebico. But in monthly direct debit tariffs they are well down the list at around £200 more expensive than the cheapest which is still £50 more than I am currently paying.

Thanks, but I am paying by monthly direct debit (variable), and on the comparison site I have selected paid by monthly direct debit on the drop down. If I change the dropdown to pay on receipt of bill, nothing comes out cheaper. If I change it to quarterly direct debit, only the other BG tariff is cheaper.

The_Big_Bamboo

chrisw99 wrote: »

Probably! But that's because they've always been cheapest.

Just tried uswitch via quidco, put in all my usage from the last 12 months, and apart from Bulb (who it seems will put their prices up in November), this is what I get...

1. Lumo - Save 209.59 a year
2. British Gas Energy Plus plan - Save 199.77 a year
3. Powershop - save £180.34 a year
4. Octopus - Save £171 a year
5. British Gas Everything Online - Save 165 a year
6. ESB - Save £139 a year

So apart from Lumo at £10 a year cheaper, the next cheapest is the BG plan I was looking to switch to which requires smart meters.
This happens every time I do a comparison, BG come up at the top. There may be some a few quid cheaper, but it seems too much hassle to switch just for a £10 savings per year.

You’re obviously very happy with Br.Gas and to get their cheaper ‘smart meter’ tariff you’ll need to get Br.Gas smart meters fitted.

If you accept the ‘smart meter’ tariff you have a 3 month window to have the smart meters fitted;...if you resist the installation they’ll flip you onto their extortionate standard tariff after 3 months,...that’s the dire caveat in the smart meter tariff offer.:eek:

If you wish to remain a Br.Gas customer (and you obviously do) on their cheaper smart-meter tariff (which you obviously want) then you’ll need to have the new meters fitted. That’s the deal,...so it’s a no-brainer for you. Go for it.

Apart from the 2hrs it takes to have the smart-meters fitted there are no downsides to smart meters whatsoever,... IMHO of course.

Dismiss an talk of waiting for a 2nd generation SMETS2 type meter,...you’ll be waiting till the cows come home!

chrisw99

The_Big_Bamboo wrote: »

You’re obviously very happy with Br.Gas and to get their cheaper ‘smart meter’ tariff you’ll need to get Br.Gas smart meters fitted.

If you accept the ‘smart meter’ tariff you have a 3 month window to have the smart meters fitted;...if you resist the installation they’ll flip you onto their extortionate standard tariff after 3 months,...that’s the dire caveat in the smart meter tariff offer.:eek:

If you wish to remain a Br.Gas customer (and you obviously do) on their cheaper smart-meter tariff (which you obviously want) then you’ll need to have the new meters fitted. That’s the deal,...so it’s a no-brainer for you. Go for it.

Actually, I hate British Gas, last year they charged me several hundred pounds to fail to repair a boiler which turned out was an £11 flame detection sensor rod, I had to go through complaints and did get the money back eventually (plus extra compensation to pay for the £11 + labour an independent plumber charged me).

Like everyone here, I just want to pay as little as possible for my energy, but BG always seem to be the cheapest when I compare, like they are now.

I'll probably go for the smart meter tariff, my current meters are probably 30-40 years old so who knows how accurate they are, I could be being overcharged for all I know. And it would be a bonus to not have to spend ages getting to and reading my meter every month. I just thought after a cursory search and skim through posts on here that the advice was to avoid smart meters at all costs. If that's not the case, I'm happy to get one fitted, especially if they do Saturday appointments like someone mentioned.

Quentin

ItAre you sure that bg are the cheapest.

Does the CEC confirm this?

You say you 'hate' them, strange to want to stick with a company you feel like this about

[Deleted User]

The_Big_Bamboo wrote: »

You’re obviously very happy with Br.Gas and to get their cheaper ‘smart meter’ tariff you’ll need to get Br.Gas smart meters fitted.

If you accept the ‘smart meter’ tariff you have a 3 month window to have the smart meters fitted;...if you resist the installation they’ll flip you onto their extortionate standard tariff after 3 months,...that’s the dire caveat in the smart meter tariff offer.:eek:

If you wish to remain a Br.Gas customer (and you obviously do) on their cheaper smart-meter tariff (which you obviously want) then you’ll need to have the new meters fitted. That’s the deal,...so it’s a no-brainer for you. Go for it.

Apart from the 2hrs it takes to have the smart-meters fitted there are no downsides to smart meters whatsoever,... IMHO of course.

Dismiss an talk of waiting for a 2nd generation SMETS2 type meter,...you’ll be waiting till the cows come home!

Would nt that be good news to be flipped onto a standard tariff..No BG £60 exit fees on their standard tariffs so they can get switching exit fee free
Failing to comply with the T/C s of a smart meter tariff, BG s lowest I believe , for whatever reason then its a good time to visit the comp sites and make some proper savings with a switch to one of the cheapest in the UK,, Bulb, Eversmart Energy, Enstroga etc.
Bulb pay the exit fee s so I have just moved from Eon on to a slightly cheaper no exit fee tariff and collected £30 cashback from Topcashback at the same time.
To anyone thinking about this who know some friends on expensive BG rates , Bulb pay a £50 referral fee !