Best time to switch

joe134

Hi Guys, been on here for month now looking who to switch to from Scottish Power.
Tried haggling with them, no joy, so decided to leave after 20years approx.
My fix ends dec 31st, but can leave anytime now without penalty.
When is the best time to switch ?
I always read my meters and send in my readings at end of month when my DD is taken.
Would that be the best time, and forego the last month of a cheaper rate than going to?
Any advice would be apreciated, as long time since I did it
:beer:

Merlin139

You may as well start the ball rolling now then. If you have no cost involved find the best rate that you want and are happy with the future company.

PeterGr

In my experience you can not define the date when the switch will occur, which will require submitting a final reading and receipt of a final bill. But if your direct debit payments are in line with your consumption your expenditure should be broadly similar.
With regards to the timing within the final 6-7 weeks it is a matter of choice and judgement. I can only suggest monitoring the offers over a period of the next 10 - 14 days. If an offer appears that seems to be a "good deal" then consider it. But if there are several deals with little to choose between then it is more likely that you wait, and keep under review every 2-3 days.
It is then your choice as to the time you wish to spend on this, and if you want to put an arbitrary deadline on it.

System

joe134 wrote: »

Hi Guys, been on here for month now looking who to switch to from Scottish Power.
Tried haggling with them, no joy, so decided to leave after 20years approx.
My fix ends dec 31st, but can leave anytime now without penalty.
When is the best time to switch ?
I always read my meters and send in my readings at end of month when my DD is taken.
Would that be the best time, and forego the last month of a cheaper rate than going to?
Any advice would be apreciated, as long time since I did it
:beer:

This one for you to judge. It is worth mentioning that there is no rush to initiate a transfer of supply. Provided your new supplier is notified via industry data flows that a transfer request has been made NO LATER than end of contract date plus 20 days, you have present tariff protection until the transfer goes through.

joe134

Hengus wrote: »

This one for you to judge. It is worth mentioning that there is no rush to initiate a transfer of supply. Provided your new supplier is notified via industry data flows that a transfer request has been made NO LATER than end of contract date plus 20 days, you have present tariff protection until the transfer goes through.

Thanks guys, most helpful
Didn’t realise the 20 days over my fix , so not so much a rush now.
Didn’t want to leave too long and end up on SP svr.
With Xmas coming, thought it would be better before they break up.
Not familiar with the way the system process works, so just trying to sort myself out with what has to be done.
“ industry data” something else I don’t know about.
Long time out of the loop:)
I thought once you pressed the switch button , the new supplier was being informed by me?
There are quite a few deals, similarly priced, so trying to go for best reviewed, on here, and taking pot luck.
Could even go with MSE’s big switch, don’t know if there are advantages in doing so than uswitch, et.al, same price ?
:beer:

System

joe134 wrote: »

Thanks guys, most helpful
Didn’t realise the 20 days over my fix , so not so much a rush now.
Didn’t want to leave too long and end up on SP svr.
With Xmas coming, thought it would be better before they break up.
Not familiar with the way the system process works, so just trying to sort myself out with what has to be done.
“ industry data” something else I don’t know about.
Long time out of the loop:)
I thought once you pressed the switch button , the new supplier was being informed by me?
There are quite a few deals, similarly priced, so trying to go for best reviewed, on here, and taking pot luck.
Could even go with MSE’s big switch, don’t know if there are advantages in doing so than uswitch, et.al, same price ?
:beer:

The energy industry works in mysterious ways. There are wholesalers; networks; transporters; Data Collectors and energy suppliers etc that all want their share of your £s. It doesn’t stop for Christmas. I have had an energy transfer go through on New Year’s Day.

In the case of a transfer of supply, the gaining supplier has the Licence obligation to take all the actions needed to take over your supply. This includes notifying your old supplier that a transfer is in progress ( a data flow). The losing supplier then has between 5 and 14 days to object to your switch. The gaining supplier also asks you for meter readings which are validated by their Data Collector. Once verified, the meter readings are passed back to the two suppliers to open and close your accounts.

MSE CEC; any other price comparison website, or do it direct? They all have their pros and cons. Collective switches no longer offer market leading deals as many of smaller suppliers no longer pay third-party commission. Some suppliers now offer referral codes which are not available on price comparison websites and, to complicate matters further, some suppliers offer tariffs via price comparison websites that are not known to their customer service staff which may not be available to existing customers.

Finally, my ‘good’ deal may not be your ‘good deal’ as the cheapest tariff depends on the supplier; your annual usage in kWhs/year and your postcode.

brewerdave

The best time to switch was early this year, and onto a decent length fix! The prices have gone mental since Spring!!

joe134

Hengus wrote: »

The energy industry works in mysterious ways. There are wholesalers; networks; transporters; Data Collectors and energy suppliers etc that all want their share of your £s. It doesn’t stop for Christmas. I have had an energy transfer go through on New Year’s Day.

In the case of a transfer of supply, the gaining supplier has the Licence obligation to take all the actions needed to take over your supply. This includes notifying your old supplier that a transfer is in progress ( a data flow). The losing supplier then has between 5 and 14 days to object to your switch. The gaining supplier also asks you for meter readings which are validated by their Data Collector. Once verified, the meter readings are passed back to the two suppliers to open and close your accounts.

MSE CEC; any other price comparison website, or do it direct? They all have their pros and cons. Collective switches no longer offer market leading deals as many of smaller suppliers no longer pay third-party commission. Some suppliers now offer referral codes which are not available on price comparison websites and, to complicate matters further, some suppliers offer tariffs via price comparison websites that are not known to their customer service staff which may not be available to existing customers.

Finally, my ‘good’ deal may not be your ‘good deal’ as the cheapest tariff depends on the supplier; your annual usage in kWhs/year and your postcode.

Thankyou Hengus, that was most informative, just what I needed.
Quite a set up.
Lots of links to go wrong indeed!
No wonder people like me prefer not to switch very often.
In my case, if it can go wrong it will:rotfl:
Me being the eternal pessimist assume it will go wrong, if it doesn’t then it’s a bonus:)
Could always stay put, forgo £100+, one off, and have peace of mind.
Decisions,decisions!
:beer:

joe134

brewerdave wrote: »

The best time to switch was early this year, and onto a decent length fix! The prices have gone mental since Spring!!

Hi B.
I change tariff every year,not company though, this time am considering a 2 year deal, but no matter what you do, you always have to play catch-up sometime.
Hindsight is great innit:)