Moving into flat first time alone

pickledonionspaceraider

Hi there


I am going to be moving into a flat next week on my own, and have no idea how to go about setting up gas and electric - or getting good deals for them


Can anyone help, how I go about it and if there are any good deals around at the minute, really need to keep costs as low as possible

Norman_Castle

Remember to read the meters on the day you move in.


https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/moving-home-your-energy-supply/moving-home-dealing-with-your-energy-supply/


Also consider a water meter if the property is unmetered.

Robin9

Take a photograph.

Check and double check that this is the correct meter - do not assume just because it says Flat 9 it supplies Flat 9.

Keep your own records - read your meter at least monthly and you will save a lot of hassle.

Richie-from-the-Boro

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

Hi there


I am going to be moving into a flat next week on my own, and have no idea how to go about setting up gas and electric - or getting good deals for them


Can anyone help, how I go about it and if there are any good deals around at the minute, really need to keep costs as low as possible

- you area 'deemed customer'
- on the most expensive tariff your supplier has

Do it ASP.

matelodave

Read you gas, electricity and water meters as soon as you take over the flat(which might be before you actually move in). Do it yourself, dont rely on the landlord or someone else and as said above make sure that it is your meter that you are reading. Check by switching a kettle on and off to make sure that it speed up and slow down when the kettle is on and off.

If you've got stsorage heating then it's likely that you have a dual rate meter so make sure you read both the day and night readings and don't mix them up whe you give the info to your supplier.

Phone that information into the suppliers and set up accounts with them all. Make sure you record the information yourself and save it - take photo's. Dont leave it as you could end up paying the bills for the previous occupant.

Once you've done that you can look around for a better deal - you cannot swap suppliers until you've set up an account with the existing one.

Use one of the comparison sites to get an idea of how much your energy will cost - put in your own estimates, they be just as good as the suppliers guess.

If you've got gas & leccy then estimate around 3500kwh for leccy and 12000kwh for gas, if leccy only then it's a bit more difficult dpending on what sort of heating you've got.

Get into the habit of reading you meters regularly, at least once a month, record the info youself an save it (keep a notebook or spreadsheet). Send the readings into your suppliers at least once a month and check your on-line account to make sure that they are using your readings and get them corrected if they arent - DO NOT ACCEPT ESIMATED BILLS. Make sure that day & night reading are recorded properly

If you keep track of your consumption yourself you'll manage it a lot better than just waiting for a bill to arrive.

It's also worthwhile downloading and saving a PDF of your on-line staement or bill once a month and saving them, just in case some goes awr in the future.

Five minutes once a month can save hours of aggro in the future

NelliePie

matelodave wrote: »

Read you gas, electricity and water meters as soon as you take over the flat(which might be before you actually move in). Do it yourself, dont rely on the landlord or someone else and as said above make sure that it is your meter that you are reading. Check by switching a kettle on and off to make sure that it speed up and slow down when the kettle is on and off.

If you've got stsorage heating then it's likely that you have a dual rate meter so make sure you read both the day and night readings and don't mix them up whe you give the info to your supplier.

Phone that information into the suppliers and set up accounts with them all. Make sure you record the information yourself and save it - take photo's. Dont leave it as you could end up paying the bills for the previous occupant.

Once you've done that you can look around for a better deal - you cannot swap suppliers until you've set up an account with the existing one.

Use one of the comparison sites to get an idea of how much your energy will cost - put in your own estimates, they be just as good as the suppliers guess.

If you've got gas & leccy then estimate around 3500kwh for leccy and 12000kwh for gas, if leccy only then it's a bit more difficult dpending on what sort of heating you've got.

Get into the habit of reading you meters regularly, at least once a month, record the info youself an save it (keep a notebook or spreadsheet). Send the readings into your suppliers at least once a month and check your on-line account to make sure that they are using your readings and get them corrected if they arent - DO NOT ACCEPT ESIMATED BILLS. Make sure that day & night reading are recorded properly

If you keep track of your consumption yourself you'll manage it a lot better than just waiting for a bill to arrive.

It's also worthwhile downloading and saving a PDF of your on-line staement or bill once a month and saving them, just in case some goes awr in the future.

Five minutes once a month can save hours of aggro in the future

^^^^ THIS! ^^^^
Please follow this advice, it's the best advice you will get.

pickledonionspaceraider

Thank you so much

Does anyone know how I find out who the current supplier is, please?

D_M_E

https://www.ukpower.co.uk/who-supplies-my-gas-and-electricity

Norman_Castle

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

Does anyone know how I find out who the current supplier is, please?

It tells you in post 2

Chino

matelodave wrote: »

DO NOT ACCEPT ESIMATED BILLS.

Why not?

Certainly in the run-up to a tariff increase, if an estimated bill assumes a higher consumption than the actual consumption, paying the estimated bill means you can at least postpone the impact of the tariff increase.

matelodave

If you are in control and know what's going on with your bills & payments then it could possibly slightly beneficial.

However people have got into trouble because they've not been in control and not understood that their estimated bills are getting so far out that they dont know what they owe or even what they've used.

It only needs a couple of under estimates for some people to get several hundred pounds in debt and get saddled with a ginormous bill or excessive increase in their DD payments. The vast majority of problems on this forum are due to people not keeping their bills under control.

If you feel that it's OK to try and play the system then it's up to you but not good advice to someone who wants to get themselves straight and stay straight.

IMO it's best to get it sorted out before it starts going wrong and avoid problems in the future.