Are the "Top 6" ever cheaper?

[Deleted User]

I've changed electricity supplier 3 times via uswitch or the MSE club, and the top 6 companies are never really usually in the top 10 cheapest quotes (I'm electric only).

You would think with their greater buying power and economies of scale, they would be cheaper.

Is this the same with others?

Highland76

Yes, they can be as sometimes their cheapest deals are exclusive to third party sites such as uswitch. I was until recently with Peoples Energy and thought no other energy co could beat their very competitive rates. However when doing a price comparison on uswitch in early July, it brought up EON's 'Fix Online Exclusive v6' which is slightly cheaper than the Peoples Energy tariff I am on. So i moved to EON recently without any issues and also arranged to get smart meters installed, SMETs2 hopefully.

Edit: just realised you're electric only which might explain none of the big 6 offer you anything decent. I'm on a dual fuel EON tariff.

JJ_Egan

New or small supplier have to offer a better deal otherwise why join them .

Haarlem

I was in a local shopping centre a few weeks ago where SSE were having a promotion. I was approached and said I was on the best deal on the market with a small supplier. The salesman said he could match that with an unpublished offer but he would not receive any commission just a plus point in gaining a customer.

I didn't take up the offer as I doubted his claim, but was he right.

Biggus_Dickus

Haarlem wrote: »

I was in a local shopping centre a few weeks ago where SSE were having a promotion. I was approached and said I was on the best deal on the market with a small supplier. The salesman said he could match that with an unpublished offer but he would not receive any commission just a plus point in gaining a customer.

I didn't take up the offer as I doubted his claim, but was he right.

Seems unlikely, IMHO.

nigelbb

My last two switches were to EDF & subsequently to EON. In each case they were the cheapest available fixed tariff. After several years of crappy service from small companies three of which went bust I'll definitely stay with the Big Six now as I really can't be bothered with the hassle of the smaller companies.

I was most impressed when a man from EON came round to read the meters. No other company has read my gas or electric meters in the last eight years at various properties.

roddydogs

Dont use CEC, switch bewtween Bulb,Pure Planet, and octopus to get the switching bonus. None have switching penalties.

andrew-b

I'm limited who i can switch to because of Warm Home Discount which is worth £140 so the big 6 often come out cheaper. Also can't afford to go from paying in arrears to paying in advance as that means paying out about £250 in energy in one month. My current cheapest deal via CEC was Avro (Advance payments), Bulb (Variable tariff so can change up/down and advance payments), then SSE (already with), EDF, Scottish power and british gas (both bad experiences in the past) and EON. Not sure where npower was.

Tried outfox the market once when it worked out cheaper without WHD but had alot of issues so i'm wary of the budget suppliers now.

It also worked out more expensive going to different supplier for gas and electric again because electric supplier i have to goto one who does WHD.

WHD should be reformed in my view and taken away from the energy suppliers to administer as it limits the choice for those that need to make savings the greatest. What tends to happen is you pay full price the whole year and get £140 credit for WHD against electricity which have to request a refund for rather than reducing monthly direct debit equally across the year.

PennineAcute

Previous years, due to being able to get WHD, I have been with EON, as, including WHD, they were cheapest for me.

Last year, Utility Point were over £140 cheaper than EON, so moved to them. This year, I am back with EON.

Smodlet

I agree with all the above regarding the WHD and the hassle of dealing with small suppliers; at least some of them are usually cheaper if the WHD is involved. At least the Big 6 are more likely to conform to Ofgem requirements if you do need to raise a complaint.

I had to tell Avro they were taking on new customers again after their failure to conform to the smart meter requirement. It does not instill confidence, does it?

I can answer for where nPower was since I just switched away from them: Absolutely nowhere, about 7 or 8 pages down in the CEC comparison and last among the Big 6 by miles.