We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Low Standing Charge

davidm_uk
davidm_uk Posts: 68 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 10 Posts
My mum in law has just gone into a care home. She owns her house but we are just going to "mothball" it for the time being (security lights and low level heating). So I'm looking for an energy supplier (dual fuel) with low or zero standing charges. It must be a not uncommon situation, so does anyone have any recommendations (positive or negative). Don't suggest MSE Cheap Energy Club, been there, rates are out of date!
«1

Comments

  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 10,849 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Search on 'energy suppliers without standing charge' and don't assume that dual fuel is necessarily cheaper. Check the insurance as well.
  • Kitchen_Sink
    Kitchen_Sink Posts: 230 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker Name Dropper
    edited 30 August 2019 at 11:07PM
    davidm_uk wrote: »
    My mum in law has just gone into a care home. She owns her house but we are just going to "mothball" it for the time being (security lights and low level heating). So I'm looking for an energy supplier (dual fuel) with low or zero standing charges. It must be a not uncommon situation, so does anyone have any recommendations (positive or negative). Don't suggest MSE Cheap Energy Club, been there, rates are out of date!

    Forget about individual components of a tariff, what you want is the lowest tariff for your situation. To find that, smply consult a comparison site.

    Or perhaps you'd like Kitchen Sink's Special Low Standing Charge tariff.
    1p per day standing charge per fuel..
    Electricity. - £1159.00 per kWh
    Gas - £871.22 per kWh

    Let me know if you are interested :cool:
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Ebico....no standing charge.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • clochi
    clochi Posts: 25 Forumite
    Bulb .... £75 'Golden Hello' available from the referrers board (choose wisely ;))

    Will cover a good 6 months standing charges on a dual fuel tariff (to take you through the winter to cover the heating requirement) and have unit charges about half that of Ebico. Leave anytime without penalty.

    :money:
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Nil standing charge , but you say pay £75 instead ??
  • JJ_Egan wrote: »
    Nil standing charge , but you say pay £75 instead ??
    Bulb pay the occupier £75 . Sounds like they could make a profit depending on how long its vacant.

    I used Ebico s zero standing charge tariff for my vacant property. I had to enter usage of 100 kwhs a year in a comp site to switch but once I started submitting the exact same reading for a few months the direct debit was reduced to zero until I sold my property. Ebico was taken over by Robin Hood Energy. The no standing charge tariff was only for credit meters, not for prepays.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 31 August 2019 at 1:58PM
    I don't believe you can switch to Ebico via any comparison site. ;)
    You certainly cannot switch to their zero standing charge tariff by a comparison site, neither now nor in the past, irrespective of their supply partner at the time.

    You can get a quote from their website using as low as 1kWh per year consumption per fuel. It is that quote that is then used to apply if doing so online. Or you can call them. :)

    As regards to the non-availability of non-standing charge tariffs for those on PPM's, you can thank Ofgem for that! Their price cap introduced for PPMs made such a tariff no longer financially viable.

    But I don't have any reason to think the OP's mum in law's house is fitted with PPMs.
    If it does, that could be an issue if they wish to "mothball" it.

    But I agree with Kitchen Sink, consult a comparison site to find the best deal, irrespective of how that tariff is made up.
    i m pretty sure I switched via CEC but it was over 2 years ago. I would have been redirected from CEC to Ebicos website in the normal manner
    You can see the rates on Ukpower.co.uk Ebico Zero Fixed Green V3 ..6.5 p/kwh , zero standing charges..( S. Yorks area )
    I entered yearly gas usage as 200 kwh s in uKpower.co.uk just now and it showed Ebico as cheapest
  • It all depends on the usage to be honest.

    Ebico £0 SC tariff is likely to be one of the cheapest, however the unit rates on these tariffs are really high, practically double anything else. Gas is about 6.53p/kWh, Elec 25.17p/kWh

    In comparison... Green's Oak is 3.24/kWh on gas and 12.49p/kWh on Elec
    Outfox is 2.8 and 13.52 respectively.

    Green's Oak is therefore cheaper at 450kWh Elec and 1200kWh Gas

    Next lowest standing charges are from iSupply, and Yorkshire energy.

    Green have the cheapest Gas SC
    Outfox have the cheapest Elec SC

    "I haven't looked at seperate supply for Gas Elec, taking into account Gas only companies" - Most companies won't offer Gas only
  • It all depends on the usage to be honest.

    Ebico £0 SC tariff is likely to be one of the cheapest, however the unit rates on these tariffs are really high, practically double anything else. Gas is about 6.53p/kWh, Elec 25.17p/kWh

    In comparison... Green's Oak is 3.24/kWh on gas and 12.49p/kWh on Elec
    Outfox is 2.8 and 13.52 respectively.

    Green's Oak is therefore cheaper at 450kWh Elec and 1200kWh Gas
    i use seperate gas/electric suppliers
    .

    Green have the cheapest Gas SC
    Outfox have the cheapest Elec SC

    "I haven't looked at seperate supply for Gas Elec, taking into account Gas only companies" - Most companies won't offer Gas only
    Separate suppliers could be better overall.. My new fixed tariffs from August 2019 I m using Symbio for electric 12 p/kwh and Zog for gas 2.92 p /kwh .both have 15 p a day standing charges and no exit fees. Together these two beat the best dual fuel . I would nt use Outfox the Market personally
  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 9,879 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    As stated earlier, please don't forget to check the house will be covered by the insurance as many state something like 30 days only at a time unoccupied.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.3K Life & Family
  • 258.3K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.