Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

hoopstars

Terrylw1 wrote: »

The timings of the E7 off peak hours are irrelevant to being able to produce a bill. Your meter switches from day to night and the appropriate dial begins to record.

A Supplier gets these register readings and bill them on the correct day/night combination. The Timeswitch is set up when the meter is installed and it's different based on whether it's a timeswitch or radio telemeter. However, they drift, get set up wrong, etc...hence they can still differ then so it's usually best to check it's switching over when you expect.

Distributors don't fit the meters so will only give you the same responses a Supplier could. If the Supplier is unsure, they can always call the Meter Operator and check what it should be.

If you MPAN (and property) is not registered to anyone, you can opt to go to whoever you wish and it's not a "switch" that you will do. It will be your first registration. This brings additional problems, as whilst the registration is actually easier, they will have no record of the meter/readings etc. So, make sure you take them and remind them that they cannot bill you before your registration date (known as Supplier Start Date (SSD)). They only start paying from that date and any previous units used are effectively "lost" and the local Distributor will end up unable to bill the Supplier for them.

Strange that you don't have a registration since you have a meter. Have you been a new build over the past few years? Maybe on a large building site?

Hi My house was built in the 70s and is in a small close of 8 houses.
I have now been told that Utility Warehouse are sending an engineer to look at the meter to sort out what is going on.
I have been assured that I will not suddenly get a large bill as I always phone my meter readings through and now and then a meter reader turns up (I also have all my past bills).
I spoke to a neighbour and they had trouble with their meter some years ago, they were never billed despite keep contacting their supplier.
I will wait and see what the engineer says on the 19th and I will post the outcome if it will be of benefit to anyone.
Many thanks

brendang_2

hi,looking for some advice regards switching suppliers, cashback ,best future provider etc,the reason im asking is i pay £100 a month cash on a card (not prepay meter) for my gas and electric and have done for 18 months,today however ive recieved a letter from my provider npower saying from 1st december my new payment will be £170 a month which is a big hike which ill struggle to cope with,ive heard doing a switch of providers can save money but i dont understand the ins and outs of it, and also direct debits can save money for me again,can someone please advise me as what to do and how to do it,all i currently owe npower is 70pounds before new payments should start at £170 a month in december,do i pay npower the £70 then switch,also do you pay your new provider up front their estimates of your bill if you go direct debit ie first monthly installment before they take my account over and how long is the switch process,sorry its so long winded but my heads spinning,thanks
ps my house is 2up two down

FOREVER21

I have just switched supplier from EDF to Scottish power. suggest you give the "Which" web site a try for impatial advice as to best supplier for you. Then when you decide try confused .com who might be doing a cahback offer.
The whole change went smoothly and took about 8 weeks, I think you will have to pay any outstanding bill before you can switch. Paying by DD is the cheapest option and sus out the on line tariffs.:)

competitionscafe

brendang wrote: »

hi,looking for some advice regards switching suppliers, cashback ,best future provider etc

Use your bills to compare at a comparison website and find the cheapest supplier, but do not switch yet:
eg: http://www.energyhelpline.com/

Join a cashback site if not already a member:
eg: http://www.topcashback.co.uk/

Search for the name of the cheapest supplier on the cashback site and see what the current cashback is, compare this with the current cashback via the MSE links (usually up to £30) : http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity#cashback

Switch via the cashback site link or MSE link (whichever has the highest cashback)

The cashback site link will take you straight to the supplier while the MSE links will take you to a comparison site (energyhelpline/moneysupermarket etc) where you will need to compare again and then switch via the link on the comparison site.

Tiffanyk

I used energy helpline to find a cheaper supply, (I didn't go with the cheapest I weighed up service ratings too. ) Then I went through Quidco and got myself £80 cashback - all good

INSPIRED

Our E.on FixOnline ends on 01/12 so I have looked at the comparison sights.

The best is a 16% saving with EDF + £75 bonus for switching through Energyhelpline + Energyhelpline £15 cashback

Also, Energyhelpline will make sure it all goes through on the correct date i.e. 01/12

Trouble is there is a £30 cancellation fee and I have heard that EDF are only fixing their prices until March 2011

There is a fixed EDF that will work out 3% more than what I am paying now.

Not too sure what to do - anyone have any words of wisdom for me, please

competitionscafe

INSPIRED wrote: »

The best is a 16% saving with EDF + £75 bonus for switching through Energyhelpline + Energyhelpline £15 cashback

The EDF £75 / £100 bonus is not "for switching through Energyhelpline" - you get it wether you go via a comparison site, a cashback site or direct.
http://www2.savetodaysavetomorrow.com/DualFuel.html

So you could go to EDF via topcashback and get £80 potential cashback (instead of £15) and you will still get the £75 / £100 bonus as well.

The fixed EDF tariff is until March 2012 so if it's only 3% more than what you are paying now and you prefer a fixed tariff, it could be worth the peace of mind given that fuel price rises seem inevitable (the EDF no rises until March 2011 only applies to their standard tariff so in theory they could increase the price of their cheapest tariff (Online S@ver Version 7) by a percent or two before March.
http://www2.savetodaysavetomorrow.com/Fixed_Saver_further.html

INSPIRED

competitionscafe wrote: »

the EDF no rises until March 2011 only applies to their standard tariff so in theory they could increase the price of their cheapest tariff (Online S@ver Version 7) by a percent or two before March.

Thanks competitionscafe for pointing this out - I hadn't taken looked at it in this way.

Yes, I did look at topcashback but I liked the idea that energyhelpline would do the swap on the day my current plan ends. Obviously I need to do more homework!

This is so boring!!

CashCow_3

competitionscafe wrote: »

The EDF £75 / £100 bonus is not "for switching through Energyhelpline" - you get it wether you go via a comparison site, a cashback site or direct.


So you could go to EDF via topcashback and get £80 potential cashback (instead of £15) and you will still get the £75 / £100 bonus as well.

Hello,

I have just switched to Scottish Power (but have 7 days cooling of period). I am currently on British Gas and NPower standard tariffs so it seems I can save a bunch of money.

I have always avoided switching in the past as have not trusted the comparisons since I wasn't sure about my energy consumption for them to be accurate. However I now have actual annual KWH uses so am happy regarding the comparisons.

The comparison sites seem to all say about the same.

I couldn't decide between Scottish Power which would save me £360 (Online Energy Saver 11) per year for dual fuel and £301 for EDF (OnlineSaver7).

EDF are also offering £100 for new customers signing up in November which means the saving would be £401 which is better than Scottish Power overall so maybe I made a mistake choosing the Scottish Power Switch?

I have now seen that if I use the topcashback site as discussed here I can get an extra £80.80 for EDF and £62.62 for Scottish Power!

Can someone confirm that if I get the £80.80 from topcashback I still get the £100 EDF are offering at the moment?

If so then taking the above into account the total saving through cashback would be:
EDF: £481.80
Scottish Power: £422.62

At the moment the switch I have chosen will save me £375.

Have I undertood all this correctly?
If so I think I need to cancel the switch quickly (I have been told I have 7 days cooling off) and do one of the above?

Are EDF and Scottish Power both similar in terms of satisfacion etc?

From the above SP has the lowest Tariff, but EDF the biggest overall saving for the year.

Thanks in advance - I am new to this soo just wanted some feedback.

competitionscafe

CashCow wrote: »

Can someone confirm that if I get the £80.80 from topcashback I still get the £100 EDF are offering at the moment?

Yes, as the £100 applies to all new customers and the topcashback page also refers to the £100 welcome bonus. Remember that cashback is never 100% guaranteed - although in 5 years of using cashback sites and switching 6 times I have always got the cashback okay, in theory there is a small chance of it not tracking or an even smaller chance of either the affiliate network or the cashback site going bust and being unable to pay.

CashCow wrote: »

Are EDF and Scottish Power both similar in terms of satisfacion etc?

Personally, of all the major suppliers Scottish Power were the only one I had problems with (billing errors, etc). As far as I know EDF do have a higher overall satisfaction rating than Scottish Power - however there will always be consumers who have problems with one and not the other and vice versa. From my own experience I was happy with EDF.

Also if the figures in this post are correct then Scottish Power have raised their prices by far more than any supplier over the past 4 years (since January 2007):
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=38433594&postcount=46