Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

Spikey_w

I just signed up via TCB to Scottishpower for my electricity.

Do Scottishpower send an confirmation email immediately as I've been waiting for one for 2 days. Being paranoid I'm hesitant to call them in case it may affect my cashback.

Just for info, I also transferred my gas to EON and got email confirmation immediately and also online login details. Pretty impressed with them so far.

hollyberrie

FrugalTopCat wrote: »

Hi all,

This time last year we switched our gas & electricity for the first time ever (!!) and have saved over £400 in the year since. However, our tariff is coming to an end in a few weeks' time so I am looking at switching again. We're currently on British Gas Web Saver 4 (dual fuel) and they are planning to drop us to standard tariff which would mean a significant price hike! Not to mention their further price rise in December...

:eek:

Getting to the point...I've done an initial look on moneysupermarket comparison via the MSE link. There aren't huge savings to be had (from our current, reasonable tariff that is) but as I say, that's coming to an end - so these should actually show better savings vs standard tariff we are about to be dumped into. EDF is one of the top three, and reading this thread I'm thinking that could be the one to go for, to get a) £100 new customer bonus plus b) £80.80 cashback, providing it tracks.

However, I'm confused by the way that EDF's figures are shown on the Moneysupermarket listing. Using their figures for daily standing charge and unit charge, on the annual kWh usage I have supplied, my calculation is an overall figure of about £10 MORE than our current annual costs with BG. Yet the listing (copied below) is showing "annual saving of £58 plus £30 cashback". What else might they be including here? It can't be the £100 new customer bonus can it? (as the figs don't add up). It mentions discounts on the page - my highlighting in orange below. Presumably this must account for it - do you get a 6% refund at the end of the year or what? Also confused at the apparent contradiction on the electricity part - 6% discount would be approx. £18, not £8.40, yet it says both 6% and £8.40.

If anyone could help to clarify how EDF's Online Saver 7 is worked out, I'd be grateful. Should I assume that there are "discounts" of 6% on usage, PLUS a £100 new customer bonus, PLUS cashback through TCB/Quidco (as usual, provided it tracks)??

Thanks for any light shed on this! :j

Extract from MONEYSUPERMARKET results:

Standard Charge - GasStanding charge £0.26 per day
Unit Rates 1
2.7710p
Gas Discount:
6.00% per year.
Standard Charge - ElectricityStanding charge £0.28 per day
Unit Rates 1
7.6440p
Electricity Discount:
6.00% per year.
Discount:
£8.40 per year.


NOTE - The '£100 Welcome Bonus' is only available to NEW customers. The £100 will be credited to your energy account within 90 days of your supply having transferred. Min 2% discount off standard rates until 31/12/11. Termination fee £30 per fuel may be applied if customer changes supplier.
All costs are inclusive of VAT.

FrugalTopCat: I'm new to this but felt it was time to change suppliers.

I also looked at EDF's tariff but wanted to see how the figures were worked out. I took my annual usage from both gas and electricity, x it by their price per unit and added the yearly charge to the final figure. I added them together, then added the 6% discount to the final figure and took off £8.40 dual fuel discount. The total figure was the same as the comparison sites gave. So the way I worked it out seemed to be right and it did give me a big saving against my current two standard tariffs. I didn't include the £100 savings or any cashbacks.

Is this what you meant by clarifying how it was worked out? You said that your comparison showed an overall increase of about £10 comparing your current tariff to EDF but could that just be that your (due to end) tariff is still better value than current ones. However if you compared the potential cost of the new BG tariff using your last year's total usage in units, it might show that some of the current deals would be cheaper?

As I said, I am new to this. It is the first time I have tried to compare tariffs and decide whether or not to swap I may not have the greatest understanding of how the EDF tariff is worked out but it did seem to be correct for me!

competitionscafe

21Twinkle wrote: »

EDF currently pays up to £180 through Quidco

The £100 welcome bonus is nothing to do with Quidco (or topcashback) - it's for all new customers regardless of how they sign-up (direct or via a comparison site or via a cashback site).

competitionscafe

Spikey_w wrote: »

I just signed up via TCB to Scottishpower for my electricity.

Do Scottishpower send an confirmation email immediately as I've been waiting for one for 2 days. Being paranoid I'm hesitant to call them in case it may affect my cashback.

From memory, I think they sent me a letter through the post not an email. Not sure if this is still the case and it may depend on the tariff chosen.

fowlerwelsh

im currently on "standard" british gas for electric and gas, and i am advised that they will put price up soon. Uswitch says to go with Scottish powerr. how do i know they wont up their price?

ginvzt

I have just 'switched' to Ovo energy fixed price plan, saving 18% (we just bought the house we were renting and landlord stated we had to stay with British gas). I went through simplyswitch on MSE link - I hope I'll get the £35 of Amazon vouchers as well!

Premier_2

fowlerwelsh wrote: »

im currently on "standard" british gas for electric and gas, and i am advised that they will put price up soon. Uswitch says to go with Scottish powerr. how do i know they wont up their price?

You don't.

But if they do, you could switch again. Or if you are worried about rising prices, have you considered a fixed price tariff?

How much saving could you make by switching. You know the increases announced by SSE and BG, so use that as a guide. If the saving is only due to the difference in price rises some comapnies have announced, you may wish to hold off for a while.

But in a recent post, one poster suggest savings of about 30% by switching. Whilst there are no guarantees, I would suggest that even if there were to be an increase (which there many not be) it won't be of the order of 30%.

ribbans1980

Not sure if i'm in the right thread or not as i'm new to the forums.
I am currently with british gas on a credit meter for gas.
Due to their announced price hikes, i just know i wont be able to afford it this winter. I need to change supplier NOW!
I read on the home page about 'ebico'; where every customers pays the same rate whether its pay as you go energy, direct debit or quarterly billing. GREAT, i thought, as i could do with a pre-payment meter to stop another bill dropping on the doormat.
I e-mailed ebico explained my situation and said that i couldnt find anywhere on their website about them fitting pre-payment meters. They replied but told me that I would be charged 52 pounds to have one fitted.
As i am with british gas at the moment , i could get one fitted for free, what i want to know is, if i get one, am i contracted/obliged to keep them as a supplier for a certain amount of time or can i swtich supplier more or less as soon as i've had it fitted?
You see, if i get them to do it, it saves me paying ebico 52 quid for one!
I have scoured the british gas website for an answer to this and cant find anything.
if anyone knows if i an do this please let me know
MANY THANKS

Spikey_w

competitionscafe wrote: »

From memory, I think they sent me a letter through the post not an email. Not sure if this is still the case and it may depend on the tariff chosen.

Thanks for the info.

I choose the "online energy saver 11" tariff which implies it is all done online. I'll give a few more days for the letter to arrive otherwise I guess I risk giving them a call.

Ddraig

Have just got off the phone with EDF thought I was tied in but found when they got me as a new eco 2020 customer.They plonked me on a standard tariff and didnt tell me that tariff means installing new meters.As a result it means I could swap anywhere.I asked them to put me on online saver 7 tariff.Got to be done online.But their stupid site wont work properly.She said registering online should be ok.Its just the registering to manage your account wont be running properly til roughly January.Is this some sort of ploy to stop us registering on their online tariff?


EDITED Dan on live chat.Thankyou for restoring my faith.Could not have been more helpful if he tried.I am now a very happy bunny.Or should I say Dragon,lol.