Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

johnswife

We are high user and just used comparison site. With Scottish Power
and put in our annual usage and at todays prices would be £2450.73 per annum.
A whole list of companies came up that would save me money starting wirth EON saveronline7 = £438.83
then British Gas, EDF, Atlantic etc.

Looks like I should move but does anyone thing one of those companies are better than the other. I don't want to go to just the cheapest but the best one to deal with?

Thanks

AuntyJean

johnswife wrote: »

We are high user and just used comparison site. With Scottish Power
and put in our annual usage and at todays prices would be £2450.73 per annum.
A whole list of companies came up that would save me money starting wirth EON saveronline7 = £438.83
then British Gas, EDF, Atlantic etc.

Looks like I should move but does anyone thing one of those companies are better than the other. I don't want to go to just the cheapest but the best one to deal with?

Thanks

Beware of what the comparison sites say regarding cost. They told me my annual bill would be double what it actually would have been.

What is your annual usage in kWh for gas and for electric? Try using your current suppliers website and put the units in there to see what your actual bill would be before switching.

RobStaffs

I simply took my actual consumption data for the last 6 mnths and doubled it for comparative purposes.Any flaws in this approach?

AuntyJean

RobStaffs wrote: »

I simply took my actual consumption data for the last 6 mnths and doubled it for comparative purposes.Any flaws in this approach?

I would guess you took it for four cold months and two mild months. We seem to need heating on at least 8 months of the year here.

roddydogs

chopps wrote: »

You can change supplier without penalty fees by exercising your 'Right to Cancel' condition and they told me that provided the new supplier contacts Scottish Power within 15 days the early exit cancellation fee is waived.

They also have another tariff called online energy saver 14 that you can switch over to which will not increase in August.
The energy tariff charges are about 8% higher than the current energy saver 13 and so a lot less than what 13 will be after the August increase.

But how can you guarantee that they will contact SP within 15 Days?

archieboy

I am at present on EDF online v6 which is ending on 30th June. I've checked a few comparison sites and think I'm going to switch to NPower Online 22 for Electricity and Ebico for gas as it saves me the Gas Transportation cost of around £40 per year so is cheaper for me and going to separate companies seems cheaper than dual fuel. Just asking if anyone can advise best switch or cashback site to use and if I will only be able to get for the NPower switch as I haven't found any that will pay for an Ebico switch. Thanks for any help.

new2allthis

I'm going to be made redundant in a few months and am keen to reduce my bills where I can asap, so that I can stretch my salary until then and my small redundancy payment as far as possible.

I've been with Seeboard/EDF Energy for electricity and Scottish Power for gas for 12 years. Long overdue for a comparison check, I know, and I've tried to look at switching before but always been put off by how complicated it all seems and by some of the horror stories that I've heard.

I've looked on different comparison sites but have no idea where to start in assessing what represents the best deal for me, especially as I understand that price hikes are imminent if not already in place. I don't want to switch to find that the price immediately goes up and find that what seemed like a good deal actually disadvantages me very quickly, particularly if there's some kind of lock-in period or charge for switching again. But, by the same token, I don't want to procrastinate and miss out on good deals that are coming to an end either.

I should also say that I avoid paying utility companies by direct debit due to lots of problems in the past. I prefer to pay by standing order so I control the amount each month and, usually, for about 6 months of the year, my accounts are in credit. I'd like to be ethical and carbon footprint conscious if I can but, honestly, reliable service/billing and reasonable prices are the key factors for me at the moment.

All advice gratefully received. Thanks.

davemidd

I'm pretty sure that by not paying by direct debit & being ethical and carbon footprint conscious means that you'll be excluding a big chunk of the cheapest deals, so I guess you have to decide how important the cost saving really is to you.

The comparison sites are really simple to use (and you should use as many of them as you can, in case there's any differences in the results; I know of at least one example where there are). You just put in your annual usage for each utility and then get presented with a list of suppliers and tariffs. It's probably best if you give it a go first and then come back and ask some more specific questions.

happycatuk

I am totally bamboozled...

I did an energy comparison site, changed to NPower's Price Protector plan .. then, when giving them my meter reading, was quoted a monthly direct debit of £15 higher than my old British Gas one!

British Gas are wooing me back with their Essentials (?) tariff (I'm on disability benefits), the lure of £20 against the charges I'll incur with leaving NPower (£25 per fuel), plus 15,000 Nectar points (apparently worth £75?)

I've done the maths - I had to, breaking down 9 months' worth of usage (not ideal but I've only lived inthis property that long) into kwh etc.

By comparing the unit rate tiers, I should be paying a DD of £28 Elec, £50 gas to NPower (with no risk of increases)

Versus

£27 elec and £46 gas with British Gas (which will have a further 10% taken off due to being on benefits, and a cash-back/winter rebate of £50 too).

So .. Stick with NPower or twist back to British Gas? Do the benefits of returning to British Gas (special but unfixed rate with winter rebate, £75 worth bonus points, monthly Nectar points for monthly £70 spend) outweigh the peace-of-mind with NPower's price fix, which may turn out more expensive..?

[Head in hands...]

:-(

shaggy

happycatuk wrote: »

I am totally bamboozled...

I did an energy comparison site, changed to NPower's Price Protector plan .. then, when giving them my meter reading, was quoted a monthly direct debit of £15 higher than my old British Gas one!

British Gas are wooing me back with their Essentials (?) tariff (I'm on disability benefits), the lure of £20 against the charges I'll incur with leaving NPower (£25 per fuel), plus 15,000 Nectar points (apparently worth £75?)

I've done the maths - I had to, breaking down 9 months' worth of usage (not ideal but I've only lived inthis property that long) into kwh etc.

By comparing the unit rate tiers, I should be paying a DD of £28 Elec, £50 gas to NPower (with no risk of increases)

Versus

£27 elec and £46 gas with British Gas (which will have a further 10% taken off due to being on benefits, and a cash-back/winter rebate of £50 too).

So .. Stick with NPower or twist back to British Gas? Do the benefits of returning to British Gas (special but unfixed rate with winter rebate, £75 worth bonus points, monthly Nectar points for monthly £70 spend) outweigh the peace-of-mind with NPower's price fix, which may turn out more expensive..?

[Head in hands...]

:-(

I'm in a similar pickle. Just moved over to British Gas uncapped EnergeSmart online saver v4 from EDF, and now EDF are trying to win me back with their fixed tarriff Fixed Saver v2. I havent been able to verify this information yet but according to the salesman at EDF the British Gas one is £40 CHEAPER than their tarriff BUT it is not a fixed tarriff.
Difficult to compare on the online sites because the EDF tarriff does not appear on there