Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

jules01

Am just about to change suppliers after years with Scottish power...the choice is between two....

First Utility - Annual cost projected to be £552 or
Npower - Annual projected cost £588

Both fixed rate but Npower fixed for 2 years as opposed to 1 year with first utility,also no cancellation fees with Npower.

Would the 2 year fixed term seem a better deal?

boobbby

jules01 wrote: »

Am just about to change suppliers after years with Scottish power...the choice is between two....

First Utility - Annual cost projected to be £552 or
Npower - Annual projected cost £588

Both fixed rate but Npower fixed for 2 years as opposed to 1 year with first utility,also no cancellation fees with Npower.

Would the 2 year fixed term seem a better deal?

First utility is cheapest but poor customer service while ovo has good customer service

Doc_N

jules01 wrote: »

Am just about to change suppliers after years with Scottish power...the choice is between two....

First Utility - Annual cost projected to be £552 or
Npower - Annual projected cost £588

Both fixed rate but Npower fixed for 2 years as opposed to 1 year with first utility,also no cancellation fees with Npower.

Would the 2 year fixed term seem a better deal?

Yes - but Npower are truly dreadful to deal with. Imagine the most inefficient company you possibly can - then imagine that same company actively trying to alienate its customers. That's Npower.

victor2

jules01 wrote: »

Am just about to change suppliers after years with Scottish power...the choice is between two....

First Utility - Annual cost projected to be £552 or
Npower - Annual projected cost £588

Both fixed rate but Npower fixed for 2 years as opposed to 1 year with first utility,also no cancellation fees with Npower.

Would the 2 year fixed term seem a better deal?

You've picked the two suppliers that seem to have the most complaints about them - just search this forum for either of them...
I switched to Ovo earlier this year. It was one of the best rates available at the time, and is fixed for a year too! No problems so far, and I get 3% interest on my credit balance. Not a lot, but it all helps.
It is slightly cheaper to go for separate suppliers for electricity and gas, thanks to Ofgem meddling, but for the small saving I could have made I preferred to have just one contract.

2010

victor2 wrote: »

I switched to Ovo earlier this year. It was one of the best rates available at the time, and is fixed for a year too! No problems so far, and I get 3% interest on my credit balance. Not a lot, but it all helps.

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and of course there is a £30 penalty per fuel if you leave before the 12 months is up.

I must agree though that shunning the big 6 is the best way to show them your disapprovel.
Vote with your feet, one of the smaller companies must be cheaper than either Npower or SP.
I`ve switched to Flow Energy recently but some of the comparison sites don`t always show all the companies, only the ones they get a kickback from.

victor2

2010 wrote: »

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and of course there is a £30 penalty per fuel if you leave before the 12 months is up.

Of course, but I know what I'll be paying through the next winter and I can handle a year at that rate. If Ovo turn out to be dreadful and/or something much cheaper comes up, I can leave early and offset the cost by getting a cashback deal - as I did when switching to Ovo, although I was leaving EDF who had no exit penalty.
No complaints so far though - and I got a whopping 50p added to my account last month for having a credit balance.

jules01

Thanks for replies...Re First utility...i see there is a warning about them but it does say recently results have improved but they will continue to be monitored...

I think i will rule out Npower as they seem to have had bad press for a long long time...

I will look into Flow and Ovo.

hedgehogs_2

Hi
Was going to post this under the M&S energy discussion area but it seems quite dormant, so putting it here!
Just had our renewal notice. The present deal is finishing end Sept 2014 and as this was the first deal offered by M&S there must be plenty of others in the same position.
The renewal letter is very unclear and I feel misleading. Check the actual prices well against your usage. Our letter says we can save up to £100 by fixing with them on Fix and Save 2, but this is based on their standard tariff charges. Even going with this option our bills are going to be 10% higher.
They really do need to make it clearer, so be aware. If anyone else has had their letter, can you please comment as to whether you agree with our understanding or not!

Stompa

hedgehogs wrote: »

Hi
Was going to post this under the M&S energy discussion area but it seems quite dormant, so putting it here!
Just had our renewal notice. The present deal is finishing end Sept 2014 and as this was the first deal offered by M&S there must be plenty of others in the same position.
The renewal letter is very unclear and I feel misleading. Check the actual prices well against your usage. Our letter says we can save up to £100 by fixing with them on Fix and Save 2, but this is based on their standard tariff charges. Even going with this option our bills are going to be 10% higher.
They really do need to make it clearer, so be aware. If anyone else has had their letter, can you please comment as to whether you agree with our understanding or not!

I had the letter yesterday, and agree with your understanding. I also thought the letter was rather misleading. Probably time to move elsewhere I think, though the best deals for me don't seem to be much of an improvement on M&S. Annoyingly I can't see any particularly good cashback deals around at the moment either.

I'm also a bit puzzled by my last bill from M&S, where the unit rates had dropped by 4-5%. I couldn't find any explanation as to why that was the case.

hedgehogs_2

just got off phone to M&S and they agree that it is misleading and that a new letter is being issued comparing the Tariffs properly.