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.

Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

12467407

Comments

  • bow1508
    bow1508 Posts: 30 Forumite
    Terrylw1 wrote: »
    Hi Bow,

    Do you mean changing from PP to credit meters? If so, thats a standard practice. Suppliers always credit check people changing from PP as they represent a greater risk as a PP customer may have been a poor paying in the past. They always make that assumption.

    If you have been with a Supplier 12 months and been a good payer, a deposit may not be needed. These are only security deposits though and they are returnable after you reach X months.

    I'm not sure if they charge to physically change a meter, some do, some don't.

    I currently have a key meter, please excuse my being dumb but this is all very new and more than a bit scarey, just taking it all over myself alone for the first time. I really want to go duel fuel but pay by Direct Debit. I took someone on here's advice and started pushing buttons on my meter and found I am being charged extra not just pay 20 on the key get £20 worth of electric to use. I must admit to being shocked hence i want to get away from the meter. My credit rate is very good as (tip here people not the right place but it's just an afetrthought, i got my report and found a ton of people listed that have nothing to do with me!) I got them to tidy it all up. So from this I assume i'll still be expected to pay a deposit! what a con! have e mailed several suppliers but no answers yet. Thanks again.
  • :confused: HELP.Want to change and used comparisson site BUT cant get a true comparisson coz they ask for your details annually but im with NPOwer and sneaky people provide an estimate and what your monthly DDebit will be for 18 MONTHS, Not 12. Cant work out therefore if the one i think will be cheaper actually will be coz e.g They are assuming my D Debit of £105 for leccy is over 12 months but its over 18. (Does that make sense) Any ides how i work out my usage over 12 months???
  • Terrylw1
    Terrylw1 Posts: 7,038 Forumite
    bow1508 wrote: »
    I currently have a key meter, please excuse my being dumb but this is all very new and more than a bit scarey, just taking it all over myself alone for the first time. I really want to go duel fuel but pay by Direct Debit. I took someone on here's advice and started pushing buttons on my meter and found I am being charged extra not just pay 20 on the key get £20 worth of electric to use. I must admit to being shocked hence i want to get away from the meter. My credit rate is very good as (tip here people not the right place but it's just an afetrthought, i got my report and found a ton of people listed that have nothing to do with me!) I got them to tidy it all up. So from this I assume i'll still be expected to pay a deposit! what a con! have e mailed several suppliers but no answers yet. Thanks again.


    Hi Bow,

    No probs, it can be all a bit daunting at first but once you become more pro-active with your utilities it will all become easier to understand.

    PP meters have a standing charge, they always have. However, historically all Suppliers also charged standing charge on credit meters. A few years back they started removing standing charge in the hope of tempting customers to them. However, Suppliers tend to have a tier 1 price for your first X units used and a cheaper tier 2 for everything after you have exceeded the tier 1 units fot your quarter. These tier 1 prices have just been a sneaky way to charge you a standing charge without most customers knowing.

    So, it's all about finding the bext deal based on what you use and not being afraid of switching.

    I don't know about all Suppliers credit checking procedures, maybe some of the utility employees on here can tell you more. In the case of say Npower, their call centres method has been to check if you have both fuels and have you been with them for over 12 months. If not, they just ask for a security deposit so in reality they didn't actually do a credit check - just an internal one.

    Some Suppliers also have internal credit scoring in their systems but that only helps credit customers since yours will always be an on time payment with having PP.
    :rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:
  • Terrylw1
    Terrylw1 Posts: 7,038 Forumite
    steph401 wrote: »
    :confused: HELP.Want to change and used comparisson site BUT cant get a true comparisson coz they ask for your details annually but im with NPOwer and sneaky people provide an estimate and what your monthly DDebit will be for 18 MONTHS, Not 12. Cant work out therefore if the one i think will be cheaper actually will be coz e.g They are assuming my D Debit of £105 for leccy is over 12 months but its over 18. (Does that make sense) Any ides how i work out my usage over 12 months???


    Hi Steph,

    Can you not just times your monthly payment by 18 and divide by 12 to get your annual DD?

    Have you worked out your annual usage in Kwh? (units) If so, you have a set of bills telling you how much you would pay in a year regardless of your monthly DD. Then you can feed that data into the comparison site and work the difference out yourself.
    :rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:
  • Terrylw1 wrote: »
    Hi Steph,

    Can you not just times your monthly payment by 18 and divide by 12 to get your annual DD?

    Have you worked out your annual usage in Kwh? (units) If so, you have a set of bills telling you how much you would pay in a year regardless of your monthly DD. Then you can feed that data into the comparison site and work the difference out yourself.
    Will that work do you think. Dont they take into account seasonal changes!. They have given me a breakdown which is based on my usage for example x amount of units at x.xxxp and then x units at the higher rate. making a total of so many pounds and then * that by 18.

    Did think of timesing by 12 last night but figured that was far too simple. Think i thought that the estimates on usage woudl be wrong then as that will take into account two winters and a summer. (Im confusing myself even further now)
  • bow1508
    bow1508 Posts: 30 Forumite
    Thank you for your email.

    If you wanted to join us for duel fuel with direct debits you will be able to do this. However you wont be able to apply online with pre payment meters. You would either need to ask your current supplier to change them of sign up in a different way.

    I got this from Atlantic after asking if I can go from a pre payment meter over to them but paying by Direct Debit! Slightly confused so have asked for claification but I think they mean i have to swap from the meter with my current supplier then go over to them! I didn't mention signing up on the web as it happens. Any ideas if it would be worth the hassle of going that way, are the savings alot by signing up online? thanks again
  • Terrylw1
    Terrylw1 Posts: 7,038 Forumite
    Hi Bow,

    Swapping with your current Supplier might be easier since they can see some form of credit history with you. A meter change is a quick enough process.
    :rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:
  • Terrylw1
    Terrylw1 Posts: 7,038 Forumite
    steph401 wrote: »
    Will that work do you think. Dont they take into account seasonal changes!. They have given me a breakdown which is based on my usage for example x amount of units at x.xxxp and then x units at the higher rate. making a total of so many pounds and then * that by 18.

    Did think of timesing by 12 last night but figured that was far too simple. Think i thought that the estimates on usage woudl be wrong then as that will take into account two winters and a summer. (Im confusing myself even further now)


    Yes, in terms of DD's they take in to account seasonal changes. In terms of readings, they will estimate a bit higher in winter which impacts your DD's.

    If you have 12 months of bills in front of you, just add the units (Kwh) up for the 12 months. That is your usage for comparison sites. They don't want you DD value, they need your consumption to quote your possible savings.

    To then get your DD's for month if you want to consider th seasonal variation, the easiest way is to take your 12 months bills and either a) just dd them together and divide by 12 for a simple calculation or b) work out your DD for each seperate quarter by dividing your quarterly bill by the months of the quarter, then you just add the 4 bills together.

    You don't need to do anything more complicated than that to get a quote. Dividing out of 18 and into 12 would be less accurate that that because the extra 6 months of the season could make your annual DD lower or higher depending on which seasons appear in the 18 months e.g. 2 winter periods would make the DD higher in error if you divided by 18 and times by 12.
    :rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:
  • bow1508
    bow1508 Posts: 30 Forumite
    Terrylw1 wrote: »
    Hi Bow,

    Swapping with your current Supplier might be easier since they can see some form of credit history with you. A meter change is a quick enough process.

    Whats it like to be clever! :rotfl: have spoken to EDF today they are removing the meter on thursday and i've arranged a DD for the gas (gosh i didn't realise how much we spent on gas). Once the meter has gone I can go over to DD with EDF then i'll start checking again to make sure i'm with the best one for me. Hugs for all your help! i'm off to try and sort the phone out now! where does it end! LOL
  • Just been comparing gas and electricity prices as we are currently with npower:eek: . I have found that Scottish Power seem to be the cheapest supplier for me although I have been put off them a bit by bad customer reviews. Also Eon's ElectricityOnline Extra Saver 4 seems a possibility as on dual fuel they are quoting an annual discount of £123.55 and going through Quidco you get £70 cashback. :j
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 347.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 451.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 239.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 615.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175K Life & Family
  • 252.7K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support 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.