Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

huggermugger

Eon's two price fix deals - Energy Saver Version 4 and Price Protection Oct 2009 - are still available by telephone. I have just signed up. :j I am an existing customer but the operator told me they are still open to all comers, although she warned this could change any day.

I called on 0800 183 1377, they are open from 8am. It took me less than 5 minutes to get through.

The prices are approximately 10% up on their existing online tariff. Sorry, I didn't write down the exact figures, tho I can post the existing ones if anyone is interested.

Both plans have the same cost, you need to pay by monthly direct debit & I think you have to manage your account online. Both are fixed until Oct 2009 but the first offers a "free" energy monitor which you plug in & it shows you how much energy you are using. The downside of that is that if you decide to move tariff/provider before Oct 2009 you have to pay a termination fee of £35 (basically, to cover the cost of the monitor). The second has no termination fee. I went for the first because I've been eyeing up the energy monitors for some time & intend to use it to save the 10% increase!

The whole process was smooth & easy with a very friendly operator. She did say they've been absolutely inundated with up to 100 people waiting at any given time over the last two weeks. However, they've got extra staff in & hope to be able to deal with the demand.

fyi I have been with Eon for the last 5 years or so and have been very happy with the customer service & the ease of managing my bills online.

Get telephoning!

sorrera

The rush to cap has been "fuelled" by the energy companies warning it will be raising prices in the future.

Martin has naively jumped on this bandwagon and been shouting at everyone to cap now.
Start of July was a record high for wholsale gas prices, it has now fallen back hugely since then (down 31% in July). Look at the commodities page on FT to see the graphs.
http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us@ng.1

Everyone who has capped recently has done so at the highest possible price, which is great news for the energy companies. Who started this price panic in the first place?

Brilliant use of PR to get millions of people rushing to increase their own energy bills in the belief they are saving money - genius.

teddyco

Oil prices have again fallen this morning to $118.00 a barrel......

mpazza

Phoned eon she said the only capa available to me as an existing customer was the 17 plan? worked out an extra £10.50 a month on my direct debit.
I usually switch energy supliers every 4/5 months and get Quidco cashback of around £50 - £70 each time so I am wondering whether that is still the cheapest option?

Princess_Fluffy

I'm not sure if I've done the right thing - I've been holding off switching to a capped rate because whenever I compared prices, I was told I'd be paying at least 20% more (I'm on British Gas Click Energy 5, which hasn't gone up yet). When I heard prices were going up by 35% in some cases I thought again, but of course by this time most of the cheaps caps have disappeared. On hearing that E-On still had the Price Protection Oct 2009 available by phone, I went for it and got through this morning. However, they've told me that my bills will now be £235 a year more expensive. I'm only paying about £775 at the moment so that's about a 33% increase!!! I've got 14 days to cancel and I'm wondering whether I should.

I-LOV-MONEY

mpazza wrote: »

I usually switch energy supliers every 4/5 months and get Quidco cashback of around £50 - £70 each time

Please explain !

jeferey

Princess_Fluffy wrote: »

I'm not sure if I've done the right thing - I've been holding off switching to a capped rate because whenever I compared prices, I was told I'd be paying at least 20% more (I'm on British Gas Click Energy 5, which hasn't gone up yet). When I heard prices were going up by 35% in some cases I thought again, but of course by this time most of the cheaps caps have disappeared. On hearing that E-On still had the Price Protection Oct 2009 available by phone, I went for it and got through this morning. However, they've told me that my bills will now be £235 a year more expensive. I'm only paying about £775 at the moment so that's about a 33% increase!!! I've got 14 days to cancel and I'm wondering whether I should.

You need to find out what price per kWh you are paying on both tariffs. British Gas have increased their STANDARD tariff by 35% whereas the tariff you are currently on has not changed. The online tariff usually lags the Standard by a couple of months so you MAY be OK. It will probably go up by a similar amount. There are probably further increases in the pipeline (excuse the pun). At the end of the day you have peace of mind for over a year. Your call.

Read Martin's article: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

mpazza

I-LOV-MONEY wrote: »

Please explain !

there is an article on cashback sites on this martins website.
Basically you click through quidco.com or one of the other many cashback sites to get to british gas etc and you get commision. This is how sites like uswitch are funded as they get the money instead of you!

epsilondraconis

mpazza wrote: »

there is an article on cashback sites on this martins website.
Basically you click through quidco.com or one of the other many cashback sites to get to british gas etc and you get commission. This is how sites like uswitch are funded as they get the money instead of you!

I did the same thing recently when I switched to ScottishPower capped and received £72 cashback for the priviledge (available via Quidco and TopCashBack and possibly others).

You need to be aware that switching may impose some penalties i.e. if you switch to a fixed / capped rate, you may have to pay to get out of the contract if you want to switch again before the end of the fixed rate / capped deal. Also some dual fuel prices include a discount that is only paid every 12 months and so switching before this will mean you don't get your discount and so will pay more than the rate quoted on EnergyHelpLine / USwitch etc.

Having said all of that, if you are careful about the new product you select when switching, you can make an amount of money from it (that is provided the gains you make from the cashback sites, aren't offset by the increase in fuel price because you didn't select a fixed / capped tariff). As with all things, there is a risk.

I personally don't switch every 4-5 months - I just happened to switch at the end of July and found that I could get £72 cashback.


Editted: Spelling - a couple of skool-boy errors!

DiBz62

EBIco are a non profit company and same rates for all (pre payment or direct debt) ..... and No standing charge - I have been with them about 4 months now with no problems....just cheaper energy!

Some energy companies charge less if you use more - EBIco charge a standard rate

As per 01.04.08>
12.72 per KWh electric
2.86 per KWh gas

Even if they increase rates it would be less than other companies (non profit and no standing charge) -
I was with SWALEC for many years - Now Scottish and Southern supply (SWALEC is part of the Scottish and Southern Energy Group) and EBIco bill...... It's better than a social tariff for everyone!

They do not advertise.
You will see them on comparison sites but do not tend to be rated as they would then have to pay the site for referrals - which they do not do.

I would still move to them now (if I were not with them already) even with the position of the energy companies at present as EBIco rates would be still favorable with the saving as mentioned above.

EBIco home page
http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/home.php

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