Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

ed123_2

...if you read Martin's notes re switching it appears the comparision sites are worse than useless at present as they have not incorporated all the latest price drops. Also N power has not yet announced any price cuts (the other five have.) I would wait till April when we will probably have a better picture.....

Premier_2

ed123 wrote: »

...if you read Martin's notes re switching it appears the comparision sites are worse than useless at present as they have not incorporated all the latest price drops. Also N power has not yet announced any price cuts (the other five have.) I would wait till April when we will probably have a better picture.....

Which note from Martin is that them?


This one?

Scottish Power's become the 5th of the big six energy companies to announce price cuts, again it's from 31 March and again it's sadly shaving less than 10% off bills. Time To Switch? The remaining company, npower, may soon drop prices, but it's not guaranteed & delaying may mean staying on an expensive tariff longer. Plus online tariffs are the cheapest and few of those have changed, so comparing now should be pretty good.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/

or perhaps this one?

SWITCH NOW! SWITCH NOW!
The playing field is as level as it's likely to get, so compare now and you should be able to get a decent comparison

Why Green? Five of the six major energy providers have all dropped gas or electricity by 10% or less. npower, the one remaining big provider is likely to cut prices soon, but exactly when is not clear. If you wait you may miss out on savings, the only risk being you may be on a fractionally more expensive tariff than the very cheapest. However there's nothing stopping you from switching again after npower has cut prices.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

ed123_2

.....Er.......nooooooooooooo...........this one...."Comparison site prices are'nt yet up to date.............Many of the price cuts don't hit till the end of March. so the tariffs are'nt yet available for the price comparisons to include"

Premier_2

ed123 wrote: »

.....Er.......nooooooooooooo...........this one...."Comparison site prices are'nt yet up to date.............Many of the price cuts don't hit till the end of March. so the tariffs are'nt yet available for the price comparisons to include"

You mean where he goes on to say:

"Yet as switching to an online tariff (bills come via the web) is almost always cheapest and few providers have substantially altered these chances are you'll be close to the best tariff anyway."

JohnG

I'm now looking at switching having been with Eon since last March which seemed a great switch at the time. Of course, low and behold, their prices soon starting going up but I decided to leave it as we were still getting a certain discount which helped to offset things a bit.

Now they are going to take away that discount after the year so here I am again. Ironically, Npower appear to be the cheapest (around £200 which was about what I was supposd to be saving when I switched to Eon ). However, I refuse, on principle, to go back to them flwg their lack of customer care I encountered when i was with them before Eon.

Reading between the many lines here, I think I will wait until the end of this month when hopefully when perhaps things are clearer and perhaps :rolleyes: other reductions may come into play.

I still feel this is one big merry go round and really wish things were easier to look into (Even with the comparison sites) - there are so many different tariffs out there, Eon have half a dozen or more - it does my head in to be frank!:eek:

oly2c

I think I posted before Martin changed his notes. I had read them.
At the time that I posted the impression was "Change Now!"
For once the information on this site was misleading.

Youngy

Im looking to switch dual fuel, and have a few questions if anyone is able to answer please

Am currently with Eon for Gas/Elec, both have split unit costs. I cant see any mention of which tariff Im on or whether 'Economy 7' tariff, does that even still exist?

Most recent qtr bill quotes as below.
Elec: Primary units 293kWh @ 23.58p
and Secondary units 850kWh @ 10.31p
Total = 1143 Normal kWh used

Gas: Primary units 874kWh @ 6.219p
and Secondary units 4409kWh @ 3.388p
Total = 472 units (5283kWh used)

Why are there 2 unit costs? Is this related to time of day used?

Having gone through bills last 12 months bills have calculated annual consumption as: Elec 2740..... and Gas 12484. But am confused how enter this into the comparison sites, with the different unit costs. Should I quote actual cost rather than units used?

Also is it possible to use Quidco and energyhelpline to get both referrals

Thanks for any help, hopefully will be able to save some money

Magentasue

Youngy wrote: »

Im looking to switch dual fuel, and have a few questions if anyone is able to answer please

Am currently with Eon for Gas/Elec, both have split unit costs. I cant see any mention of which tariff Im on or whether 'Economy 7' tariff, does that even still exist? Yes, it still exists but, generally, only worthwhile for storage heaters.

Why are there 2 unit costs? Is this related to time of day used? You pay more for first x units because you don't pay a daily standing charge. The extra you pay, for the first units, works out at about the same as paying a standing charge.

Having gone through bills last 12 months bills have calculated annual consumption as: Elec 2740..... and Gas 12484. But am confused how enter this into the comparison sites, with the different unit costs. Should I quote actual cost rather than units used?

No, use the annual consumption in kwh. Put in your tariff (it'll be a no standing charge one) and the difference in tiered kwh costs will be allowed for. You can only get accurate results if you use kwh rather than costs on these sites.

You can try for both cashbacks but I wouldn't bank on either or both being paid. I'd think of them as a bonus rather than a reason for switching.

Premier_2

Youngy wrote: »

Im looking to switch dual fuel, and have a few questions if anyone is able to answer please

Am currently with Eon for Gas/Elec, both have split unit costs. I cant see any mention of which tariff Im on or whether 'Economy 7' tariff, does that even still exist?

Most recent qtr bill quotes as below.
Elec: Primary units 293kWh @ 23.58p
and Secondary units 850kWh @ 10.31p
Total = 1143 Normal kWh used

Gas: Primary units 874kWh @ 6.219p
and Secondary units 4409kWh @ 3.388p
Total = 472 units (5283kWh used)

Why are there 2 unit costs? Is this related to time of day used?

Having gone through bills last 12 months bills have calculated annual consumption as: Elec 2740..... and Gas 12484. But am confused how enter this into the comparison sites, with the different unit costs. Should I quote actual cost rather than units used?

Also is it possible to use Quidco and energyhelpline to get both referrals

Thanks for any help, hopefully will be able to save some money

The difference in unit costs is to recover the standing charge that would otherwise apply. i.e you get charged at a premium for the intial amount of units used, but this is capped so that you don't pay more than you would if you paid a standing charge. Of course, if in any billing period you used less than the capped level of primary units, then you would effectively save money compared to a standing charge.

Economy 7 does exist (for electricity), but you don't appear to be on it. If you were you would have an off-peak rate too.

Always input your annual usage into a comparison site in kWh rather than £s to get the most accurate result. Don't worry about the unit costs, the comparison site will take care of that.

If you don't know which actual tariff you are on, pick any (as long as you input the consumption in kWh). It may lead to misleading claimed savings due to comparing against the wrong tariff, but you will always be able to see the cheapest option.

You may be able to use quidco with certain comparison sites. Note also that you won't be able to get any exclusive cashback/wine deals available using the MSE links if you opt to go through quidco - you'll just get whatever the comparison site usually offers (if anything) plus your quidco. Depending on the supplier, your best cashback option might be to go direct to the supplier using a cashback site (e.g. quidco)

simplybeauty

hi, can anyone help me plz, im new to this lol!
I am with British gas at my business workplace. I dont use gas at all but I have to pay the standing charge unless i want my metre removed, so i was told. anyone know whos got the cheapest standing charge?? thank you