Dual fuel switch - new build

mwahahaha

Hi all,

We recently moved into a new build, the house-builder had used British Gas for electricity & gas, who I had a letter from the other day.  After calling to setup an account, I was asked about choices of tariffs.  Alarm bells started going off in my head, so I've opted for the SVR tariff that I'm sure is expensive, but has no exit fees, or minimum commitments, with a view of getting switched nice and quickly, or taking a fixed tariff with British Gas if that's the most competitive to us in the market.

Is there anything I need to be aware of when switching in a new build?  I obviously don't have any previous bills to compare against, but I do have a breakdown of the SVR tariff I've signed up to with British Gas.

Thanks in advance!

Neil_Jones

Read the meters.  You always default to SVR rate where it costs the national debt to boil the kettle.

Make use of comparison sites.  Use the national averages to start with until you've lived there for a year, as your new house may have cavity insulation, triple-glazing, loft insulation and can stay warm with one candle, and your old house may have only been single-glazed with no other insulation, so usage from that isn't comparable.

Note that you will have to pay British Gas for what you've used between you moving in and moving away (supplier wise).

Gerry1

Make sure the opening reading was accurate: it's never a good idea to rely on a meter reading taken by someone else.  It's easy to misread a meter, especially the old pointer ones, but smart meters can be even more problematic (no permanent display, gas shown in kWh, multiple parameters for electricity).  It's also not unknown for figures to be under recorded, so you can end up paying for usage by others.

Start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch'.  Ofgem publishes typical consumption values so you could guesstimate, perhaps tweaking a bit depending on the number of people, whether you're at home in the daytime, size of property, prefer it tropical or temperate etc.

Just compare annual costs, always ignore all projections and savings claims: they aren't realistic because of Ofgem's daft rules.  Remember that separate suppliers are often cheaper than dual fuel, so do the sums for both cases. Also have a look at the customer service ratings on Citizens Advice and the 'Add your feedback on energy supplier xxxx...' threads here on the forum.

Then remember to send monthly readings, keep your own records and check that your DD payments are keeping up with your usage, it's not All You Can Eat: if you use more than expected your DD will be increased twice, once to reflect your higher usage and again to reclaim your arrears.

mwahahaha

Thank you Gerry1 & Neil_Jones!  

Neil you're not wrong, I might break-out the camping stove for a cup of tea until my switch goes through - that's what you get for being on SVR I guess.

I've just run a comparison through the MSE CheapEnergyClub (it's been a while as at my previous address, Avro had been very competative for a long time) and I've found a new provider.  I'll do a few more comparisons this evening, but should have a switch ordered today and in circa 1 month, can put the primus-stove away ;-)

Gerry1

mwahahaha said:

I've found a new provider.

Were separate suppliers more expensive?

mwahahaha

Gerry1 said:

mwahahaha said:

I've found a new provider.

Were separate suppliers more expensive?

No idea tbh - I rather naively thought that duel fuel was a better deal - is that not the case these days? 

Robin9

@mwahahaha  Try the exercise - run the comparison site three times - one for electric, one for gas and one for dual.  5 mins work could save £100

niktheguru

mwahahaha said:

Gerry1 said:

mwahahaha said:

I've found a new provider.

Were separate suppliers more expensive?

No idea tbh - I rather naively thought that duel fuel was a better deal - is that not the case these days? 

Dual fuel is rarely the best these days.
It is very easy to compare. If using the MSE CEC, then use the filter bar on the left side of the screen, there is a button for compare "both gas/elec" "just elec" and "just gas".....make sure you are comparing ALL the suppliers.

Good luck.