Should i switch?

ninnin67

I was with peoples energy have been moved to British gas. My monthly direct debit has gone up by over £200. Iv looked on british gas and they have a tariff that is £40 cheaper. Should i switch? Or stay as Martin says.

victor2

I doubt if there is a cheaper tarrif than the one you are on. It is not about the monthly direct debit amount, it is about paying for the utilities you actually use.

Calculate the cost of each tariff per year for your actual annual billed kWh used and compare that. Question why the current DD is more than 1/12 of your annual cost, if that is the case.

MaryNB

When you moved to British Gas did you go onto the standard variable tariff (default) or did you opt for a fixed tariff? 

Martin's advice to avoid switching refers to the fact that most fixed tariffs are now more expensive that the standard variable because the fixed tariffs are not subject to the Ofgem cap. When a customer is automatically transferred to a new supplier when their previous supplier has gone bust, they will most likely by default be moved to the standard variable tariff which will be cheaper than the fixed tariffs offered by the new supplier. There is therefore no benefit to switching, unless the new supplier offered a cheaper fix (unlikely) or you've opted for an expensive fixed after moving to the new supplier. 

PatF_3

Not sure if this is right place but I was in the process of moving to a cheaper tariff within British Gas and noticed that when I was reviewing the deal it said I was £106 debit, but I am actually £432 in credit at the moment.  How does this happen? Has anyone else had this please?

Gerry1

PatF_3 said:

Not sure if this is right place but I was in the process of moving to a cheaper tariff within British Gas and noticed that when I was reviewing the deal it said I was £106 debit, but I am actually £432 in credit at the moment.  How does this happen? Has anyone else had this please?

Welcome to the forum.

It's better to start a new thread, otherwise it gets complicated trying to work out to which poster an answer relates.

Never mind, the answer is that BG are incompetent.  The app can differ from your account on the webpage.

BG are transferring from their hopeless old billing system to a new system which isn't quite so bad, although the new app is even more primitive and the changeover is confusing for the first few weeks: they make it up as they go along rather than preparing it all in advance and then unveiling it smoothly.

The old system was daft, often billing every six months but taking a DD every month.  At Month 5 you'd seem to be well in credit only to find in Month 6 that a big bill had wiped out all your credit and left you in debit.

It's worth considering Octopus.  Their standing charge is 4% lower than the price cap, their Kraken billing system is excellent and their bills just couldn't be clearer.  It's so good that EDF are using it under licence and moving all their customers over.

victor2

PatF_3 said:

Not sure if this is right place but I was in the process of moving to a cheaper tariff within British Gas and noticed that when I was reviewing the deal it said I was £106 debit, but I am actually £432 in credit at the moment.  How does this happen? Has anyone else had this please?

It's not really the right place - it's a thread from over 2 years ago.

You're in the right area of the forum though. Just start your own thread using the red "Create New" or "+" button.