Gas & Electricity Money Saving Discussion Area

Cardew

chommin wrote:

I am saving over £400 for the next 12 months for using gas and electricity by changing from staywarm PowerGen to Npower thanks to this website.
Staywarm is provided only to pensioners on one or more benefits.
In our case they wish to increase it from £63 a month to £74 a month.
Npower will be charging £40 for a similar quantity of fuel, this is caped for 12 months.
It would have been significantly cheaper to have used PowerGen's standard charges
An article appeared on this point in the Ilford recorder newspaper (ESSEX) last week mentioning the money-saving site.
Pensioners on one of more benefits are a vulnerable group, no longer possibly benefiting by staying on this staywarm facility.
Hopefully by spreading this point throughout the country they also could save some money by changing to a different supplier.
Many thanks

I don’t wish to be pessimistic, but are you sure you will save £400pa? It is well documented that, with the huge rises on the scheme, Staywarm is now no longer value for money. However to almost halve their tariff is a lot more that most people have achieved.

Unless you are a scheme like Staywarm(where your consumption is irrelevant once you are given a monthly payment figure) the size of your Direct Debit payments – capped tariff or not – doesn’t mean a lot.

You will pay for what you use and if you consume £700 of gas and electricity in the year and have only paid £480(12 x £40) you will owe NPower £220.

The people selling Gas/Electricity in these call centres are on commission; and many are unscrupulous. They can set a direct debit figure artificially low to ‘lure’ the unwary. Have you(and not NPower) calculated your likely annual bill using NPower's capped tariff and last year’s consumption? – Many people who were on Staywarm are not aware of their consumption.

Lenin_2

Just received this from Powergen....

On your next bill, you'll also see an extra charge. That's because, with many newly built houses, an independent network connects your home to Transco, the gas delivery network. This means we pay Transco and the independent network to deliver gas to your home and while some suppliers recover this expense through their gas prices, we prefer being open and charging separately. Our charge will be £42 a year (inc.VAT).

So that swallows up most of the £50 for managing my account on line

1645j

If this is correct what is the standing charge for????

I would make enquiries at the regulator off gen I think it's called and see if this is a legitimate practice.

Steve_f_4

helo all. i am ashamed of the fact that i havent left swalec despite being certain that i am paying too much for G&E. HOWEVER, when i use the price comparisons i keep getting different answers from each of them, leaving me very confused.
i have asked swalec for my annual usage.
they say i use 800 kwhs /year electric & 10356 k's/yr gas.
stupidly i pay by quarterly bill, but as i've been meaning to change for so long now i've not bothered with Direct Debit yet.
does anyone know how i decide who is really cheapest? i am away a lot so no standing charge seems a good idea. i could do it all online also. but why cant i work out who is the cheapest??? surely it should be straightforward??
HELP ME MARTIN, and all you MARTIANS out there.

many thanks


steve

Cardew

Steve_f wrote:

helo all. i am ashamed of the fact that i havent left swalec despite being certain that i am paying too much for G&E. HOWEVER, when i use the price comparisons i keep getting different answers from each of them, leaving me very confused.
i have asked swalec for my annual usage.
they say i use 800 kwhs /year electric & 10356 k's/yr gas.
stupidly i pay by quarterly bill, but as i've been meaning to change for so long now i've not bothered with Direct Debit yet.
does anyone know how i decide who is really cheapest? i am away a lot so no standing charge seems a good idea. i could do it all online also. but why cant i work out who is the cheapest??? surely it should be straightforward??
HELP ME MARTIN, and all you MARTIANS out there.

many thanks


steve

For a start who is cheapest will depend on the area where you live, as tariffs vary.

Then what you work out today may well be overtaken by events tomorrow.

There is no such thing as 'no standing charge'(in practice) as they charge higher prices for the first units each quarter.

Paying by Direct Debit is usually(always?) the cheapest method. However on your very low consumption any savings will not be dramatic I suspect - but of course worth having.

Steve_f_4

thanks Cardew, but i realise that the area is a factor, as is the higher initial units for 'no standing charge' and that companies change rates.
My point is, how can i get such different results on one day, regarding one set of details (post code, consumption rate, payment method etc) from different advice agencies. Or rather, can martin explain how one is supposed to follow his oft proffered advice and change provider if there is no consensus. i really want to change from swalec, but i can not find a definitive answer as to who i should use!

I'm confused Martin. PLEASE HELP

sarahb

I've just switched to npower using the UK Power link in Martin's article - just thought people might like to know that the cashback from switching with this comparison company has now increased to £12 (confirmed by e-mail after I'd filled in the online form).

momsgill

There are different schemes if you are over 50 and over 60. Age Concern gives good advice. We have changed to Swalec (in Wales area). For a year we will pay £70 a month - we are all electric. Costings go on how many people live in the house and how many bedrooms you have. We are four adults in a four bedroom house. This has halved our monthly payments even before all the other companies were putting up their prices. We know at the end of the year we will have to pay more but we can then re-negotiate wherever the good deals are. I am so pleased I did this and this is so cheap for us for a year.

Cardew

Time after time we get posts stating “I have changed suppliers and my monthly payments have reduced substantially from X pounds to Y pounds a month”.

I wish people would get the message that the monthly direct debit payment – particularly when you change providers – can have little relevance to your annual bill. It is purely consumption of gas/electricity that counts. (Unless you are on schemes like Staywarm.)

Bear in mind that the operators in the call centres are tasked to get new business. If potential customers are likely to be swayed by an artificially low monthly direct debit, then that is exactly what they will provide. Then a year later we will get the posts saying my supplier states that I am £hundreds in debt and they are massively hiking up my direct debit.

Of course there are savings to be made by changing suppliers, but the only way to calculate this is by knowing your consumption and comparing tariffs; and then these are rendered obsolete by the leapfrogging price rises!!

pash_parrot_2

I Rang Swalec To Complain About Them Putting My Direct Debit Up Again, A Very Nice Lady Told Me If There Are 2 People Over 50 Living In 3 Bedroom House We Can Go Onto A Special Tarrif Which Would Cost Us £55 A Month For Unlimited Gas And Electric.
What's The Catch?