Gas & Electricity Money Saving Discussion Area

Beemer

I switched to Scottish Power online in the last few months and their service is pretty slow and inconsistent.
Recently having 'created a bill' online noticed that I was someway short to cover the bills especially coming into winter.
Having queried this and requested advise on what I should be paying (as they already stated the amount payable is based on historical costs and recent consumption and after paying about £10 for electricity and £8 for gas), they now advise me it should be £67 for electricity.
'Bit of a jump' so I would be wary of the actual savings that they state on these switching sites. I used Uswitch at the time.

loon_2

smartasss...

it was not misleading as i was merely talking about capped tariffs.

if you compare an online tariff to any other standard tariff, you are bound to find the online tariff cheaper. i however, was only comparing capped tariffs.

JohnHB_2

I'm with Scotish Power Online, living in the North West of England having switched 9 months ago from Powergen.
I use about 5000 Kwh of electric and 16000 of Gas (seems like big numbers?). :-[
Not including the cashback, I could only save a couple of pounds. I considered switching to the capped rate, but I can't see power prices going that high for a while. [glow=red,2,300][/glow].
Thanks Martin. Looking down the list of possible suppliers, if I had been with some of them, I could have saved a fortune. This does mean that it is worth a check for everyone.

SkintNick

I too seem to get taken to switchandgive when i use the link. Does that mean I wont get any cashback if I switch

If so how can I get my cashback??

kfh54

A couple of days ago I posted a query:

"Is there a limit to how often I can switch and donate or collect cashback? I would "save" more in a year by switching every month and collecting a tenner a time, rather than just switching to - and staying with - the best value supplier(s). Or would I find myself blacklisted? I'd be grateful for advice."

No-one has responded or even acknowledged and, as this was my first post, I'm a bit paranoid that I've done something wrong. Each time I read the chat threads on the site it appears that everyone chips in and help each other, even if only to point out inappropriate posts or dumb questions; it's hard to believe no-one has an opinion or suggestion. If I should be posting to a different thread, I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

With thanks for tolerance of my ignorance/impatience
kfh

loon_2

don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong.. if you do not get a reply, it's more than likely that people do not know.

with most cashback/sign up offers, you will find that they only apply once for new customers only, so you cannot just switch between two. most of these deals will have some kind of time limit attached, ie. you'll have to spend a certain amount of time with supplier before you get your credit.

given the current climate you would probably be better of on a capped price tariff. So far, powergen have not announced any huge price increases, and they also have capped prices, as do scottish power.

both these tariffs are good, and will save money in the long run. powergen however are capping the prices until july 2006, compared to spower until dec 2005.

not only do you get an extra 7 monhs of low prices with powergen, but it will be much easier to return to a standard tariff in summer than it is in winter. that is to say that because you use a lot more energy during the winter months, you will have to pay the newer higher rates in the middle of winter when you use more, if you choose to choose scottish power.

but at the end of the day, the only advice a can offer is to take your annual consumtion and check out the online tariff calculators.

new2it

Can anyone advise me.
I've just moved and cannot use previous usage as a guage to saving money. I was in an all electric flat which used off peak electricity for water and heating. Now I'm in a house which uses gas and electricity. For convenience I've signed up with Sweb for both Electricity and Gas but would like to find the most economical way of paying for these utilities.

COS

Welcome aboard

You can check with your Regional suppliers for the details of usage as they will have the metre readings for your property, you may have to work out the figures and then compare them on the price comparison sites - the addresses can be found on this site on the home pages. The cheapest way of paying is by Direct Debit, hope this helps.

russbif_2

Martin, I have just used your link and changed both my suppliers (Scottish Power & British gas) in favour of Powergen, however, the site only mentions £10 cashback, cannot see anything about £10 for each supplier changed ?
I have e-mailed them and await a response, I understood from your newsletter that it should be £20 ?

Russ

TaBunny

Hi I've never ever dabbled with switching suppliers before, being brought up by the old addage "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't" etc, I have been a bit of a stick in the mud re power. Lately though since joining this site I keep seeing articles re swapping and have even been on the tariff checker which threw up some suprising savings, currently I'm with British gas and London Electricity and always have been but I really fancy the change to powergen with the 1000 tesco points however I am still nervous to take the plunge and here's why. Being very out of touch with all this I don't know if it will mean having to have people in changing meters etc etc I don't want a load of rubble up and down my hall :-[ Also powergen charges a standing charge whereas BG and LEB dont so I dont see how I'm gonna save money if they charge one. Also I heard horror stories years ago from friends when all this switching became first available and they told me how they'd done all the paperwork but then got bills from Both suppliers! Heck how will I know who's sending the gas and elec down my pipes what if both companies tell me they are sending my power and I end up with two bills. One of my friends ended up having to go to court to sort it all out took over a year and a half and it was hell. Mind that is going back over 6 years now and I'm sure its all come on a long way but I am still confused and wary, so sorry to go on so long but if there's anyone out there who could give me a few words of wisdom to make me feel a little easier etc or should I just "stay with the devils I know"? ???
Thanks for listening