cheapest prepayment? HELP!

mrsdawson

about to move into a large flat with my husband and son, which has economy 7 heating.
unsure of electricity supplier, does not have gas, need to know which is the cheapest commpany for prepayment meter?
cant afford to do any other way!

please help!

Terrylw1

Hi,

Does the property already have a PP meter? If not, a credit meter may be cheaper for you since you can get a DD discount with it. PP metering always costs more (except with Ebico) since you are covering additional costs for the equipment type.

People on here seem to like Ebico for PP since it's fair in that it charges the same for credit & PP metering. However, if you have no gas you will be using your elec to do everything which is likely to make you a heavier elec user. Others have pointed out that Ebico doesn't work out the cheapest in those circumstances.

computerwoman

not so my friend...I am with ebico I do not have prepayment meters however I do have dual fuel...my electric is never more than £150 a bill infact that was my biggest bill in the year that I have been with them...my gas is never more that £65 and that was my biggest bill in a year...I use alot of electric...infact everything but the central heating and gas cooker is electric...I have a tumble dryer which I use every other day washer...fridge/freezer...2 tv's 2 pc's xbox 360 and light's which are on every day...and a shower which is on every day...I cannot fault ebico/southern electric...before them I was with powergen paying twice as much gas £150 electric £300 a bill and I just couldnt work out why it was so much I don't use anything different or more or less than I did with powergen so why was I paying so much...anyway I can now breath and use my gas and electric when I want cos they are so cheap...no more worries for me as to how I am gonna pay the bills....:D:jas I haven't had abig bill since I went with ebico...

penrhyn

If your total bill for energy is more than about £380 per year then Ebico is NOT going to be the cheapest supplier.
I'm with Ebico and checked it out yesterday, in fact Southern Energy online capped till Oct 2008 would have been £12 cheaper for me but I'm staying put.
You can work this out for yourself on one of the comparison sites.
IMHO if at all possible get rid of the prepayment meter if you are going to be using storage heaters as you will be paying far more than you need to for your electricity.
Also make sure that you are on the correct tariff i.e Economy 7 or equivalent.

mrsdawson

thank you for your advice, i shall go with ebico then by the sound of it thats the best deal for me as i can only use prepayment meter, as dont have bank account for dd's

thank you all xxx

Terrylw1

You don't need to always pay by DD. You can pay on receipt of bill which means you can have a credit meter. That means you can avoid the extra from the PP tariff.

Ebico is seen as more ethical because they charge the same for PP & credit as I pointed about but if you can avoid PP, you may save more with another Supplier. You need to monitor your consumption really.

The flat already has a meter, you will have to sign up with the current Supplier from the day you move in. If it's not got a PP meter in already, you will have to pay anyway. So, could you not see how it goes if a credit meter is in and then decide?

People have to remember that you have no gas, so everything is going on your elec. Elec heating costs more than central heating.

So, your consumption is likely to be on the higher side and with elec costing more, your bills are going to cost you overall more than if you had gas & elec.

That means Ebico may work out more for you. No one can really tell you for sure as we can't see your usage. So, move in and if it's a credit meter, monitor your readings at the same time each day. Then you know how much you use per day at the winter rate. You can then consider your annual usage and see who will work out best for you when you check via a comparison site.

Considering this is a flat, I'm guessing that you will have an E7 meter in there. So, you could fing our first if it's PP or crd and decide from there. Your Supplier will still have to bill you on credit intially whilst they arrange the visit to fit the PP meter (if it's not in there already)