One Utilities

QrizB

BeerSavesMoney said:

Out of interest I’ve just got a quote which came to £210.88 a month for unlimited energy (electricity only) for two people in a two bed flat. We currently pay around £60 a month by variable direct debit.

£245.87 looks very much like what the OP is paying!

lohr500

Firstly a thank you to QrizB for tracking down the T&Cs. 

No response back from them so far. 

Our 2 year fix ends today.
I had already determined our best option starting tomorrow was EDF20:20 which is a variable tarrif.

Based on the previous 2 years usage (22828kWh) the new cost would be £358 a month including the SC.
Based on the previous 1 years usage where we tried to reduce consumption (20324kWh) it would be £304.

One Utilities are quoting £343 based on 4 tenants.

A chunk of the 1 year reduction came from switching the the water heating from electricity to oil. If we had "unlimited" electricity then I would switch back to using the immersion heater and reduce our oil consumption.(+/- 1.5 litres per day for hot water only).

On the face of it then, £343 for unlimited use looks attractive. It would allow us to do all the water heating on electricity, use an electric heater or two for those days where it is a little chilly but not cold enough to fire up the oil central heating and give us more flexibility on when we run the washing machine and dish washer.

As well as asking if the offer is available to homeowners, I have asked them how the price is linked to the energy cap and what are their definitions of negligent / fair use. 

Clause 8.4 is worrying as it suggests that if they establish negligent use, they can increase the amount payable to cover the cost of the utility provided t their sole discretion. No mention of if this would be retrospective either.

8.4. In the unlikely event that We establish that there is negligent or commercial use of electricity and/or gas by the tenants of the House, we reserve the right to increase the amount payable as advertised by the Bundle by such additional amount as is needed to ensure that the total amount paid by the tenants is sufficient to cover the cost of the utility services provided to the House and the amount of our fee for providing the Services. This will be at Our sole discretion and You will notified of this via email.

And the cancellation charge appears to be massive so if they do ramp up the price, getting out of the deal will be expensive :

You will also pay us an exit fee of 50% of the Order Management Fee’s and the One Utility Bill Unlimited Energy Fee for the length of contract if you cancel the contract early (namely, after services have begun).

On balance, I'm currently of the opinion that the slight cost benefit is offset by to many risks around the small print.

As/when I get any response from them, I will provide an update.

lohr500

Update .

This just in from Fused Energy who appear to be a sister company to One Utility Bill, using the same website with a different skin and operating from the same address 

Our services are only available to tenants with tenancies that have started in the past 6 weeks or are upcoming. As a result, we can't service homeowners. Thank you so much for your interest though! We greatly appreciate it. Thomas @ Fused Bills

So decision made!!

Shedman

BeerSavesMoney said:

Out of interest I’ve just got a quote which came to £210.88 a month for unlimited energy (electricity only) for two people in a two bed flat. We currently pay around £60 a month by variable direct debit.

Interestingly whilst energy is “unlimited” I noticed that it doesn’t mention this beside Water, so just something to be aware of!

It does mention it on their How It Works page: 

Unlimited water

No more worries about the meter. Pay one flat monthly fee!