Poor advice from MSE...

karalee

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy. My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113, baring in mind the flat is tiny, we are barely there and do not use much energy (we do not have a TV, do not WFH, do not game etc). It seems unreasonable and i wish i went with Octopus... 

debitcardmayhem

Do mean your direct debit has gone up, have you had a bill? 

Ayr_Rage

MSE do not offer advice.

Are you quoting the actual bill or the monthly direct debit?

If the latter, does that reflect your actual usage as evidenced by meter readings?

£49 is ridiculously low as standing charges are around 55p a day for electricity and 30p a day for gas.

Robin9

What  actual annual consumption  did you use tn the comparison site ?

Mark_d

karalee said:

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy. My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113, baring in mind the flat is tiny, we are barely there and do not use much energy (we do not have a TV, do not WFH, do not game etc). It seems unreasonable and i wish i went with Octopus... 

I would never blindly follow advice from MSE or anyone else.  If you put your address and consumption details in to uswitch.com the website works out how much you would pay on different tariffs from different suppliers.

GrubbyGirl_2

karalee said:

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy. My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113, baring in mind the flat is tiny, we are barely there and do not use much energy (we do not have a TV, do not WFH, do not game etc). It seems unreasonable and i wish i went with Octopus... 

MSE didn't advise you to do anything.  They provided you with a list of options based on the information you submitted.  What information did you submit?

Lorian

How's the flat heated

Boohoo

karalee said:

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy. My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113, baring in mind the flat is tiny, we are barely there and do not use much energy (we do not have a TV, do not WFH, do not game etc). It seems unreasonable and i wish i went with Octopus... 

Angela your not having a good week are you?

Back to your question as others have mentioned MSE didn't advise you to do anything you chose to go with SO energy.

If you can do switch to Octopus now.

Neil_Jones

karalee said:

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy. My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113, baring in mind the flat is tiny, we are barely there and do not use much energy (we do not have a TV, do not WFH, do not game etc). It seems unreasonable and i wish i went with Octopus... 

Your direct debit is not your bill.

And may I refer you to the disclaimer at the bottom of every page - "This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances and remember we focus on rates not service."  You may have been told that SO was cheaper for the figures you gave the comparison site but doesn't mean you have to blindly follow it.

You'd have probably been in the same boat whoever you went with...

matelodave

Boohoo said:

karalee said:

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy. My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113, baring in mind the flat is tiny, we are barely there and do not use much energy (we do not have a TV, do not WFH, do not game etc). It seems unreasonable and i wish i went with Octopus... 

Angela your not having a good week are you?

Back to your question as others have mentioned MSE didn't advise you to do anything you chose to go with SO energy.

If you can do switch to Octopus now.

not sure why you are suggesting Octopus,

For me, their quote is 5p/kwh more than I'm paying  - which would cost me £375 a year more for a 12 month fix, or £450 more on a flexible tariff although I would save a whole £10.95 on the standing charge.

SO energy is around 4p/a unit more £300 a year but their standing charge would add another 5p/day = £18.25

You really need to do your own sums to work out how much it should cost using your own estimates rather than letting the energy company do the guessing. Even if you've just moved in and haven't a clue how much energy you are going to use then use the basic rule of around 2800kwh for leccy and 11500kwh for gas.

Its more complex if you are all electric and you have storage heaters on an off peak tariff and even worse if your heating is using an electric boiler or electric radiators.

QrizB

Goodness me, everyone is sounding grumpy today.

karalee said:

I recently moved rented properties and planned to go with Octopus for my energy provider but MSE advised i go with SO energy.

Welcome to the forum.

Can I assume that you used MSE's Cheap Energy Club to compare tariffs for your new flat? Do you remember what annual energy consumption you used when making the comparison?

Is your flat electric-only or dual-fuel? Is your electricity tariff a flat rate one, or time of use (Economy 7 or similar)?

karalee said:

My bill has gone from £49 to a painful £113

You were paying £49 before switching but are now paying £113? Or you were paying £49 in your old flat and are now paying £123 in your new one?

Is this the value of your bill, or your monthly Direct Debit?

If it's your bill, is it basedon actual readings or on estimates? Can you share the readings from your latest bill, and from the day you moved into your flat? And details of your tariff?