Unsuitable tariff for years - Challenge energy company?

ohdear66

Hi everyone,

I wondered if I could have some advice and points of view. I have today discovered that we have been on an economy 7 meter and tariff since 2018 which we inherited when we moved in. I absolutely take responsibility that I should of known more about energy bills etc but didn't realise the actual meaning of this meter and rating.

We use 9% at night and the 91% during the day. This has been consistent over the past 8 years. At no point have the energy supplier (the same company throughout) questioned or highlighted that we are on the wrong tariff due to our usage. Surely they have to take some accountability (even just from a human perspective) as it is so unsuitable and inappropriate for our household.

I have emailed the energy company and am awaiting a response - any insight or advice would be greatly welcomed.

Thank you!

Isthisforreal99

Why 'surely'?

If it's unsuitable then change it now but your chances anything retrospective are between none and next to none.

Your comments suggest that you don't check your bills but my Octopus ones always say something along the lines of you may be able to save money by switching tarrif or supplier. That's my responsibility to check, nobody else.

QrizB

I have today discovered that we have been on an economy 7 meter and tariff since 2018 which we inherited when we moved in.

This might be asking about things from before you took the property over, but did it previously have storage heaters? And they've been removed and replaced with something else?

We use 9% at night and the 91% during the day. This has been consistent over the past 8 years.

And for the last eight years this info has been available to you? Energy companies are required to show an Estimated Annual Consumption. Of the big names, I think OVO only show this online but the others print it on their bills.

any insight or advice would be greatly welcomed.

If you're expecting your energy use to continue as 91% day, 9% night you should be thinking of changing to a single-rate tariff.

Alternatively, do you have a smart meter? If you do, there are a wide range of smart tariffs available from several suppliers that could work out cheaper.

ohdear66

Apologies - I didn't word it correctly as feeling frustrated.

I meant 'surely' as in, I would of thought when there are accounts that are not meeting the tariffs intended purpose it would trigger some kind of notification or invitation to review the type of tariff associated with the property eg. has the property changed to an HMO as usage has increased or something is drastically different to what we would expect with this tariff etc.

Of course its overall my responsibility as my house but as I said I thought there would be a process to eliminate these issues : (

Netexporter

There have been energy cost comparison sited for far longer than 8 years. Have you never consulted one to see if you could be paying less?

Isthisforreal99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117074#Comment_82117074

Nobody is monitoring your account at that level. It's not their responsibility.

ohdear66

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117078#Comment_82117078

Yes but all rates have been linked to my address and meter which is logged as economy 7.

debitcardmayhem

Have you never noticed that your rates have changed in 8 years and think "I wonder if it's cheaper elsewhere". Sorry but the onus is on you.

ohdear66

Fair enough, I was just surprised it hadn't flagged. I work for a global company and we have teams who look out for things like this, even at individual account level in their relative markets. Everyday is a school day….

ohdear66

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117070#Comment_82117070

Yes, there were previous storage heaters and changed to full central heating just before we bought it.

I have asked them to immediately change us over to a single rate tariff and waiting for them to call me back regarding switching the smart meter over to single. She said she needed to speak to someone else.

I have always looked for a cheaper offer however when I put my address in it seems to only give me back economy 7 prices (which I have checked on 3 different sites today).

It was only today when I checked the latest email it highlighted the fact I use the above so I've gone back through every single meter reading and done the calculation myself over the years which go between 8.4% and 9% - they have never previously pointed this out hence me suddenly realising the economy 7 does not match our household at all.

QrizB

I have always looked for a cheaper offer however when I put my address in it seems to only give me back economy 7 prices (which I have checked on 3 different sites today).

Yes, the "problem" is that your meter will be recorded on the national database as an E7 meter and so the comparison sites will default to offering you E7 tariffs.

The sites should be asking you for information on your actual energy use, including day/night split. Certain suppliers have lower-priced E7 daytime electricity (and higher-priced nighttime electricity) so the comparisons should by default favour these.

Some (but not all) comparison sites will also let you override the database default. I've just checked and I don't think MSE Cheap Energy Club will let you, but USwitch does. This will let you see and compare single-rate tariffs.

Edit: I note that Ecotricity is curently offering their "EcoFixed" tariff with an E7 rate of ~25p/kWh daytime, ~16p/kWh night. That's a daytime rate that's comparable to the SVT plus an offpeak that's cheaper.