Changes To StayWarm

rodaire

Hello and thank you to all the suggestions above for dealing with Staywarm. Our current charge is £115.32 (since last October) but have not received any communication from them since that time. I guess I'll call 'Fiona' and see if there is any reduction available if I sound as though I am thinking of quitting.

BTW, Martin's recent email says that UKPower have Staywarm in their list of suppliers but it does not appear yet.

rodaire

Sorry for my previous comment about UKPower not having Staywarm in their list. You actually have to select Powergen as the provider and 'Staywarm' as the tariff.

Sorry about that :-(

System

I now have the letter with my new low rates. Currently I pay £80.41 but from next payment it will be £76.39, a reduction of £4.02p per month, (or £1 and a halfpenny a week LOL).

I now need to decide what to do. We are a couple (oap & Reg.disabled) in a two bed semi.

trisha

You might get another letter yet saying you pay more, although it will probably depend how much you have used, everyone we know did, we actually got two the same day one dated April and one May, reduced to £74 May Up to £90.70 April letter.
Apparently medium and high users (we are border line low/medium, gas was the higher one) will have to pay more it doesn't matter how many bedrooms you have any more.

We have taken Powergens Energy Guarantee tariff instead of Staywarm,on this the amount we used last year will work out at £74 a month, as obviously we will save in summer without the central heating and lights, this will go in credit to use against the winter payments if they are higher.If we use less then it will come down We will have to see how it works. It is guaranteed to be less than BG so if BG reduce the gas and electric, then Powergen will reduces theirs.

Trisha

Biggles

islandman wrote: »

We are a couple (oap & Reg.disabled) in a two bed semi.

Phone and tell them there is a disabled person in the house, they will reduce your fees further as long as you are getting some benefits they can check (eg Attendance Allowance etc), you'll need your DWP reference when you ring.

You might get another letter yet saying you pay more

The reason for amounts going up and then down is that it was always due to go up on your annual review date (presumably April in your case?) and then down due to the recent overall reductions (in May).

System

will do, thanks.

System

OK, so with your information to hand, I called Staywarm. It seems there are 2/3 bands available and should anyone use more than "they" would wish, you are invited to move up to the next band.

However, they did tell me that because my wife who is reg.disabled and receives DLO at the highest rate, (due to that fact that she cannot walk unaided), they took one or two details, and informed me that under no circumstances would we be moved into the next bandwidth. I led her into saying that even if we over used (in their opinion) we would remain in the Standard bandwidth and we were NOT to deny ourselves.

So, thanks for that. I know it will be some time before we require to use heating etc, but at least we now know. Next stop water!.

gatita

A couple of years back I had a LOT of problems with Staywarm, and had to ask Energywatch and my M.P for help. Without any notification Staywarm changed me to their ordinary tarif, even though I continued to pay by direct debit the Staywarm tarif. It was after 6 months I received a letter informing me that I owed 100's of pounds! I was horrified and needless to say very worried. Eventually Powergen admitted they had made a mistake, but did say I was a very high user, and although they would 'allow' me!!! to stay on the Staywarm scheme, they would review things at the end of the year, and that they would send round a representative to inspect my property to try and show me where I could cut down my consumption!

Fast forward to yeste:Drday, a very polite and helpful gentleman arrived and started going through the paper work I had etc............... when all of a sudden he burst out laughing! I ask why, he said "according to the reading they have sent you,you are using 1487871.0 Kilowatt hours of gas, which would probably supply the whole town of where I live:D :eek: no blimmen wonder I was considered a 'HIGH USER'. He read my meter, telephoned in the reading etc, and within a few minutes I was informed I was and always HAD been a LOW user, and that someone had obviously made a mistake when inputting my energy consumption. I am obviously pleased with this news, but at the time it caused me a LOT of needless worry, as I did try to not use too much gas, and last year spent many a cold day when I was scared to put the heating on.
Hopefully everything will be alright now, but please, keep your eye on the yearly reading they send, otherwise you too could have a very nasty few months as I did.
I always take a reading each month, so I know exactly how much gas and electric I use, and my meter is read regularly

Marmaduke123

It's definitely worth phoning Staywarm if your new monthly payment seems too high. We got a reduction of over £30 pounds. Apparently lack of an up to date electricity meter reading had just tipped us over into the highest band.

Marmaduke

Energised

You should always phone up SW when you get your renewal letter, call with a meter reading and ask for your consumption to be checked, at the same time you'll also get a price comparison where we can see if you're any better off on a different PG tariff, if you're not happy with your SW or alternative Powergen tariff price you can use the yearly KWH provided (which will be as accurate as possible) to get alternative prices from other suppliers.

This is particularly important if your price has gone up as a result of your consumption, SW aren't doing anything wrong, if you use lots of energy unfortunately you now have to pay for it! But even in these cases, SW will still probably work out as a very good tariff for you, and if it doesn't there's not many occasions when our Energy Guarantee tariff wont be one of the most competitive on the market.

Regards