Utilities switching article & Independent Gas Charge

littlemissmoney

Martin

Please can you add a warning / information to the utilities switching article about the Independent Gas Charge people might have to pay.

I followed your article and just swtched to eon. Today I got a letter saying that because my gas is supplied and maintained by an independent gas transporter I'll have to pay an additional £42 a year. That's over 20% added to my gas bill as I'm a very low user! :eek: :mad: :eek:

I feel you need to warn people that this charge isn't allowed for in the comparison sites so people need to find out if they are affected and take it into account when thinking about switching. It would be REALLY useful if you could produce some sort of table showing what each company charges or how much they increase the unit price for people affected.

littlemissmoney

A quick search shows other members have been caught out too:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=748251&highlight=independent
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=473283&highlight=independent

paultoon

Good point. I was in the process of switching from British Gas to E.On via energyhelpline.com when I got this message:

"Your meter number indicates that your gas transporter is an independent transporter (IGT) rather than National Grid. Your current gas supplier will be charging a premium for this. E.ON's IGT charge is £10.50 inc VAT per quarter, and we will therefore expect there to be a small discrepancy of £5-£10 in the savings quoted to you."

This is incorrect. My current supplier, BG, is NOT charging a premium, so the "small discrepancy" is actually £42 per year. Having said that, I should still save around £90 per year, plus £15 cashback and Tesco Clubcard points, so in my case the switch is still worth it. But if you are on an IGT please bear this in mind!

Wombat21

Got this from Google -
To find out whether you are connected to the gas distribution system via an Independent Gas Transporter is quite simple
The clues are:
If the M number (MPRN) shown on your gas bill is 10 digits long and begins with 74 or 75 then you are supplied by an Independent Gas Transporter.
You should find your M number (MPRN) on either the front page or reverse of the front page of a recent gas bill.
http://energylinx.co.uk/independent_gas_transporters.htm
It doesn't look that simple to me but I'll have to look into it as I'm thinking of changing. Thanks for the heads up about this issue.

VelvetGlove

Oh crikey! Thanks for the warning - we are just looking into switching our gas & electricity providers as I know we can get it cheaper elsewhere & I've just obtained landlord approval to switch!