Scottish Power... bargain

LilDevil

I think I've found myself an absolute bargain on switching gas/electric. Had a call from Scottish Power and eventually managed to bargain them down to £32.76 p/m (for both and with only 1 DD!) :T - I kept telling them that I could get the same deal plus cashback if I changed online using one of the cashback sites!!

Apparently they can't set up DDs for under £40 so the first 3 months will be £40 and thereafter £32.76 - they will also refund me the difference after the initial 3 months :beer: The only downside is that it can take up to 6 weeks to switch, so the first payment will be on 4 June :rolleyes:

Still, I am paying £83 p/m for both at the moment, so very happy with the deal I've got :j :T :beer:

Cardew

LilDevil wrote: »

I think I've found myself an absolute bargain on switching gas/electric. Had a call from Scottish Power and eventually managed to bargain them down to £32.76 p/m (for both and with only 1 DD!) :T - I kept telling them that I could get the same deal plus cashback if I changed online using one of the cashback sites!!

Apparently they can't set up DDs for under £40 so the first 3 months will be £40 and thereafter £32.76 - they will also refund me the difference after the initial 3 months :beer: The only downside is that it can take up to 6 weeks to switch, so the first payment will be on 4 June :rolleyes:

Still, I am paying £83 p/m for both at the moment, so very happy with the deal I've got :j :T :beer:

So using that logic if you got a monthly payment of £1 a month you will think it a bigger bargain???All that will happen now is you will run up a huge debit balance and your DD will rise to £150 a month or so soon.

Be_Happy

Don't want to dampen your spirits, but please remember that you pay for what you use. I've found in the past that Scottish Power set the monthly direct debit at exceptionally low prices and then increase them dramatically when you get deeper into a debit balance.

I changed to them recently and was given a direct debit of £45. I could calculate from my usage and their tariff that this in no way covered what I would be using and asked them to set the figure at a more realistic amount of £75 a month as I didn't want to be faced with a huge underpayment later in the year.

I've heard others mention this too, the DD figure they were quoted in no way covered what they would be using.

elektra

Scottish Power (elec only) seem to have got my DD spot on - was initially set to £25 and reduced to £20. Last bill just calculated and a few pence in credit. Although I accept it may go back up again with recent price increases.

Totally agree with above though - you pay for what you use so in order not to run up big debit balance the best average DD amount is Total expected spend per year divided by 12.

Chester_Draws

so very happy with the deal I've got :j

Would have to agree with all the above posts.
The only person who has got a good deal is the salesman with his commission.

Poppycat

If you dont want to acrue a large debt you have two choices, 1. use less energy or 2. Keep regularly contact with your energy supplier with accurate meter readings. If you are paying less DD than before, you are deluding yourself if you think you have a good deal, all you will do is get into more debt and then they come back to you instructing you that you DD payment will increase vastly.

You energy consumption should normally start lowering soon, so nows the time to pay more than you use to build up sufficient surplus for the Winter

LilDevil

Thanks for your responses, I do understand that it may fluctuate depending on how much energy I use, I can log meter readings online, so I will do that every month to see how it goes.

It's a 28 days notice period, so if it doesn't live up to my expectations I'm not locked in for a full 12 months.

I've already told OH that the heating is going back on a timer (it's been on permanently for ages as I feel the cold quite badly, there are days when even a duvet, jumper and hot water bottle doesn't help), now I'm back at work full time (was unemployed for 3 months), there shouldn't be too many issues with heating being on timer.

Also told OH that everything that is not essential will be switched off at the mains every night - it's a pain in the a**e switching it all back on again when needed but we need to save as much as possible.

Our block of flats is totally rubbish for energy saving, virtually no insulation put in when it was built and because it's a block of flats, there isn't a great deal we can do. We can't afford to replace the windows and doors which is also a pain as this is where most of the heat is lost, so I may have to investigate the old style boards to see if there are any tips to be had (tried draft excluders/towels by the door, but the cats keep moving them out of the way in the night!

Cardew

LilDevil wrote: »

Thanks for your responses, I do understand that it may fluctuate depending on how much energy I use, .

Whilst that is undobtedly true, your original post claimed that you had found an "absolute bargain" because with Scottish Power you will only be paying £32.76 a month instead of the £83 you are paying with your current supplier.

The point that everyone is making is that Scottish Power may well be more expensive than your current supplier - and what you pay by Direct Debit is meaningless.

If £83 covered whatever energy you used with any supplier, on any tariff, it is inevitable that you will soon be hundreds of pounds in debt, which you will have to pay back.

LilDevil

Cardew wrote: »

If £83 covered whatever energy you used with any supplier, on any tariff, it is inevitable that you will soon be hundreds of pounds in debt, which you will have to pay back.

I'm actually paying too much, I'm in credit, I don't know how much by as I don't have the statement to hand at the moment - after they hiked their prices up in the last year or two (I was paying £20 a month each, which covered it before the price hikes) I inevitably ran up a big bill without realising it, so they upped my payments - hopefully I'm a bit wiser since then and this won't ever happen again.

So, for the time being, I think it is a bargain compared to my Southern Electric account.

I will of course keep you all posted to see if this will continue to be the case - I will be logging meter readings every month and will check the account online every week.

Poppycat

Its only a bargain if the price you pay by kwh is cheaper than others charge. Never make the mistake of thinking its a bargain judging by payments you make over time. These payment can be increased or decreased over time depending on your usage or at least they should be.

Woodgnome_2

Is it me or has LilDevil lost the plot?