Ebico as a supplier

rmg1

Hi all
I'm looking to switch electricity suppliers and Ebico, although not the cheapest, does seem to have the best reviews and would save me money.
Quick question, though.
They are listed as an "unlicensed supplier" on USwitch.
Can anyone tell me what that means and if I should be nervous?

Ken68

See what you mean....

http://www.uswitch.com/Energy/directory/EBICo/EquiDual.html

Ebico are 'attached' to Southern Electric who do their administration.
And it did take Uswitch quite a while to recognize Ebico, listing them as a social tariff, hidden away from normal comparison.
And to keep costs low Ebico doesn't pay commissions for recommendations. Not to Uswitch or Energyhelpline nor anyone.

Farway

rmg1 wrote: »

Hi all
I'm looking to switch electricity suppliers and Ebico, although not the cheapest, does seem to have the best reviews and would save me money.
Quick question, though.
They are listed as an "unlicensed supplier" on USwitch.
Can anyone tell me what that means and if I should be nervous?

In a word, No

If anything, given their link with Southern Electric & Christian, not for profit, ethics I would imagine they are as good as or better than most suppliers [price excluded before anyone shouts]

I have been with them for over 2 years without a problem and love the easy understandable bills

eriphyle

I am confused about something: if Southern Electric do all their admin, how does the company justify one low rate for Ebico customers and a higher one for their own? After all, is your house warm, or not?

I initiated a switch from EDF to Ebico 6 weeks ago and its just happening now, but I've had nothing from Ebico at all, just bumpf from Southern.

Southern could not answer any of my questions either about tariffs when I called for explanation, so so far, I'm not impressed. But the house is warm and the lights are on so I'm not jumping about just yet.

I just want to make sure we're on Ebico and not Southern pricing - and as we're on a prepay meter, its hard to fathom out anything.

Ken68

My transfer took about 6 weeks, Eri., with occasional e mails from Southern.
Every large supplier has a cheapo or supposed cheapo revenue gathering arm. Similar is Help the Aged for BG, Age Concern for Powergen (now EON).
In the case of Southern they use Ebico to attract the ethical brigade.
OFGEM should be using Ebico as 'best practice' energy supplier. I think MSE do more in that line.

Gavioli_UK

eriphyle wrote: »

Southern could not answer any of my questions either about tariffs when I called for explanation, so so far, I'm not impressed. But the house is warm and the lights are on so I'm not jumping about just yet.

I had the same problem and I found EBICO cannot be contacted by phone. It took days (after reminders) for e-mails to be answered and then not all problems were resolved

millymollymandy2K7

Scottish and southern do not promote Ebico as such, as they are different companies. It just happens to be that they provide the service on behalf of Ebico.

http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/home.php

This link should provide details about the company, admin, prices etc.

dc

I have been with them two years and no problems whatsoever.
Simple costings,

Price per unit x units used = £Bill

Sapphire

Gavioli_UK wrote: »

eriphyle wrote: »

Southern could not answer any of my questions either about tariffs when I called for explanation, so so far, I'm not impressed. But the house is warm and the lights are on so I'm not jumping about just yet.

I had the same problem and I found EBICO cannot be contacted by phone. It took days (after reminders) for e-mails to be answered and then not all problems were resolved

I've just phoned them and got through immediately. Chap was helpful - and this seems to be about the only company that receives good reviews for services and for prices. He said the switch is taking six to eight weeks at the moment since they are very busy. :rolleyes:

dollarjon

ive been with them now for 2 years and i am very happy. The only problem is they have just put up my price from 9.19p kwh to 11.21p so its quite a hike. But its straight forward, no x ammount for the first 8000 kwh and then down to x ammount its all one price per kwh and no standing charges for the meter's use.

leaphaze

Just to echo what other existing EBICO customers have said, I'm happy.

OK, EBICO has an ethical stance, and that is commendable, however times are tough for many of us and the first thing we all look at when we get our bills is the big figure at the bottom.

I don't pay monthly; I pay only when the bill arrives once a quarter; I don't have a direct debit setup, I pay online. For this payment method EBICO are the cheapest. I could save £80 (on £750) by paying a fixed monthly amount with another supplier, but I've heard nightmare stories from friends who've had problems reducing monthly payments or getting refunds when their monthly payments had been too high and they'd built up quite a balance. Don't want the hassle.

I switched to EBICO back in Jan 05, saving 33% on Electricity and 45% on Gas. Since then prices have gone up 3 times: Nov 05 (9%, 20%); Sep 06 (27%, 31%); April 08 (15%, 12%). Prices have never dropped. I think this is very reasonable compared to other suppliers.

I've just gone through all the switching websites (always looking to save). I think I'll be sticking with EBICO.