Atlantic Electric and Gas

System

:-[Bad news, folks. I've just received a letter from Atlantic saying that all existing customers will have a price hike from 5th. July - wow, a full 2 weeks notice to swop! Of course, if you do swop, bang goes your annual discount anyway as you won't be completing the year.
Won't anyone introduce some clarity into their pricing structures instead of all these gimmicks designed to confuse?

System

According to price comparisons, Atlantic will still be the cheapest for gas despite the 22.5% increase as long as the one month annual rebate continues.

lisyloo

According to price comparisons, Atlantic will still be the cheapest for gas despite the 22.5% increase as long as the one month annual rebate continues.

Have you compared with telecom plus?

I am not necessarily advocating using them as there are some issues with customer service.

But according to their claims they should be cheapest.


You can do a comparison on https://www.energylinx.co.uk but remeber to check the "I want to compare non-standard tariffs" box.

ikr2

Our gas useage is up this year because we have had someone in the house all day and a heating valve was broken for all of feb, which meant we had no thermostat control over the heating!

Atlantic were slow accept our switch from the old Amerada.. We applied in Sept 2003 and were customers from late Nov 2003.

Based on the winter quarter's meter readings, I'm estimating an annual gas useage of 30 to 34000 KWh, up from 20000 KWh. On this basis it is worth our while staying with Atlantic until we get the annual rebate in November.

Going with Scottish Power (seems to be the cheapest alternative) now would save around £60 p.a. or £30 up to November (probably less as this is the slack period for gas useage). We would forfeit the monthly rebate from Atlantic of around £40.

So around October I will be shopping for gas again! I notice that Scottish power's tariffs are pegged until 2007.

ioscorpio

I have been with Atlantic since last July, so will wait until I receive my annual rebate. I have always had estimated bills but when I e-mailed them my correct readings for gas and electric they sent out revised bills. I also received a cheque for overpayment of £200+ when I requested one as my direct debits were too high for my gas usage.

save4u

Based on Martin's latest article I looked at my gas and electricity comsumption as I am currently with Atlantic Electric and Gas.... Martin reports that tariffs are to go up big time in July.

I have put the same annual consumption/cost into the comparison sites and get different answers both for new supplier and savings. This seems to be the on-going unresolved problem for some in this discussion board....or have I missed something?

My problem is that I will switch if the annual savings are worth it but to what company and for how much 'savings' when the recommendations are different from each 'independent' comparison sites.......and if I do change how do I know who is telling the truth?

The cynic in me says that as the comparison companies are taking a cut then it is in their interest to be slow with updates if they gain by so doing.

Any help or advice on this total confusion (I thought these were to clarify not confuse ) and has anyone done a comparison between sites and if so which two are the most up to date/best? Does anybody know when are these updated and when would be the best time to compare tariffs for this latest switch away from Atlantic?

PS I have also posted this request on the equivalent message board for switching tafiffs to grab a wider audience... Martin may like to consolidate this discussion when he has the time .

Help..............

RIP1_2

If you are looking for upto date information on price changes, the UK Power website contains this information.

The only real way to be sure of savings is to work it out yourself. On many of the comparison websites they will tell you the unit rates. Use these and your consumption to work out the cost. Then it is a matter of seeing what the company has to offer in terms of discounts etc. The comparison websites will give you some idea about who is the cheapest but working it out yourself takes away any bias a site may have towards/against a particular supplier.

save4u

Posted this on the equvalent topic but it will certainly help here methinks - I score another post as well



As a help to those who feel the need to change (after receiving their loyalty refund) and others avoiding the swinging price increase from Atlantic Elec & Gas.

I ran my annual consumption (you can use price but estimated consumption is best - beware the Gas Kwh calculation it is not the units but an applied formula with a variation on the calorific value) through all the comparison sites suggested in Martins article and...... apart from getting some variations there was a pattern showing the best top results.

Compare Dual fuel, Gas only, Electricity only. Separate suppliers can give a better deal.

I then looked at the T&C for each chosen tariff - not available on all sites - to check the latest rates applied and eliminated those who were due a price hike soon (Powergen and Scottish & Southern).

End result - went for Scottish Power internet account on Gas only - not the cheapest (this was Telecom plus by £6) but hidden in the small print was this tit-bit

"The capped tariff introduced in March 2004 offers fixed rates until March 07. This insulates the customer from any potential price rises until March 07"

Signing on through energyhelpline gives me another tenner and supports Martin's site.

Jury still out on electricity (only a couple of quid difference) until price hikes work their way through.

Great Save though; thanks all and I hope this helps you ardent energy Savers out there ;D

save4u

OOOps Just read the thread on Scottish Power which (summarised) looks like the service received has been patchy.

Apart from difficulties on start up, Posters seem to mention that they do not start the DD or that the amount is too low - providing SP apply the contracted tariff, I can live with that and invest the difference in a high interest account

I reserve judgement on the 'great save' until the documentation is in place and my account is up and running.

As an aside, all comparison sites I used gave SP a good rating for service though - I wonder who determines this?

System

If anyone is thinking about switching to Atlantic, read this first.

I joined them last year with the promise of cheaper gas.
I paid them on Direct Debit, but never seemed to receive a bill. the last one i received was for the period jan - may!!! it stated i owed them £625. I only use gas for a small wall heater. I phoned them and was left holding for 3/4 hour. eventually i got through but they were clueless to help. They promised somebody would call me back. Guess what? that's right nobody did.

It was only when i looked through my old bills did i notice that they had completely underestimated my opening reading. so every bill going forward had been wrong.
I wrote them a letter last week with copies of my bills. to date i've heard nothing. So i'll be taking it further.

my tips are:
1. If you switch suppliers keep copies of all correspondence.
2. If you receive estimated bills, always check them.
3. If you do ring the call centres, always get a name.

I'll update you on the outcome.