Confusion on Gas/elec Annual Discounts

richardsimkiss

Hi all,

Apologies for what I'm sure most will see as a really silly question;

When comparing gas/elec tariffs I understand a lot of providers offer discounts for both going dual fuel, and paying by DD. There's also mention of these being yearly discounts, savings per year, and discounts recieved annually.

My situation is I'm currently in rented accomodation, and hopefully will either be moving, or buying within the next year (or potentially even changing energy suppliers again!).

Does this mean that I won't get any of these discounts if I were to pull the plug on my custom with the companies within 12months of signing up? Or are the discounts on a per-month basis and simply being displayed as potential savings for the year?

In particular I'm looking at British Gas - Click Energy 5... which states:

** Click Energy 5 average saving for dual fuel of £108.
The Click Energy 5 saving represents savings vs our Standard offline cash/cheque prices. Based on average annual single rate electricity consumption of 3,300 kWh and gas consumption of 20,500 kWh as at 8th May 2008, rounded and includes VAT at 5%.
†† Monthly Direct Debit £75 Discount
Gas customers paying by Monthly Direct Debit will receive a discount off their quarterly consumption charges of 10.3%, up to a maximum of £16.89 (including VAT) per quarter. Based on average annual gas consumption of 20,500 kWh as at 8th May 2008, is rounded and includes VAT at 5%. Discount received varies according to seasonal consumption.
Electricity customers paying by Monthly Direct Debit or Standing Order will receive a discount off their quarterly consumption charges of 4.8%, up to a maximum of £5.20 (including VAT) per quarter. Based on average annual single rate electricity consumption of 3,300 kWh as at 8th May 2008, is rounded and includes VAT at 5%. Discount received varies according to seasonal consumption.
Subject to status, and not having an overdue gas or electricity account.
^ Dual Fuel Discount £15:
Includes VAT at 5%. Discount is not available to business or electricity Pay As You Go Energy™ customers. The £15 discount is applied pro rata on a daily basis and is credited to your electricity bill quarterly.
Subject to status, and not having an overdue gas account.

Which would appear to me that I recieve the discounts each month... but I really wanted to check before going to the effort of switching and then actually not make any saving s because I don't stay on the same tariff for 12months!

Sorry for the long post, any help much appreciated!!!

Stinkster

Yeah you are correct the benefits are pro-rata each quarter.

So if you were to go for this deal

you'd get up to £16.89 credit gas dd discount every 3mths.

on electricity up to £5.20 credit dd discount + then £3.75 credit a quarter on as a 1/4 of the yearly £15.00 Dual Fuel discount. (they show the dual fuel discount on the ele statement only).

So the fact you might not stay there for a full year won't effect your potential savings, same applies if you switch to a different supplier, or change to a different BG tariff.