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It is that time of the year again trying to decide what to do! Present supplier Shell is telling me energy costs are going up some £250 per year If you can believe them. They give you a choice of some fixed rate tariffs which if you multiply the 12 monthly payments by the direct debit is some £636pa plus what I paid in the last 12 month. They do not readily give you the Kwh rates or the daily standing charges or indeed the total years usage in Kwh or making difficult to find. I have tried the switching sites and they are quoting a group of companies that are cheaper but not that far away from Shell
Questions Why do the comparison site want you to quote your present supplier and tariff
Has any one NOT fixed and just stayed with flexible tariffs?
Incidentally the fixed rate Shell are quoting includes Free Boiler cover for 12 months and a Free Google Nest worth £89. I do not need these and a wonder who is paying for FREE!
I have a mind to try a period on flexible tariff and see what Ofcom says. The whole system is just too complicated and needs sorting so the ordinary folk can understand and I am not thick!
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Questions Why do the comparison site want you to quote your present supplier and tariff
I would guess they do it so they just rank the suppliers who can beat the current supplier/tariff.
If you want a site that's not in any way biased by commissions etc you could try this:
energycompare.citizensadvice.org.uk/
I have a mind to try a period on flexible tariff and see what Ofcom says. The whole system is just too complicated and needs sorting so the ordinary folk can understand and I am not thick!
I assume you mean Offgem.
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I too am using Shell and am due to renew at the end of the month (full disclosure, I am an exShell employee and pensioner). I tried the various comparison sites but they all came out at around the same price to renew - £660 pa/ £55 per month. There were some cheaper ones but I am wary of signing up to somebody I have never heard of.
I have not heard of the freebies, and in the end went for a flexible tariff. I can cancel anytime at no fee and go elsewhere. However using the CA site noted above this has trawled in other suppliers, notably Ecotricity who I have used in the past, at £579 for the year so I may well cancel my deal with Shell. I only took this out a couple of days ago so no problem there.
What hurts is that this is an increase on my previous bill of £480 a year, so much for the bonus of cheap, green, wind energy. The days when I budgeted leccie at £1 a day are long gone. Just have to look forward now to putting an ASHP in to replace our oil fired boiler. This will of course help to reduce the 1% overall global emissions made by the UK.
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Your current supplier and tariff is needed to provide a comparison against what your existing supplier will charge when your current deal expires How would they do it without?
I last changed in October last year and I am experiencing the same as most of the other bad reviewers of a new kid on the block utility supplier. I am yet to receive a bill and other than the confirmation of my tariff and account details I have had nothing since.
I am calculating the bill myself and putting money aside. I’ve tried to change, but my current deal is by far the cheapest! I expect the company to go bust as that’s what happened to my previous supplier that tried to beat the market.
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"""Your current supplier and tariff is needed to provide a comparison against what your existing supplier will charge when your current deal expires How would they do it without? ""
Sorry I already know what my existing supplier is charging me and what he proposes to charge me However he is not breaking it down only monthly direct debit and total estimate on previous usage, and yes I will ask further.
Like any other quote I get I want them to start from scratch. I know or hope to know my usage in Kwhs for gas and electric and where I live so what is the problem. I can make my own comparison quite easily! What sort of bargaining starts with telling someone how much you are paying and to whom? Is fixing really the way?
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The suppliers provide the information as required by OFGEM for comparison purposes.
If you know your useage for the previous year in kWh you don't need to know the standing charge and unit cost for every other supplier as you are being provided the lowest prices when both elements are taken into account.
You can find the SC and units charges from the comparison sites.
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This will of course help to reduce the 1% overall global emissions made by the UK.
All good...if all countries did there bit we would get it down some huge percentage points...shame a lot of people don't care enough.
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As I have been looking I was amazed that there are some 90 companies in the business of selling energy and how many tariffs on offer is any ones guess.
Talking of doing your bit some young lad has broken the record for flying around the world. Good luck to him but how much fuel has he used to achieve this? This is just part of the fundamental problem of the hopeless task of trying to stop climate change much the same as Branson flying off to the edge of space while some are buying EVs to do their little bit.
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“All good...if all countries did there bit we would get it down some huge percentage points”
well not really, at least for the economically rational. The US and China are by far the biggest consumers of energy. The US uses approximately 12x more energy than the UK (with only approximately 6x the population). China uses around 18x more energy than the UK. Also in terms of energy intensity, the relationship between gross domestic product and economic output, the UK is amongst the least intensive of the developed nations, the US, China and Russia at the other end of the scale. Of course these figures smooth over issues such as energy intensive industries eg iron and steel, and the balance of services v manufacturing in a national economy.
the biggest bang for the energy saving buck is obviously from the more intensive energy users, but equally countries such as ours share a responsibility in that we have outsourced metal bashing types industries to such countries. No easy answers to all this but driving an EV in the UK won’t be the most impactful thing we can do.
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No easy answers to all this but driving an EV in the UK won’t be the most impactful thing we can do.
No one is saying it will be - not on an individual level...but if in 10/20 years time millions of people have switched and the world is using more renewables for energy sources then that has a great impact.
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This is just part of the fundamental problem of the hopeless task of trying to stop climate change
Well, no - to affect climate change we need to look at new ways of doing things - using new, renewable fuel sources, recycling metals as much as possible, reducing cement usage - certainly not a hopeless task...just needs people to put their mind to the long term rather than the short term. There are a lot of answers available - just need the will to do it.
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Update Well I have been to a lot of sights and companies and I think that most if not all have already put up their prices in anticipation of Ofgems cap of £150. From a base of what I paid last 12months the cheapest increase for me is an INCREASE of £217 with one of the lesser known companies Most of the well known ones are upwards of £300. I think a lot of people are in for a rude awakening when they go looking..
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I have changed around a bit the past few years. Now with Octopus for two years and find them very good. Easily contactable, fix issues straight away and no fussing around. The rates are cheaper than all the big boys and very competitive against everyone else too. That combined with customer service is a good combination. You may save £20 a year with another supplier but you would gladly give that when you need to speak to someone to sort out a problem and all the cheap ones have is a computer chatbot!!! You pays your money etc etc....
Cheers Concrete
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I very nearly changed to Octopus but at the eleventh hour my current supplier came back with a discount that meant it wasn't worth changing.
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I use the energy club on “money saving expert”, the Martin Lewis site. They compare all suppliers and tariffs and are very open on the ones they get a kicker from and the ones they don’t. You put in your own parameters re fixed/variable, green, exit fees, supplier size etc and so you get deals tailored accordingly.
Using them I changed earlier in the year to Igloo who offered a very good tariff but with no fixed period. They have just however put their prices up a lot so I have moved to Green with a fixed deal. I am still paying more than last year as all suppliers have put their prices up.
If you change watch out for tardiness from your existing supplier with regards to final bill and return of balance. The supplier I started the year with, before Igloo, missed both deadlines and had to pay me £25 for each. It’s supposed to be automatic but I had to chase them hard to get it. I don’t think they will be round much longer.
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I use the energy club on “money saving expert”, the Martin Lewis site. They compare all suppliers and tariffs
I used to use MSE until this thread gave me a heads up on trading standards. MSE do not compare all suppliers. Martin Lewis sold the site and it's now a commercial operation.
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They do compare all suppliers if you check "All Suppliers" in the filters on the left hand. Most of the commercial sites are the same in that they don't show all comparisons by default, you have to tick the boxes ...
It is a convenient site although I use it in conjunction with the Citizens Advice Bureau checker.
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They do compare all suppliers if you check "All Suppliers" in the filters on the left hand.
Last time I used MSE, it didn't show my current supplier, which turned out to be cheaper than anyone MSE could find.
Perhaps 'all suppliers' means just all the ones MSE use?
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I have within the last month renewed/switched both my electricity & gas contracts (for me, separate suppliers work out cheaper) & for both comparisons my existing suppliers came up in MSE/CEC comparison. I readily admit that sometimes MSE/CEC doesn't always get the tariffs of smaller companies (like Zog who I have happily used for my gas for many years) right all the time or of course when there are tariff changes from any supplier they aren't always reflected immediately on MSE/CEC.
However, as I have said I use MSE/CEC in conjunction with CAB comparison (& sometimes others) & indeed then check on the suppliers' own websites. There certainly are tariffs from some suppliers that are only available exclusively from certain comparison sites.
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Well I switched to Avro and all went well from their end. Gave them the new readings and Shell the old supplier confirms the switch and it took 3weeks.
Now the rub, it will take Shell up to 6weeks to produce a final bill and then another 2weeks to issue a refund which is due me. So up to eight weeks before I get my money back. Hard to believe that these companies use computers and they took another direct debit after the switch and Avro took theirs before the process was complete. Nice little cash flow for these and I expect they all operate the same!
What do these so called energy providers do. As far as I can tell all they do is take your meter readings and bill you. As I get older things seem to get less efficient and cost more. How can gas and electric coming along the same pipes and wires vary in price so much and the costs per day or tariffs be almost impossible to understand. I know everyone along the line takes a cut and the consumer pays the inflated price soon to increase by a minimum or £139 for everyone eventually
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Now the rub, it will take Shell up to 6weeks to produce a final bill and then another 2weeks to issue a refund which is due me. So up to eight weeks before I get my money back. Hard to believe that these companies use computers and they took another direct debit after the switch and Avro took theirs before the process was complete. Nice little cash flow for these and I expect they all operate the same!
Those are the maximum periods respectively before you are automatically due compensation from them.
What do these so called energy providers do. As far as I can tell all they do is take your meter readings and bill you. As I get older things seem to get less efficient and cost more. How can gas and electric coming along the same pipes and wires vary in price so much and the costs per day or tariffs be almost impossible to understand. I know everyone along the line takes a cut and the consumer pays the inflated price soon to increase by a minimum or £139 for everyone eventually
They contract to buy in large amounts of energy in advance & then resell it in smaller amounts to you/me etc.. You can read about the rest here www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/infographic-bills-pr...s
Bills won't soon increase by a minimum of £139 for everyone eventually - that is the amount expected for a "medium" user (defined as 12000KwH gas & 2900KwH electricity)who pays by DD if suppliers put up prices to the new "cap" rates. Lower users or those whose suppliers don't put prices up to the new "cap" rates may see lower increases (& this ignores those who are on fixes where potentially rates may come down again before their fixes are up).
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I switched from Avro earlier this year. They were late producing the final bill, late in refunding my credit balance and only paid up the £60 statutory compensation for these failures when I complained. This is supposed to be paid automatically.
I wonder if some other people just give up. It was like pulling teeth.
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Due to still not receiving anything from my current supplier, apart from an email telling me of price increase from October, I instigated a switch this week and its far from as simple as it used to be.
As a low user I am happy to pay on bill every month or quarter. Finding a sensibly priced credit tarriff I could switch to was impossible. The cheapest prices on comparison sites weren't available through the supplier websites, calling them got me nowhere. Those which were were stupid money, 30-40% more a year.
I have now switched to a dd tarriff, but not the cheapest as they were companies I wanted to go to and I know one of them may fold anytime soon.
I expect it will be painful switch as I know I'm in debt with the current company so they will need to provide me a bill before the switch will be authorised.
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I just had the dreaded 'price rises' email from SSE, and giving ONLY one option to 'fix' prices for a year - but of course, that option must require me to replace both my meters with 'smart' ones.
Bills going up for me by £100 (gas+electric combined) from about £800pa. Despite me always reading the meters, thus they have no extra costs, I have to pay to subsidise smart meters.
No agenda there then. Reminds me of other approaches to force people into making certain decisions in recent times.
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I just had the dreaded 'price rises' email from SSE, and giving ONLY one option to 'fix' prices for a year - but of course, that option must require me to replace both my meters with 'smart' ones.
Bills going up for me by £100 (gas+electric combined) from about £800pa. Despite me always reading the meters, thus they have no extra costs, I have to pay to subsidise smart meters.
No agenda there then. Reminds me of other approaches to force people into making certain decisions in recent times.
The government are forcing them to install the smart meters and can't think of any business that would give you anything for free. No agenda at all - all business costs.
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"""I switched from Avro earlier this year. They were late producing the final bill, late in refunding my credit balance and only paid up the £60 statutory compensation for these failures when I complained. This is supposed to be paid automatically""""
As I said earlier I switched to AVRO on the 8th Aug. It is all a revolving door is it not? Energy companies gaining and loosing customers keeping large number of people employed usually for not a lot of monetary difference but a lot of hassle and I still do not fully understand the many hundreds of tariffs and neither do half the staff employed. I rang BG having seen one of their tariffs in the mail, the chap did not have a clue.
If you have been following this from the beginning I switched from Shell on the 8TH Aug. I received my final bill on the 24th Aug and should have my credit back in 10 days. I have nothing to complain about with Shell other than they took more money after I had left. They could not offer me a tariff to stay and tried to sweeten their substantial increase with free offers which I did not need or want and I am still able to resist offers of smart meters
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