Energy comparisons

[GMM]

Having never got around to doing a market comparison before, I finally found the motivation this week (yes, I know, should have done it years ago). We have always had the bog standard, pay when you get the bill, single fuel accounts (BG and Npower).

3 different comparison sites all came up with the same answer for our usage, which was Sainsburys energy, and reckon they can knock about 1/3 off our bill, which is a pretty serious saving, with bills the size of ours.

Interesting that it should such a big saving in going from BG to Sainsburys, who are selling gas on behalf of BG.

I'll be looking at this properly over the weekend but thought it would be worth asking if there are any gotchas in this to be aware of. I'm sure there is a wealth of experience of such things here.

Cheers

[The Natural Philosopher]

beware. They say that but somehow I ended up paying more,...

[Bob Eager]

Price comparison sites are a good *starting point*.

Once you have an idea of the possibles, go to their own website and get the actual tariffs. You may have to dig deep sometimes. Also get your current tariff from a bill, together with the last year's usage.

Then build a spreadsheet to work it all out. Not hard, and once you have it, you can just modify it each time you are offered a new 'deal'.

Once you have a firm candidate, go to whichever price comparison site gives the best deal (cinema, meerkat, whatever) and use them to switch.

[GMM]

Any idea why that is? I was intending to look at the unit price/standing charge/etc., compared to the tarriffs we're currently on. Obviously, usage can only be an estimate based on previous bills but I know mine is high for gas (~35,000kWh pa), perhaps closer to normal for electricity. Nonetheless, I was presuming that a supplier with a lower cost per unit etc *should* work out cheaper, unless there are hidden gotchas. Interestingly, looking at SE's web site just now, the quote for gas-only has a higher unit price than dual fuel, such that it costs slightly more than the total dual fuel cost including electricity. All seems madness to me....

[Andy Cap]

[GMM]

Thanks Bob. That's pretty much the approach I was intending to take as I would always rather have some independent confirmation of tariffs. I was wondering whether there's anything to watch out for beyond the headline figures and the up front info.

[Bob Eager]

Exit fees! Most of them are offering fixed term contracts and they may not always be the best deal. I've been with E.on for a while, and they allow penalty-free transfer to another of their tariffs. I have them email me when there's a new tariff and I re-evaluate. I've done that twice in the last year.

[Martin Brown]

Bell, book and candle invoked against the evil empire

If you have never switched suppliers and go to paperless bills that sounds about right. Avoid nPower like the plague - even two PhDs struggle to interpret their bills (although it may have improved).

They once went as far as sending engineers to cut the VH electricity off over an erroneous bill that was broadly comparable with the UK national debt. Basically their system thought we had a 6 digit meter but it was a

5 digit one and the reader droid zero padded the wrong end.

Ironically you will almost certainly do better by going dual fuel, direct debit and choosing anything but either existing supplier.

Spare a thought for those of us with no option of taking mains gas. Dual fuel is not an option out in the sticks.

Failure to change supplier at least every five years will get you ripped off. And watch out for renewal notices that automatically default to their most expensive tariff when the contract term ends!

Basically loyal customers are treated like sheep to be fleeced. You have to be serially disloyal to get the best deal and/or haggle.

[alan_m]

When I was looking last week I found in the small print from one company (EON???) that there was no exit fee for leaving a fixed price year contract early BUT there was an admin fee for changing to one of their own other deals!

When checking exit fees be aware that if on a dual fuel deal that electricity and gas are often treated as independent contracts and when switching the transfer of one utility from your old supplier may not be in the same week or month as the transfer of the other utility. For my last transfer the transfer dates were 3.5 weeks apart.

Keep your own records of when contracts start and end because often this information is not available or very difficult to find in your on-line accounts with these companies.

[Andy Burns]

I have it in writing from e.on that they *never* charge for moving between any of their tariffs, the exit fee only applies if you leave to a different supplier before the end of contract.

[Bob Eager]

I forgot that one. Very important!

[Bob Eager]

It wouldn't be E.on - a) they say so and b) IME I have never had to pay, even just two months into a contract.

[bert]

Sainsburys are about the cheapest on the market at the moment but they do have early exit chargers. The cheapest tariffs are of course for dual fuel, payment by monthly dd and on line accounts only.

But from what I read in the press almost anyone is better than Npower. It Talk Talk did energy even they would be better than Npower - ISTR they now got it down to 100000 cases of erroneous bills.

Cheshire East Fairer Power is almost as cheap as Sainsburys in our area with no exit charges.

[Dave Liquorice]

I think ofgem have given 'em a kick it seems a lot easier to get tarrif details these days. Just look for the Tarrif Information Card.

+1

Have had a spread sheet for a good number of years now. Just plug the numbers in and see which tarrif is the cheaper. There are three variables unit cost, standing charge and useage which makes it non-obvious from a set of tarifs which will give the cheapest bottom line.

We have the following tarrifs:

nPower Standard Variable DD 16.884p/unit £0.00/year

1100 kWHr/year nPower bill = £185 ExtraEnergy bill would be = £210

ExtraEnergy Fixed Price Sep 15 v2 11.330p/unit £86.12/year

4900 kWHr/year Extra Energy bill = £640 nPowerbill would be = £825

Ignore the "TCR" it's useless unless it is based on exactly your useage.

Most companies don't charge the "exit fee" if you are staying with them, it's only charged if you leave. Last couple of tariff ends have had me staying as the company still offered the best deal. The above ExtraEnergy one will change to their Bright Fixed Priced Nov 16 v2 soon at 9.923p/unit and £86.93/year soon.

I might have a quick look to see if there is anything to better that nPower tarrif, the Bright Fixed Price comes in at £196 for 1100 kWhr, which is getting quite close.

[PeterC]

A couple of years ago I went on to the EDF 'Blue' thingy, fixed until (some time in) 2017. It had no exit charge from the start - possibly because it was for 4 years. It's not the cheapest now, but any lower tariffs are for 1 year only. Also, I use half or less of the amount used for comparing annual charges so savings are less. I signed up for e-mail alerts from this:

I don't know how biased it is, or if the same deal would be cheaper without the cashback, but it at least prompts me to look around occasionally.

[Chris J Dixon]

I changed to Scottish Power a few years ago, and ever since have found them to offer good enough deals to stay.

There is no exit penalty if you stay with them, and earlier this year I had to change fixed tariffs almost monthly to keep on the best rate as prices dropped. Things seem to have gone the other way now, which of course means that you couldn't get a rate as good as my present one.

It is still a stupidly complex web of deceit, you really can't just sign up and think it will remain a good deal.

Chris

[John J Armstrong]

I used to be in the trade, many years ago, and have kept an eye on it since. There's a lot of good advice in the responses above. I would definitely start a spreadsheet for cost comparison purposes, as it makes it so much easier. It also helps if you know what your consumption is. I read my meter (I'm electric only) on the first of the month, and put the readings into a spreadsheet, so I know what I'm using, and what it costs. At the end of the day, as others have said, standing charge, price per unit, and usage are what define the costs. Beware of "no standing charge" tariffs. They can be good in some cases - eg metered lockup with only a light and a rarely used socket - otherwise be careful. Beware too of exit charges.

One point that I don't think has been mentioned is that tariff availability depends on where you live. When deregulation of electricity and gas started, existing suppliers were not allowed to drop their prices. This was done to encourage people to change. They can now compete, but better deals are almost certainly available elsewhere. I recently changed my mum's electric supply to SSE, and got her a very good price. Because I live in what is Sc Hydro's area, (ie they are my Public Electricity Supplier, or PES) I can't get the same price. I'm with Extra Energy - best for me at the moment, but might not be for you.

It's a jungle out there!

[Dave Liquorice]

You never could but at least the Tier 1/Tier 2 "no standing charge" tarifs have been scrapped.

Still have far too many tarifs though, not just as "fixed ", "standard variable" with modifiers for payment method, dual/single fuel, and paperless etc but also up to a dozen "versions". ie Fixed Price Nov 16 DD Paperless v8, Fixed Price Nov 16 DD Paperless v9 and so on...

[alan_m]

It was OVO Energy (2014 Ovo Energy Limited) with an offer only for my town.

[Bob Eager]

You also need to factor in dual fuel discounts, online tariffs with another discount, etc. Just one or two more columns, though.