Energy Suppliers

[Liquid_Entity]

My Scottish Power boiler cover coming to an end this week. Called up as the price went up by 40%. Cancelling this one and opening a new one with a saving of £78

As bad as car insurance providers these are. 40% increase is criminal considering its just boiler cover.

 

[jpaul]

or look for a third party monitor ...

this kind of meter interface, s/w, would satisfy me .. unfortunately gas+electric not in the same outside cabinet
https://www.crowdsupply.com/circuitsetup/split-single-phase-energy-meter

 

[Merlin5]

I got a letter from British Gas who I have duel fuel with.

Am I still under contract with British Gas 'Temporary July 2020' tariff which ends July 31st? They say they'll roll me onto their default tariff if I haven't chosen a new plan by then. Tbh, I actually thought I was on a Home Energy Fix Green May 2020 tariff till end of May.

Anyway, two comparison sites say that I'll save a bit more going with SSE.

However, is it a no brainer just to go with a £80+ cashback energy deal with SSE, EDF or scottish power or would I save even more going with any of the small start-ups mentioned in this thread? This is what I'm seeing on quidco:

 

[fobose]

Don't go with scottish power whatever you do. My mum had massive issues with them when switching in 2010 and I had the same issues when I switched to a new provider as soon as I moved in to my current house in 2018. Took me about 4 months to get it all sorted in the end. I logged all my conversations, it was a night mare and really stressful !!

 

[DB_SamX]

Don't go with scottish power whatever you do. My mum had massive issues with them when switching in 2010 and I had the same issues when I switched to a new provider as soon as I moved in to my current house in 2018. Took me about 4 months to get it all sorted in the end. I logged all my conversations, it was a night mare and really stressful !!

I was with them for 3 years and had no issues signing up or leaving them. All timescales and payments back were on time.

 

[fobose]

Maybe you were one of the lucky ones! Just googled them;

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.scottishpower.com

 

[bremen1874]

And I've been with them twice and didn't have any problems them. In fact, I've been with five or six different suppliers over the years and I've not had a problem with any of them.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I got a letter from British Gas who I have duel fuel with.

Am I still under contract with British Gas 'Temporary July 2020' tariff which ends July 31st? They say they'll roll me onto their default tariff if I haven't chosen a new plan by then. Tbh, I actually thought I was on a Home Energy Fix Green May 2020 tariff till end of May.

Anyway, two comparison sites say that I'll save a bit more going with SSE.

However, is it a no brainer just to go with a £80+ cashback energy deal with SSE, EDF or scottish power or would I save even more going with any of the small start-ups mentioned in this thread? This is what I'm seeing on quidco:

Be careful, comparison sites often offer tariffs which are not available direct or via Quidco/topcashback link. You’ll typically be offered a lower price on a comparison site than direct. You’ll have to do the sums to see which is a better deal.

 

[Merlin5]

Be careful, comparison sites often offer tariffs which are not available direct or via Quidco/topcashback link. You’ll typically be offered a lower price on a comparison site than direct. You’ll have to do the sums to see which is a better deal.

SSE came up on comparethemarket and another comparison site as being cheaper than British Gas, and there's also £95 cashback with SSE on Quidco. Are you saying that an SSE tariff with £95 cashback might still work out more expensive than a tariff through a comparison site? But yeah, I'd need to find out if the standing charges and unit rate per kWh are less than British Gas who are suggesting a new tariff called Home Energy Fix Oct 2021.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Yes- the tariff on the comparison site is unlikely to be available direct. You need to do a quote on the website directly after clearing cookies for Quidco to pay and it will likely be more expensive than the comparison site. It always has been the last few times I checked, you would then need to check which is the best deal.

in these circumstances the comparison site gets the commission in return for offering a lower tariffs to the customer.

When you use Quidco you essentially get the commission (less Quidco‘s cut) but in return pay ‘full price’.

Why are you only looking at the big 6, the smaller suppliers are cheaper and it’s risk free. In the rare event they go bust you don’t lose any credit. You and your credit are just ported to a new supplier which you are free to leave at any time regardless if you were locked in with the old supplier.

 

[Merlin5]

Yes- the tariff on the comparison site is unlikely to be available direct. You need to do a quote on the website directly after clearing cookies for Quidco to pay and it will likely be more expensive than the comparison site. It always has been the last few times I checked, you would then need to check which is the best deal.

in these circumstances the comparison site gets the commission in return for offering a lower tariffs to the customer.

When you use Quidco you essentially get the commission (less Quidco‘s cut) but in return pay ‘full price’.

Why are you only looking at the big 6, the smaller suppliers are cheaper and it’s risk free. In the rare event they go bust you don’t lose any credit. You and your credit are just ported to a new supplier which you are free to leave at any time regardless if you were locked in with the old supplier.

Well yes, in my original question I asked about the smaller suppliers that I've seen mentioned in this thread. Is there a particular small supplier that's recommended?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

The price varies by postcode so if one supplier is cheap for one person it may not mean they are cheaper for you. Have a look at the MSE site and go with cheapest one in your area for your usage.

 

[the shadow]

Ofgem rules state that your energy provider is not allowed to charge you fees for switching if you are in the final 49 calendar days of a fixed-term contract.

 

[wedrum]

whats a good deal nowadays ?
just moved into a new place so looking for a referral.

 

[fobose]

Personally I use uSwitch. You get email reminders when your deal is going to finish too so you can start a switch before the deal ends.

A few people at work have recommended lookaftermybills.com as everything is automatic, they switch to the best deal on your behalf (was on dragons den apparently). I've not signed up to it tho.

 

[stuman]

I love the idea of the Agile Octopus tariff, but when signing up online, it's not an option? I've sent them a message asking for help, but wondering if any of you can help a bit quicker?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Do you have an EV? It’s not really with it unless you have one (to charge overnight) or are effectively away from home between 4 and 7-8pm every day.

 

[stuman]

At the moment we are completely flexible, so we can take advantage. When we head back to work, the wife will be at work for 3 days a week 8 - 5, gets home around 6. I'm a shift worker but generally, work nights so would be having a shower etc at around 6:30.

We are in an old brick conversion on electricity only and have very high usage. Heating water and having showers which we can time around prices. In the winter we have a log burner, which is quite expensive to run so we would like to offset that with the electric wall heaters when energy is cheaper but can also in peak times run the cozy fire.

We're also paying 16.7p / 27p at the moment so need to switch anyway.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

To be honest I think you’d be better off on a flat rate tariff, especially with One person working a 9-5 3 days a week (home for 4!) and electric heating.

The cheap times of the day are not when you’ll want to be running electric heaters or showering or making dinner. It’s not worth the hassle to shift your life around for the money on the line vs a flare rate. Those that have an electric car doing average mileage will double their use, it’s absolutely worth taking the hit between 4 and 8 then because they use so much overnight when it costs next to nothing.

Where do you live? 16.7p/kWh seems extortionate.

 

[stuman]

To be honest I think you’d be better off on a flat rate tariff, especially with One person working a 9-5 and electric heating.

The cheap times of the day are not when you’ll want to be running electric heaters or showering or making dinner. It’s not worth the hassle to shift your life around for the money on the line vs a flare rate. Those that have an electric car doing average mileage will double their use, it’s absolutely worth taking the hit between 4 and 8 then because they use so much overnight when it costs next to nothing.

Where do you live? 16.7p/kWh seems extortionate.

We live just outside of Hull. So, Yorkshire. and i think our energy usage is around 8000kwy?