Non-motoring > Energy Tariff	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: mikeyb	Replies: 32

New Fri 20 Jan 17 21:39   Energy Tariff - mikeyb

My fixed deal with british gas is about to end - from a quick look around it appears that its a fair bit cheaper than anything else on offer today :-( BG are offering to switch me to their freetime tariff where I can have free electricity on either Saturday or Sunday. I could switch some of my use to one of these days but I'm wondering if anyone else has experience of this tariff, and is it really worth it? Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 20 Jan 17 23:09   Energy Tariff - rtj70

>> tariff where I can have free electricity on either Saturday or Sunday. Depends if you like going out at the weekend or doing all the washing on one day. I suppose you can still go out and your wife can stay in and do it all that day (I am joking!). And if you have a dishwasher you could save a week's worth of pans and crockery for that day. If you have any neighbours with plugin hybrids or all electric cars then offer to charge at a discounted rate. Or just stay in a normal tariff and enjoy your weekends when you can. How much electric can you use in one day to justify such a tariff? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 21 Jan 17 00:31   Energy Tariff - Stuartli

Go to nPower's website and check how much one of its fixed tariffs for a year or more would cost you. I've been with nPower for several years now after ditching EON and you can switch tariffs whenever you wish if a better nPower offer comes up without any penalty or, if you prefer, move to another energy supplier without any payment penalty (something that a lot of other suppliers enforce). Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 22 Jan 17 21:23   Energy Tariff - mikeyb

>> Go to nPower's website and check how much one of its fixed tariffs for a >> year or more would cost you. >> A lot! the quote from nPower was more expensive than just dropping onto the standard tariff with British Gas. Still have a month left so hoping Martin Lewis will do another collective switch Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 22 Jan 17 22:45   Energy Tariff - bathtub tom

>>Still have a month left so hoping Martin Lewis will do another collective switch I suspect we're not the only ones ;>) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 00:35   Energy Tariff - Stuartli

>>A lot! the quote from nPower was more expensive than just dropping onto the standard tariff with British Gas.>> You appear to have forgotten the fact that the nPower tariff would be fixed for a considerable period. In fact, if you wish, now up to 2021: www.npower.com/home/electricity-and-gas/products/super-fix/?WT.ac=x000x1374 You should be able to work out how much you would be likely to save over that time....:-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 01:35   Energy Tariff - VxFan

>> A lot! the quote from nPower was more expensive than just dropping onto the standard >> tariff with British Gas. It's area dependant on what you pay. NPower for us is significantly cheaper than British Gas. With BG we were previously paying approx. £85 a month. With NP it's £56. And NP regularly check you're not paying too much (or not enough) and will refund you if you're in credit with them. They obviously adjust their prices for summer/winter and if you're in credit with them when it's coming up to winter they'll hold onto it but charge you less per month instead. During their summer check if you're in credit, they'll transfer it to your bank. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 12:05   Energy Tariff - Stuartli

>>And NP regularly check you're not paying too much (or not enough) and will refund you if you're in credit with them. >> Spot on. nPower, in fact, has just reduced my monthly direct debit by £29 so the overall annual cost will even up over the year to June. I've also found that the company's billing and usage details to be very accurate, whilst on the couple of occasions I've switched to a better fixed tariff the process has been handled very efficiently and speedily by its call centre staff. Last edited by: Stuartli on Mon 23 Jan 17 at 12:05 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 12:51   Energy Tariff - VxFan

>> on the couple of occasions I've switched to a better fixed tariff the process has >> been handled very efficiently and speedily by its call centre staff. Same here. Every quarter I check to see if I'm on the best tariff and if not will change it. All done with no fuss. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 22 Jan 17 21:18   Energy Tariff - mikeyb

>> Or just stay in a normal tariff and enjoy your weekends when you can. How >> much electric can you use in one day to justify such a tariff? >> Not quite at the point of changing my life to suit an electricity tariff! I think our use is to linear to get any advantage from it - apart from trying to use the washing machine / dryer then I cant really think of much else. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 22 Jan 17 22:33   Energy Tariff - Dulwich Estate II

Take a look at Sainsbury's Energy - it's British Gas under a different label. It was best for me last year and when I renewed a month ago it still came out as cheapest for my circumstances. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 22 Jan 17 23:17   Energy Tariff - smokie

I did the Martin Lewis collective in Sep 2015 and it saved me quite a bot. The renewal last October is supposed to be 30% cheaper... it can't carry on getting lower and lower, and one year I need to steel myself for a massive hike... Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 03:02   Energy Tariff - sooty123

What's the martin lewis collective thing all about? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 07:51   Energy Tariff - smokie

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 09:58   Energy Tariff - Crankcase

I signed up for that and told it to tell me when I would save anything at all. It seems to me that it falls foul, of course, of the same problem that all those comparison things do. They look at what you're on. In my case, a fixed for a year tariff, ending in ten months. Then the algorithm says "ah, that tariff will expire in 10 months. Obviously at that point you will be put on a standard tariff that costs a lot more for the next two months, so over a year you will pay X. We have a (more expensive than the one you're on right now) fixed tariff here for 12 months from today which costs less than that total. Buy this!" Not that helpful. Only true if indeed you do let your tariff end and go onto an expensive standard one. I don't intend to do that - I never have yet. Last edited by: Crankcase on Mon 23 Jan 17 at 09:59 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 11:41   Energy Tariff - madf

I just look at what the comparison sites say, and plug the numbers into my very simple spreadsheet. Takes 5 minutes to get real savings... I note oil prices are still slowly rising - it is winter. They fall in summer - which is THE time to fix every year.. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 14:57   Energy Tariff - Stuartli

Sefton MBC, my council, offers a collective energy savings facility (along with other councils) through this scheme: www.lcrenergyswitch.co.uk/about/ Might be worth enquiring if any forum members' councils do so as well although, I must make clear, it still proved more expensive than my own supplier, nPower when I checked it out a while back. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 15:06   Energy Tariff - rtj70

Our council does the same. And when I looked into it, it was more expensive than our supplier at the time - also nPower. I wonder if people are led to believe these council schemes will be cheaper when in fact they might not be?? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 15:14   Energy Tariff - smokie

Private Eye reports many smaller companies (which may include these kinds of plans) will shortly get dramatically more expensive or go out of business as they do not have the bargaining power of the biggies, and will suffer when prices start to go against them, I don't remember any more of the detail but the smaller companies might be best avoided, Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 16:39   Energy Tariff - Stuartli

In fact, only last November GB Energy Supply, which had 160,000 customers, folded after blaming increasing fuel prices for its demise. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 23 Jan 17 21:03   Energy Tariff - Roger.

If they are still around, I urge you to stay away from Extra Energy. Completely incompetent, no customer service in any way, shape, or form: and I had to threaten them with OFGEM to get a refund of a credit balance when I left. I think that the MSE collective seems to go live in September, although there may be one earlier. i had to change before September last year and went to SSE via the ordinary cheap energy club offers, getting a £30 bung for doing it thru them. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 12:23   Energy Tariff - Falkirk Bairn

A son had a fixed term deal for some 3 years @ £1350 / year - largish house but empty during the day - model customer DD & always has a credit balance @ the end of the year. Deal coming to an end & "the offer" from Scottish Power was £1925 - nearly £600 more!! Off to comparison sites but 2 of the sites did not seem to do very much better or were mainly from unknown names . One site highlighted EDF - 12 months £1250 fixed so he signed up right away. 3 weeks passed & the Scottish Power were on the phone - we could offer you £200 off if you stay with us!!!! We offer extras - flexibility / easy website access for readings etc etc.........??? The son said it's the same electricity & gas - match the £1250 & I will stay..............EDF it is for better or worse but the Energy Companies are selling on Price only - unless they screw up the accounting/ meter readings etc etc A couple of months back his car insurance was going to be hiked from £340 to some £590 by his insurer of 5 years - now with Aviva £240....................it pays to shop around. House insurance next month!! Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Sun 16 Apr 17 13:07   Energy Tariff - Duncan

>> >> A couple of months back his car insurance was going to be hiked from £340 >> to some £590 by his insurer of 5 years - now with Aviva £240....................it pays >> to shop around. House insurance next month!! >> I always do the "price comparison internet search" thing for car and house insurance. I have no loyalty. The biggest problem is finding the search engine with the least annoying TV ads! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 13:11   Energy Tariff - Old Navy

>> The biggest problem is finding the search engine with the least annoying TV ads! >> And ones not owned by insurance companies who also have multiple brands. Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 16 Apr 17 at 13:12 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 14:07   Energy Tariff - smokie

So which would you recommend? I just got car quotes from confused.com but they weren't much of an improvement on my current MoreThan price. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 14:53   Energy Tariff - Old Navy

This is old info (updated 2016) but you will get the idea. www.adrianflux.co.uk/blog/2007/08/who-owns-your-insurer.html Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 21:27   Energy Tariff - Falkirk Bairn

>>but they weren't much of an improvement on my current MoreThan price. Try Aviva - Esure hiked the son's Premium by 50%. Aviva were cheaper & even took a % off as he had the house insurance with them - his house renewal gets a % off as he now has 1 car, shortly to be 2 cars, with them!. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 16:30   Energy Tariff - Duncan

>> >> The biggest problem is finding the search engine with the least annoying TV ads! >> >> >> >> >> And ones not owned by insurance companies who also have multiple brands. >> Don't worry about it. As long as the company is reputable, then what does it matter who owns them? More often than not, I seem to gravitate toward Liverpool Victoria (LV=) which I have just found it is a friendly society - but, so what? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 22:53   Energy Tariff - mikeyb

My buildings / contents insurance renewal has just come through - I didn't look last year and just accepted the renewal. This year its gone up by another £50 to £250. British Gas had emailed me offering a discount on home insurance so I thought it was worth getting a quote - £130 plus £70 cashback from quidco - happy with that Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 16 Apr 17 23:59   Energy Tariff - Rudedog

Car insurance due at the end of the month, just got my renewal proposal from Churchill, gone up to £508!, for the first time I've done a comparison, loads of companies offering under £300 with all the extras. Think I'm going to go for LV as they get good write ups and seem to be independent(?) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Apr 17 00:26   Energy Tariff - No FM2R

There is no service delivery advantage in automatically renewing with a business that sells on price. Always challenge every renewal, including asking the company you are already with. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Apr 17 00:50   Energy Tariff - Rudedog

Guess I've got to ring Churchill to cancel my renewal so I'll see if they can match my offer, seems like a big ask though for them to drop £200. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Apr 17 09:00   Energy Tariff - Clk Sec

I have just one company to deal with for all our insurance needs. It cuts out some of the faff and the discounts are worthwhile. However, I still ring them when I receive their automatic renewal letters to ask if they will match the price for the previous year, and so far they have come within a whisker each time. Also managed the same with our last insurers for a few years before they politely declined. Reply to this message | Report message