Changing energy suppliers

[Polarbear]

I've been with British Gas for donkeys years for both gas and electric but just had notification prices are going up and I've reached the end of my year contract so looking to see if I can save.

I knows there's U switch and some of the comparison sites do energy comparison but never used any for that.

Has anyone got any warnings, horror stories, good stories etc. about changing and about suppliers.

I've heard anecdotal stories of ending up paying 2 suppliers and having to fight for you money back.

Anyway, any advice or do I just pick the cheapest off the list?
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Rogerborg]

Cheapest off the list, take pictures of your meters, don't worry about it.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Ed Case]

I've been with First Utility now for three years and keep on checking but can' improve on them up to now.

[MCN]

Get your Arse on moneysupermarket.com

That one from the show on the telly.

They do a very good and detailed exposé on almost all the energy 'sellers'.

Things like their customer service.

They have a cost-to-switch calculator too.

And if you sign up for it they'll hound you with emails when tariffs change and you are.paying too much with your supplier.

Edit: they changed their name when they sold the other company.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/energy-saving-myths
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Ste]

Use uswitch to find the cheapest and then sign up using topcashback.

https://www.topcashback.co.uk/category/gas-and-electricity/

Don't click through from uswitch to the new suppliers website, do all of that through topcashback so that you can get yourself some free money at the same time.

To echo what everyone else has said, just go with whoever is cheapest. There is no reward for loyalty but there are rewards for jumping ship to a different supplier as frequently as you can.

If someone in your household receives the Warm Home Discount Scheme then be aware that you can't get that if you're with some of the smaller suppliers.

[shameless spam] On the off chance you don't already have a topcashback account, feel free to sign up using my referral link:

https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/sokas

Using my referral link doesn't have any effect on what cashback you'll receive, all it means is I get some free ponds in return for telling you how amazingly brilliant they are.

[Freddyfruitba...]

Agree with all the above; but would just add that some people reckon that some of these new startup companies are best avoided owing to non-existent customer service. Personally I wouldn't dream of not change supplier every year, but one time I did go through extreme ball-ache with one such newbie company, who were completely unable to tally up my opening meter readings with the outgoing meter readings with my previous year.

And yes to Ste's Topcashback tip - 6 weeks ago I collected a bonus £70 from them by shifting to what was me for the cheapest energy supplier
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KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS->R1250RS

[-]

Look at your bills and work out exactly how much gas and electric you use in KwH in a year, don't do it on money spent.

Comparison sites compare what you would be paying when your current deal ends and you go to the suppliers standard tariffs. It does not show how much cheaper it may or may not be compared to your current deal.

I used to switch every year, but Eon seem to offer the best deals for my low usage, so I tend to just switched tariffs with them when it came up for renewal the last time.

I tend to avoid the unknown smaller suppliers and always use variable direct debit as a payment method. I also put my own meter readings in every time they estimate, to correct the bill. My DD has always been adjusted up or down sensibly and may balance is always about right.
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TZR250 2MA road, TZR250 1KT road, TZR250 2MA race, TDR250, YZF-750R Boost colours.
Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 Sport R, VW Transporter T5 GP LWB Shuttle 140ps DSG.

[Polarbear]

Cheers guys.

Well, my cheapest by quite away according to both U swich and Monetsupermarket is Bulb . Never heard of them.

https://bulb.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIntDM883h2gIV6ZPtCh0sCwaKEAAYASAAEgIcmfD_BwE

Fuck, I didn't know there were so many suppliers.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Rogerborg]

You don't need to know. And they're not suppliers, they're (almost) all just resellers, so you're not going to get cut off. Cheapest, pictures, done.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Freddyfruitba...]

[Powderhead]

+1 to all of the above.

I've switched a few times and it's never been a hassle. Get on MoneySavingExpert, find the cheapest, take photos of the meters and make sure you get cashback if you can
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"Now at inspector level!"

[stinkwheel]

My boss spent about 18 months trying to get the outstanding £250 credit balance back off British Gas from when he switched suppliers. In fact, I think he may still be arguing the toss with them now.

He wont however take my repeated advice and keeps phoning them for a periodic argument with an ineffective customer services lackey, rather than simply writing to them once and giving them 7 days to sort their shit out before reporting it to the ombudsman.

The coop are entertainingly incompetant as energy suppliers. I'd recommend them. They are WAY too disorganised to cut you off or anything. I did a clawback on a duplicate credit card payment 12 months ago and they still haven't removed the credit from my account. I've informed them in writing about it too.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[DrSnoosnoo]

[andys675]

after finding out the Mrs had stuck with British Gas for years I managed to convince her to switch to a British Gas special offer through the moneysupermarket 12 month special fix, BG were awful previously changing the payments randomly up and down as they felt fit, anyway this saved £70 a month and after the 12 months they were going to put us back on the standard rate so I got us onto OVO, a recent start up with little but very positive feedback on a fixed rate for 2 years we still save £60 a month easy

most sickening I found she had been auto renewing the house and contents insurance for 20 years, the latest being £600, I couldn't convince her to change until a random call from west brom building society about shifting the mortgage and got them to quote her, the difference saved bought her a new I-pad this year............
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Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[stephen_o]

+1 to all the above. I change every year and get emails from money saving expert and their cheap energy club which also pays you a switching fee for some and then as others have said doing the switch through various cashback sites can provide more cash for doing very little.
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current scoot 2009 Yamaha YBR250 + Current Pootle 2013 Nissan Leaf

[DrDonnyBrago]

If you want to play the game you should switch as frequently as possible and get cashback from topcashback/quidco each time.

[stevo as b4]

British Gas are complete and utter wankers! Totally avoid now and forever as they are lying cheating bastards and if it could get any worse than that, they'll call you for 6-12 months after you have switched, asking if you have considered them, can they sign you up (usually this is where the double bills come in) and asking why you left. They are rude and arrogant and I'll never have gas supplied by them again!

I've switched twice but I'm not in the yearly switch club, I don't believe in it and can't be arsed to have billing hassle. If I switch I want a good deal for 2-3years, and who wants to switch between suppliers every year for £50-70? I like multiple direct debits, paperless billing discounts and if the same company can do a competitive broadband connection even better.

Oh and I'd never go back, so if I switch company's they are struck off my list forever then as you'll only get one chance to impress in my book, and if the most expensive company can be the cheapest next year, I'll add them to British Gas/ wanker list.

[doggone]

U-switch were U-seless for ours, got far better deal going direct (SSE) Try their website calculating thing.
Night rates have gone up quite a bit the last year or two (due to solar?)

[andys675]

on a side note.....

the mrs is a school governor at the local junior and infant school where our lads went, they switch suppliers every time to save cash but a few years back nobody sent a bill for a good 18 months after they switched, and none of their suppliers want the money which was put aside to pay the bills, there's 80k sat in an account waiting for a bill that won't ever come.
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Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[Pigeon]

[Polarbear]

[Ste]

There are various different smart meters and for whatever stupid reasons, not all meters are compatible with all suppliers.

That's a nice real life example of why not to get a smart meter just yet.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

I've been with Green Star Energy for a year and recently used Money Supermarket to switch to Solarplicity. Green Star then they said they were objecting to the switch because I owed them £200. I paid it, not really understanding how their billing has been working. It was direct debit but doesn't seem to have been taken every month. I emailed them asking them to remove their objection. I now have two on-line accounts, Green Star and Solarplicity, with the contract due to switch on the 26th May, but today I have an email welcoming me onto a revised Green Star tariff.

Incidentally, if they're all saying they sell 100% renewable energy who is buying the dirty stuff which makes up most of the supply?

[Ste]

The 100% renewable energy sales pitch is to do with how they're spending your money which theoretically influences how the national grid is supplied.

So a more accurate way for them to describe it would be that 100% of the energy they buy is from renewable sources.

They're almost selling you renewable snakeoil.

[Rogerborg]

When the wind drops, do they refuse to use coal, nukular and gas turbine power?

Who do I pay to ensure that I actually receive electricity?
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike