The Lemon Fool

I pay £39 per month for gas and electricity supplied by E.ON. I have hot water supplied in my property service charges, so I am paying for gas central heating and gas hob cooking with my electricity covering lights plus fridge freezer,washing machine, dishwasher and dryer plus 4 TVs and various computers. I seldom use either the dishwasher or the dryer.

E.ON have offered me E.ON Go Online 1 Year v2 which would cost £48.13 per month with a £60 exit fee. This is not a large increase, but Which magazine has a bewildering number of other suppliers which are lower per month with no exit fee. The best offer is by IRESA a company I have never heard of before, which offers me £37 per month for a paperless account on a fixed direct debit.

i have used more fuel this year due to ill health which did not allow me to be away as is normal between July and September. I will be away for the entire winter except that family will visit my property for a few weekends plus my cleaner will come in once a fortnight.

It is obviously easier to stay with E.ON but I would move if it would be easy to do. E.ON do not answer their phones and I like to discuss tariffs and do a bit of haggling!

I would appreciate any comments and advice especially about switching suppliers and would like to know if anyone has heard of IRESA.

TIA

penym

As my fixed tariff recently came to an end I have just been through the same process and had the same thoughts.

My experience with the energy suppliers is there is no haggling as there is with the telecom and insurance companies, only a multitude of tariffs.

I took a look at the various options and between the 'big 6' and the unknown suppliers there was not an awful lot of difference, particularly if you took account of the cashback deals you could get with the 'big 6'.

Having had hassle with unknown suppliers in the past, I decided that it wasn't worth it for about £50 over the year, so went with Eon.

My 18 month fix with Sainsbury's (basically, British Gas) ended in July - whereupon they were all set to default me onto their so-called standard tariff (which is in fact higher than a normal deal.) I decided to try the Uswitch website and was actually quite surprised at how quick and easy it was. (About 20 minutes.)

To cut a long story short, I am now on an 18 month fix with something called Green Network Energy, which has just as many bewildering add-ons and deductions as all the other suppliers, but which seems to be charging me almost as much as the old, expired Sainsbury's deal used to. As far as I'm concerned, I've simply 'rolled over' my existing deal to a new supplier for another year and a half.

There was, however, a complication during the switchover period, when I found myself still paying the direct debit for the Sainsbury's scheme which I had just left! (In addition to the new tariff from GNE.) It was sorted out within a month and I got an automatic rebate from Sainsbury's, but that was a month when I could easily have found myself in financial difficulty if my finances had been tight.

BJ

Thank you for the replies. I did go through those switching sites and found a deal with E.ON, my present company with is only £1.00 per month more than I am paying now!

I will be taking that dea!

Cheers

penym

I'm glad you found a good deal, and I'm sorry I'm a bit late with this post.

I recently switched to IRESA for electricity only (for some reason, it's cheaper for me to be on separate fuels). After I filled in the forms, I read a few online reviews and their customer service is supposed to be horrendous. I very nearly cancelled within my 14 day cooling off period, but for some reason they had already contacted my existing suplier, so I thought I'd ride out the storm. The switch then went smoothly. It took about 3 weeks for them to verify my opening meter reading (I still don't understand that process), but it's been only a few days each time since then. When the first bill was generated they gave me 9 pence credit interest because my account was in credit (what do you expect when you take the first DD payment 3 weeks before you start supplying?). So no horror stories from me (so far!).

I've been with First Utility, Flow Energy, and Daligas in recent years. Switches tend to be fine. Daligas decided to stop my Direct Debit after the first 12 months for no reason, and only reinstated it when I phoned after they'd not taken 3 payments and I asked them what was going on. They reinstated it over the phone and took the missed payments from my debit card there and then. I think it's Daligas that automatically sends the outstanding credit back to my bank account once a year, and alters the DD payment fairly sensibly (but not usually to exactly what I think I would spend combining the previous year's usage with the current prices). In my experience, they are all much the same if everything runs smoothly. It's only when things go horrendously wring that there is a problem and touch wood...

We have been with IRESA since 26th Dec 16. No problems at all. New rates will be published on 1st Nov, I hope it is still best value.

We were previously with extra energy for two years and prior to that British Gas.

We consume approximately 2,500 KWH electricity and 12,000 KWH gas annually and have been paying £67/month, but a look at the latest meter readings indicates we will be given a small refund before the contract expires. Paul

penym wrote:
It is obviously easier to stay with E.ON but I would move if it would be easy to do. E.ON do not answer their phones and I like to discuss tariffs and do a bit of haggling!

I would appreciate any comments and advice especially about switching suppliers and would like to know if anyone has heard of IRESA.

FWIW my dual fuel supplier is GoodEnergy. The tariffs are generally slightly higher than average. No haggling is allowed. Very good UK call centre. Profits basically go back into building out UK renewables. The switching process from EDF was fine. We will get the planet we pay for.

regards, dspp

I've just switched to Bulb Energy. Not sure if they are the 'cheapest', but I like the idea that they are just a retailer (so no generating capacity to muddy the cost/profit waters), and 100% of their electricity is from renewables. With the wholesale price of renewables falling I reckon that can only be a good thing (but I am clueless about the how the wholesale energy market works).

addycres wrote:I've just switched to Bulb Energy. Not sure if they are the 'cheapest', but I like the idea that they are just a retailer (so no generating capacity to muddy the cost/profit waters), and 100% of their electricity is from renewables. With the wholesale price of renewables falling I reckon that can only be a good thing (but I am clueless about the how the wholesale energy market works).

Given the variables of estimated consumption (based on last year's bills, including both summer and winter periods), different standing charges and different tariffs, I really don't understand how people can choose the cheapest deal without using a comparison site such as Uswitch, Comparethemarket, or the Energy Club on Moneysavingsexpert. I have just taken over this yearly ritual from my wife, who has other things to deal with, so I am currently finding my way around. It is clear that energy companies use the same marketing practice as car insurance and internet provision - if you can't be bothered to change regularly, you will end up paying too much. And they use the profit generated from those who don't change to subsidize attractive deals to those who can be bothered to change. As somebody pointed out a while ago, if companies were forced to charge the same rate to everyone, the cheap deals would quickly disappear.

I am just in the process of changing from npower to Bulb, I don't understand why a newcomer, which claims to buy all its electricity from renewables (which AIUI are more expensive/highly subsidized) should be cheaper than bigger presumably more efficient suppliers. But I guess that is the market for you.

Nimrod103 wrote: I really don't understand how people can choose the cheapest deal without using a comparison site such as Uswitch, Comparethemarket, or the Energy Club on Moneysavingsexpert.

This is because OfGem is not doing its job - and neither are any of the comparison sites by the way. Yes you can search out all the tariffs yourself - which takes for ever as they are well scattered and often hidden on all energy supplier sites.

What is needed is for Ofgem to publish a simple table of all the rates which has: Current rates (standing charge, the rate and the day and night rates for those with Econ 7 etc), date last changed and date of changes already announced (and the new charges) plus a list of the discounts. This could be supplemented by a spreadsheet which would enable you to feed in your usage and then sort according to overall price.

I use an enormous amount of electricity - heat pumps, electric AGA, electric car, big house, no oil or gas - compared with most and the comparison sites never get anywhere near a proper forecast. Indeed even my supplier repeatedly tells me on its bills that I can save money by using the same tariff I am actually using!

being the time to renew , i ALWAYS now shop around , usually saving around £200 .

my current supplier is octopus , who have been ok , but as ever , the renewal quote isnt competitive.

using moneysupermarket , uswitch , and the which? switching websites .

amongst the cheapest are --

brilliant -- has good reviews

oneselect -- average reviews

iresa ------- poor reviews

tonik -- cant see any reviews.

i have thrown in my lot with BRILLIANT - went onto there website - quite straightforward - and joined .

all has gone ok so far .............

I've been with SSE for some time now. Some years ago I looked on comparison website to see if I could save a reasonable amount.

I looked at the 2nd cheapest (approx £200) because it was one that had set amounts for each power, then manually compared it to an actual account I had received. (My reading given were actual).

The outcome was that, I can't remember which was which, but on was 4p cheaper and the other was 2p dearer.

I have never trusted comparison sites since, SSE has great customer service, and my DD with them has gone down and is now the cheapest it has ever been.

I am with SO energy and have been since May
so far I find them most helpful on telephone (and quick to answer)
and no problems

i was with SSE but their tarifs were not even on first page of sites i checked with (incl their own) back in April
they were very quick to return my credit when I left however

I was watching Martin Lewis' personal finance programme last night which was mainly about energy switching. I am sure he said that 60% of customers were still on the standard variable tariff of the big 6, because they were too timid, or too lazy or too computer illiterate to look for a cheaper rate. They could all save themselves money by switching, often £3-400/year.

I was amazed at this, and why people would rather complain about prices, rather than doing something about it.

He said that the reason was that non-switchers lacked confidence in unknown names and advised them to ask their existing supplier for their best tariff or go with a new company with a good approval rating (over 70%) on a comparison site.

I have a dual fuel deal with Eon, 18 months fixed since July, on the generated bill they advertise a better deal with them that would save me money £300 in fact, a 12 month deal. Obviously £300 is based on the Stetson method and not reality.

Also jumping in a bit late, but I am on this no standing charge, 'PAYG'-type tariff - as a low user it suits me perfectly as many deals are two-tier rates and I never used to get past the first level to qualify for the cheaper second rate! https://ebico.org.uk/energy-plans/ebico-zero/
A Lemon-friend recently shared the Bulb referral offer with me too, but my usage would not save me anything, so I didn't change.

I also like their company ethos about trying to help alleviate fuel poverty: https://ebico.org.uk/about-ebico/

(Whatever their claims [from a 2015 survey I note], their customer service is actually pretty dismal. On each occasion I have had to contact them it's been longish waits on hold and surly staff. But I can do 99% of things online anyway).

HTH any other Lemons who may find this type of tariff of interest.
Sats

I'm hoping to change soon - I have a dual rate meter which is hopefully being swapped out on Tuesday. Once that is done I can move supplier - I am on Scottish Power and I have no idea what goes on at their head office but they tell me one thing, do another, when I phone to ask they tell me something totally different. They read out emails they have 'sent' me that they can see on their screen, I read the email I received and they are totally different.
They give me links to the website which I can't read because they have never sent me a log-in and don't have me registered as a customer because I haven't logged into their website...... They say they are sending things, they don't arrive, I call to ask, they send them with the original date on and then say they did send them the first time because it has that date on.....there is no logic to them, I can't stand it. But with a dual rate meter it's far harder to swap supplier and I have no need for the overnight rate at all.

Breathe......

Mel

melonfool wrote:I'm hoping to change soon - I have a dual rate meter which is hopefully being swapped out on Tuesday. Once that is done I can move supplier - I am on Scottish Power and I have no idea what goes on at their head office but they tell me one thing, do another, when I phone to ask they tell me something totally different. They read out emails they have 'sent' me that they can see on their screen, I read the email I received and they are totally different.
They give me links to the website which I can't read because they have never sent me a log-in and don't have me registered as a customer because I haven't logged into their website...... They say they are sending things, they don't arrive, I call to ask, they send them with the original date on and then say they did send them the first time because it has that date on.....there is no logic to them, I can't stand it. But with a dual rate meter it's far harder to swap supplier and I have no need for the overnight rate at all.

Breathe......

Mel

This is probably academic if your meter is being changed, but we had a dual rate meter at a previous address. Whilst we did not swap suppliers we did move tariffs and the two readings were simply aggregated to give total consumption, charged at a single rate. Have suppliers specifically said they can't deal with dual meters? If so, yet another manifestation of the stupidity of the current energy market, along with incompatible "smart" meters...

Satsuma wrote:Also jumping in a bit late, but I am on this no standing charge, 'PAYG'-type tariff - as a low user it suits me perfectly as many deals are two-tier rates and I never used to get past the first level to qualify for the cheaper second rate! https://ebico.org.uk/energy-plans/ebico-zero/

I also like their company ethos about trying to help alleviate fuel poverty: https://ebico.org.uk/about-ebico/

It's also worth checking other tariffs with no standing charge, which you can do by entering very low usage into a comparison site (if 0kWh doesn't work, then try 1kWh). For example, for me Solarplicity would be around 25% cheaper than Ebico for gas, and around 3% cheaper for electricity. Of course, if you're a really low user, you may not regard that as very significant.