Last year (October) I switched to Scottish Power on a Online Fixed tariff to September 2015.On paper it saved approx £150 pa against my prior supplier (EDF).
Of course rates have fallen significantly since then and I have just changed tariffs to Fixed February 2016 which will save us approx £400pa.
I have stayed with Scottish Power despite the utter incompetence of their customer service: it has taken four phonecalls and two months to just get them to take my Direct Debt for gas (started paying electricity in November). They keep saying "it's sorted" and then nowt happens.. we have arrears of about £500!
I have NOT moved to anyone else as the cheaper suppliers (by about £50pa) have a £60 charge for early cancellation and I expect further tariff falls through the year.. I could have switched to N Power who have no cancellation charges but their customer service is as bad as Scottish Power!
When Tariffs fall, I will switch Scottish Power tariffs or move suppliers IF the new supplier has no early cancellation charges and the annual savings are over£100.
I spent 50 minutes this morning on and off the phone with Scottish Power being cut off once, dialling a phone number they gave (on website) which does not work and going through their website which does not list their new tariffs.. or may do... but their online switching system does not work.
What a shambles.
It is not all bad news. Part of the switching deal was £80 in Love 2 Shop vouchers - spendable at Homebase etc etc etc. They gave me £80 in November and another £80 in December. When I queried the latter, they said it was Love2Shop's mistake and not to bother.... just spend it!!
So if you have not switched recently, big savings to be made. Just be careful if you switch to Scottish Power. (some of the phone people clearly are new -they claim to have recruited 250 in the last year- and are not up to speed).
Of course, I am still waiting for our Gas DD to be taken for the first time in Feb (the backlog of £500 is being spread over the rest of the year's payments.)
Happy days..! :-)
EDIT: I carefully note time/date and name of customer support person for my records...
Last edited by: madf on Wed 4 Feb 15 at 12:06
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I arranged a new tariff with nPower that gave me fixed rates for gas and electricity for three and a half years (expires at the end of September, 2016).
It's certainly kept down my costs and nPower has just cut back my Direct Debit payment from £70 a month to £62 - I also have credit in hand.
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I have just switched to a cheaper tariff, a one year fix, with Scottish Power. But it's not much cheaper than the one that was running out. However, there is no penalty for early leaving, so I am watching for cheaper tariffs to come either from Scottish Power or elsewhere.
They all seem to be pretty rubbish at customer service/knowing what they are doing, the details are boring but I have been jerked around successively by Eon, NP, BG (whose canvasser switched me to them even after I had said no), OVO and SP. Lord knows how bad First Utility must be, who seem to get the worst reviews of all.
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Scottish Power are dreadful - I have become (by accident) the Bureau's utilities expert :-( Consequently I deal with quite a large number of complaints. Scottish Power is very prevalent up here as it replaced the old Electricity Board (MANWEB). They aslo operate the network. I would never ever ever go anywhere near them. I currently have three cases with the Ombudsman - one on the advice of Scottish Power's local Customer FRelations for whom we have a direct line. I am on gfirst name terms with some of their call-centre staff I call them that often.
I could make a list of suppliers to avoid....SP would be at the top. I would never touch SSE, British Gas or NPower....and totally avoid Opus (one of the smaller ones) - I am with EDF - I have to say they are good. I have had to badger them to get my DD down from an eye-watering £60.00 per month (electricity only) down to £42.00 - I am on fixed term contract until May 2016 and can move out with no penalty. Other suppliers might be chaeper - but not for me
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In blunt words I would rather eat my own pooh than have anything to do with SP. I have the evidence of how bad they are.
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We're with SP and will probably switch to the same tariff mentioned above as our current fixed one is coming to an end.
Only just discovered the 'set your own direct debit' facility on their website. Based on your usage, and their prediction of your future usage, you can move a slider to select how much you want to pay, including a bit less than what they think your charges will be.
Of course eventually you will still have to pay for what you actually use, but perhaps it might reduce the amount they owe you during the summer months.
I thought it was quite a good idea - reduced our DD by a significant amount without having to phone anyone.
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With EDF and they've always been ok. Answer the phone swiftly enough and deal with the odd query.
They also had no trouble with setting up the way I prefer to pay - it's a direct debit they take quarterly, but they only take the amount I owe. I still get the "direct debit discount" that way, but they never get anything over and above payment for already used electricity.
No idea how competitive it is - 10.8p per kw , I see from my last bill, 18p per day standing charge, all plus VAT of course. Allegedly they tell you if anyone else is cheaper...
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>> We're with SP and will probably switch to the same tariff mentioned above as our
>> current fixed one is coming to an end.
Focusless, I don't know whether you switched - I have now switched tariff 3 times in 3 months with Scottish power, successively from my old fix to the Jan 16, Feb 16, and now March 16 fixes each a bit cheaper than the one before. So if you didn't, do, and if you did, do it again.
There's no exit penalty, so you can still move elsewhere if you want afterwards.
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>>Focusless, I don't know whether you switched - I have now switched tariff 3 times in 3 months with Scottish power, successively from my old fix to the Jan 16, Feb 16, and now March 16 fixes each a bit cheaper than the one before. So if you didn't, do, and if you did, do it again.
There's no exit penalty, so you can still move elsewhere if you want afterwards.>>
Exactly the same with nPower. Just extended my dual fuel tariff again for a further eight months until the end of May, 2017 with the company and paying slightly less per month as well.
The outgoing tariff had been agreed for two-and-a-half-years until the end of September 2016 after completion of my first tariff with nPower in 2011 after leaving E-On.
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I moved from SP to Co-op. They require meter readings every month, which I supply on-line.
Got a 'phone call yesterday from Lowri Beck (Co-op's third party meter reading contractor). They wanted me to give them my meter readings over the 'phone. I'm told that counts as a 'supplier' reading, whereas providing on-line is a customer reading.....................................
You couldn't make it up!
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Mentioning meter readings.......we had a new digital meter fitted a couple of years ago.
I can't read the figures at all, even with a magnifying glass and torch. There's hardly any contrast between the figures and the background and the torch just reflects off the glass. SWM needs the torch, etc, but is not very good at crawling into the low bit under the stairs where the damn thing is. She managed to get the reading yesterday.
If I'd known at the time I'd have mentioned it to the fitters to see if it could be made more accessible.
The old meter was fine, even in the same place...big black numbers on a white background.
Bah !
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I moved to OVO about a year ago. Purely on recommendations of good customer service. They email me once a month for readings, which takes ten minutes of my time on their simples to navigate site. I have no idea whether they are cheap or not, but as I pay £48 pcm by DD for my gas & electrickery, and am in credit earning 3%, I don't care. If I were a larger energy consumer then I might consider costs more closely.
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>> Mentioning meter readings.......we had a new digital meter fitted a couple of years ago.
>>
>> I can't read the figures at all, even with a magnifying glass and torch. There's hardly any contrast between the figures
>> and the background and the torch just reflects off the glass. SWM needs the torch, etc, but is not very good at
>> crawling into the low bit under the stairs where the damn thing is. She managed to get the reading yesterday.
Ted: If you have a smartphone, use it to photograph the meter reading at arm's length. If it's too tricky to take a photo then record a video of it.
Last edited by: Dave_C220CDI on Wed 4 Feb 15 at 16:49
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The last time to my knowledge that Lowri Beck read our meter they cocked it up. It was obviously not congruent with my submitted readings, and inevitably the supplier decided they were right and I was wrong.
They wouldn't take my word for it, but Lowri Beck rang me up to check it and then it was OK, which sort of confirms what you were told!
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>>I could make a list of suppliers to avoid....SP would be at the top. I would never touch SSE, British Gas or NPower...>>
Never had any problems with nPower, either with customer service when discussing changing tariffs or billing over the past three or four years. Easy to check account on-line as well.
Had Scottish Power "chuggers" pestering me one time at the door who wouldn't go away. So I contact SP, told them I was very unhappy and sought some form of compensation for the waste of my time. They apologised and sent a cheque for £20 as well as promising it would happen again.
Three months later it did, so I contacted them again and, yet again, got a cheque for £20. Pays to complain...:-)
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We had a switching specialist give us a talk at the bureau as part of money/benefit training. Used me as a guinea pig and found a tariff with First Utility that's massively cheaper than previous SP on line account. Fixed price 'til 2016 with a penalty for leaving but even of prices fall another 15-20% it's still better than anything else on offer. Electric transfers today, gas in a couple of days time.
Scottish Power went best part of a year without billing me but continued to collect the DD. As I was reasonably confident we were roughly level pegging I didn't bother. Sorted itself in end.
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I am on an Npower deal that expires March 2015 for both gas and electricity. Went onto Moneysaving Expert and I could switch to Sainsburys energy and it would save me something like £300 a year.
However I could also switch to another one with NPower that would fix until next year sometime and work out something like £120 cheaper than current deal.
So me being me, I set up a good old fashioned spreadsheet and put the correct figures in and found that there was no way I was going to make the savings with Sainsburys that MSE claimed. The small print shows that MSE know my deal expires in April so assumes I am going onto the most expensive NPower variable tariff after that and this is how it shows up such a saving.
Personally, I think I will either just do the switch to the Npower 2016 tariff just now which should be hassle free or wait till April and see what deals are out there as hopefully the market will have stabilised a bit but if anyone is looking to switch I would make sure that you check the calculations yourself and don't take for granted a comparison website.
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One point about nPower is that there is no penalty for ending a fixed tariff early, which is not always the case.
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". The small print shows that MSE know my deal expires in April so assumes I am going onto the most expensive NPower variable tariff after that and this is how it shows up such a saving."
Yes... I found comparison costs from websites are rubbish.
I do mine on a spreadsheet as well.
This method is used because it inflates savings and makes you want to switch giving the comparison website £sss .. The websites are VERY VERY profitable. .
tinyurl.com/mx68v4f
Last edited by: madf on Wed 4 Feb 15 at 17:40
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Try to switch business supplier.
No tariffs published, no way to get comparisons other than submitting your details and then them ringing you back.
Don't want to speak to them, just want some figures to plug into my spreadsheets.
So far have had 2 emails from the same adviser at the same "helpline" company, one recommending EDF and then the next email (totally ignoring the first email) recommending SSE.
We are coming to the end of a 2 year fix with Scottish Power and shall be glad to get away from them. Am about to cancel the DD as we are well in credit; no doubt this will trigger action from them.
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I've been with First Utility for about a year. Was previously with SP, but after a temporary spike in my power usage (caused by the aftermath of the house fire in 2012 ) they wanted about £80 a month despite me still being in credit. They would not be persuaded so I changed to FU. Initial direct debit was £57/month; after a year I had an annual summary which offered me the option of a variable direct debit which I took, my usual bill being about £35/month.
They refunded the excess without any quibbles or prompting whatsoever; unlike SP who I had to chase twice to get back what they owed me. I get a prompting e-mail from them every month to send them a meter reading. So far can only say good things about them.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Wed 4 Feb 15 at 22:20
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Like R.P. and Crankcase above, we're with EDF, and have been for about 3 years. The on-line system seems to work well, and we're notified when any significantly better offers appear either within EDF or from other suppliers; there is no exit fee. The tariff that we are on is the 'Blue+Price Promise May 2016' for both gas and electricity.
Current estimates are projecting £394.60 for 2,858 kWh electricity and £525.69 for 13,139 kWh gas. Our present monthly dd is for £76, but I think this will have to be raised a little.
I'm sure that there are cheaper deals available but, for the time being, I'm happy to stick with a system that works.
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Update. Despite Scottish Power faithfully promising me they WOULD definitely Direct Debit me by 11th Feb for my electricity - after none since I joined in October, they have not.
What a cunch of bunts.
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>> by 11th Feb
Doesn't that include the 11th? I'd give them another day.
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>> Update. Despite Scottish Power faithfully promising me they WOULD definitely Direct Debit me by 11th
>> Feb for my electricity - after none since I joined in October, they have not.
Its not the 11th yet.
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Apologies.. my wrong.. They said the 10th...
Wait till you are 110... you won't know what year it is.. It is of course 3015...
Last edited by: madf on Tue 10 Feb 15 at 16:20
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Well eventually they changed my DD.. after my complaining (again) last week that they had taken the wrong amount in March - and threatening them with the Ombudsman,,, they have changed it to the correct amount...and debted my account...
well err.. it was the correct amount if applied in February to pay off all the arrears up to then but of course, the February payment was short so I really ought to ask them to increase my payment...
err but on second thoughts I just won't bother.... I'll owe them...
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At handover we had a £280 or so credit with Scottish Power.
Cheque arrived today. Only took three calls to get it sorted which by all accounts is a star performance by SP standards.
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To get action,after they got March wrong - despite promising in Feb to get it right and promising to tell me to contact me in 10 days - both EPIC Fails.
I used their disputes procedure (which they gave me details of),, and asked for it to be escalated to the next stage.
I also stated I was so fed up I would charge them £50 per enquiry /phone call or email I had to make due to THEIR mistakes.
I also threatened them with the Ombudsman..
Incorrect DD taken on 5th March. Thursday last week.
Threatening email as above sent 5th March.
Incorrect DD credited and correct one made Monday 9th March.
So someone obviously responded quickly - probably On Friday 6th March..
Why they are such a shambles beats me: but some of the replies written to me about my problem suggested the support person was a> new b> badly trained and c> did not understand the issue..
I still have not had a formal reply (or any reply) from my complaint of late February despite their own Code of Conduct promising they would reply within 10 days... but as it's sorted, I don't really care..
I would hate to deal with them if I was really elderly## and did not know my way around the internet....
## ie at least 10 years older... dribble, slobber,
Last edited by: madf on Wed 11 Mar 15 at 18:25
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Found out about this today on a course. Crowd rates for fuel works in the parts of the UK. I've signed up.
www.cydcymru-energy.com/content.asp
Last edited by: R.P. on Wed 11 Mar 15 at 19:32
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>>Found out about this today on a course.>>
Similar scheme on Merseyside:
www.sefton.gov.uk/news/merseyside%E2%80%99s-collective-switch-is-back.aspx
Even so, my own nPower fixed dual fuel tariff still works out cheaper...:-)
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Customer response team rang me this pm. Was I happy now? Yes: but unhappy with length of time to sort it out.
Result: £20 credit to my energy bill as compensation..
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Have changed supplier from NPower to Sainsburys energy via Quidco.
Lets see how it pans out, first time I have changed for about 5 or so years.
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SP actually make it easy to change tariffs online; you can click on "change tariff' and it will tell you what their current 'best' tariff is and how much you will save per year.
I switched successively at the end of December, January and February each time to a slightly cheaper tariff and re-booting the one year fix. Since then, it hasn't been worth changing (with SP, at least).
Today I checked again. Good news! I can save £30 a year by changing from Fixed to March 2016 to Fixed to July 2016!
As I have a note of the fixed and units charges, I compared them and found that the new ones are more expensive - so how the saving?
Well, it turns out that they compare the expected cost on the new tariff not with the existing one, but with the remaining period on the existing one plus the balance of 12 months on what they assume you will switch to.
I think this would successfully escape many customers, particularly as the £30 saving was next to a 'Switch Now' button.
Of course they might be right, and I possibly could benefit from a slightly longer fix. But it did surprise me when I found the offered rates are actually higher than the ones I am on.
Time to look at the whole market again I think.
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I was just on the point of a tariff swap myself, but that subtlety had escaped me. I shall be checking the small print with EDF before I press the button now.
Thanks for highlighting that one Manatee.
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I swapped my fixed tariff dual fuel contract with nPower last November which was due to end at the end of September, 2016 with a monthly charge of £68, to its end of March 2017 similar plan.
Not only did I extend the fixed tariff period by eight months, the direct debit payments came down to £61.91 a month...:-) Less to worry about for the moment until the next offer comes along (there's no penalty either for swapping or even leaving most of nPower's tariffs).
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After a year and a bit of Scottish Power - and lots of billing hassle, wrong DDs, or none taken,,, I have switched to First Ultility.
21.43p /day fixed charge for each gas/electricity.
2.613p/ 10.754p per KWH for gas/electricity
All inclusive of VAT @5%
Fixed till Dec 2016.
Hassle free switch so far.. c10% cheaper than S Power. £60 total early switch penalty.
I expect at some time or other rates will rise dramatically to fund new investments (yet to be announced) for new electricity generation - But probably 2017 on.
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Scottish Power are absolutely dreadful. I'd have complained about the service. Then when they did nothing I would have gone to the Ombudsman and asked as part of the resolution for them to waive the 60.00 pound termination fee.
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 28 Nov 15 at 11:48
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I looked at this last month end as I do every month with Scottish Power, and switched from an October 2016 fix to a November 2016 fix as the price had gone down. SP here is slightly dearer than FU (what a great name) but nothing like 10% more - my gas for example is 2.674p/unit and standing charge 20.55p.
I always check the unit prices though - their calculation on the saving from changing tariff can't be relied on because of the assumption that they make about what happens if you don't change when the existing tariff expires.
They are billing me properly at the moment so as long as SP are within a gnats of the best price I'll stick with it.
I understand that FU has improved its performance - when this thread started they had just about the worst reviews for service.
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Just before I left CAB I spoke to one of SP's area managers. He took the moans and groans on the chin. He told me that their computer systems are now on the mend. I wouldn't move to them until I was absolutely sure
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Earlier this year I switched from NPower to sainsburys energy.
Although the figures all looked really good I half expected that once the switch had been through, maybe after a few months I would be needing to up my monthly amount. Surprisingly, the opposite is the case, monthly amount has went down and there have been regular meter reads as well.
In my case it certainly pays to switch!
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FWIW, I read the meters on the last day of every month and submit the readings online. I also put the readings into an iPhone app called Meter Readings, that shows weekly, monthly, annual costs and consumption and year on year comparisons of usage. It has helped me to manage the use - we don't have a very efficient house and it's easy to waste energy without proper attention to timers, thermostats etc.
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I have monthly meter readings from 2000.
Usage depends a lot on weather.. Our gas usage spiked in 2011-12 and 2012-3 due to -18C in winter.. (touch metal with bare hand and leave skin behind. No earmuffs? Frost bitten ears)
Last edited by: madf on Sat 28 Nov 15 at 16:47
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Switching Energy Suppliers - Stuartli
