Part one: Switching energy suppliers for Gas/Electric
These days we just don’t have the time to continually check the rates/tariffs of each of our suppliers, just imagine how much time it would take to check each and every one. Our suppliers are certainly not going to make it easy for us to keep tabs on their costs comparatively to their competitors that would just too helpful and considerate of them. No, no, we had to spend the time researching the in’s and out’s…that was until the dawn of price comparison websites!! Here are just a few of them:*
- confused.com
- ukpower.co.uk
- moneysupermarket.com
- simplyswitch.com
- uSwitch.com
- energysupplierswitch.co.uk
- theenergyshop.com
*For the record, we are not advocating any particular company above; it’s up to you investigate your options.
Switching energy suppliers, easy as 123
We have all seen the commercials, so our first point of call was to check that we were paying the cheapest tariff by checking out a few of the price comparison websites, we entered in our details to find out which supplier saved us money.
Hint: Get all your information into a word document before you begin, so you can copy and paste your details quickly.
There were a series of questions for each of the key steps, but it was all fairly straight forward, especially as we had a previous utility bill to hand. Once we completed the first few steps, they provided the results and presented us with our options moving forward. As we quickly found out, we were paying over and above the average per KWh unit.
So which price comparison company do we go with?
We can’t answer that for your situation, we had to spend some time doing a little research before we made a decision on which was the best for our situation. As with any business, they are in business to make their ‘cut’ and each slightly differs on how much they charge. When all things were considered, switching energy supplier ended up saving us several hundred pounds per year, we did not feel quite as tight when they are asking for a one off fee for around £12 to switch each utility. Especially as over the year our savings covered that a good 12 times over.
It’s clear we were paying too much, what now?
Well that was it; we did not leave it any longer and got switching! It’s strange that in the past we all had some form of loyalty to our energy suppliers as we thought they had our best interests, but it is clear today that it’s all a load of PR spin and it is all about maximising profits whilst maintaining the facade that they care. There was no love-loss here, we got switching straight away, it is surprisingly easy these days, we completed the forms, clicked submit and let “them” do the rest. It did not take very long to process the order and put the wheels in motion, so we sat back, relaxed and had a cuppa.
So there it is, that’s pretty much how we saved ‘some’ money (£300 pa) off our annual energy bills by shopping around. We have heard of people saving in excess of £600 pa which is a substantial sum! If you are reading this, then hopefully you will at least make sure you are on one of the cheapest tariffs as your first point of call.
But I am already on the cheapest tariffs
YAY! Well at least after a little effort you know for sure that you are on the best deal, it’s gives us all that little peace of mind that we are not being ripped off. Now you can focus on the next steps of making your home more energy efficient.
Piers Caswell
