Why Is Changing Fuel Supplier So Difficult?

[barry1010]

I do use the price comparison sites but not all suppliers use them and I think they can only be used as an indication.
I have to find suppliers for two homes - mine, which uses a lot of gas and electricity; and for an elderly relative who uses relatively little.

Not only do I have to take the unit price of gas and electricity in to account, but it's the standing charges that get me, they vary so wildly. For my home a higher standing charge with cheaper units would be ideal. For my relative, it would make more sense for her to pay more for the units and less for the standing charges.
In an ideal world there would be a supplier that had both cheap units and cheap standing charge but if one exists I have yet to find it.
Three days I have been researching and still nowhere near a decision.

[fiction-factory]

I'm not sure what the issue is. If you put in details of the number of units you use (doesn't need to be too precise as long as you are consistent) for each home it will work out the total cost (including standing charges where applicable) so you can compare the total cost per home.

[TonyV]

Just try co compare

[barry1010]

If you delve in deeper in to the actual tariffs, FF, the one that comes out the cheapest on the comparison probably won't be in reality. The top two on the comparison site I looked at this morning had almost identical unit costs but the standing charges were very different with the top one costing a lot more per day. I worked it out that the second one would be the cheapest using the figures I submitted.

[dannyk13]

Have you had a look at Octopus?

[TonyV]

even go compare.

[woofgang]

companies have to take in a certain amount of money to make a profit. If they give you the units cheaper, then they must make it back on the standing charge or vice versa.

[barry1010]

Tony, I've tried Go Compare, Compare the Market, USwitch, MoneySupermarket, SimplySwitch, The EnergyShop and others.

What confounds me is that with identical, detailed information they all give me different results.

[fiction-factory]

So are you saying the sites work out the costs incorrectly based on your usage?

[barry1010]

Seems to. Maybe that is why so many people complain that their direct debits increase over the year even though they have opted for fixed price tariffs. I understand that if you use more fuel than expected the direct debits increase but it seems to me that people who have a regular lifestyle year in, year out and don't use more fuel have their payments increased mid term.

I would expect all the comparison sites to give the same results with the same information - and they don't.

[Dagman]

We ended up on Green Energy Network. Many will say whoever they're with are the best. We put in our own details on each providers site and they were the cheapest. That was 4 months ago.

[Deskdiary]

I find it a total ball-ache as well.

I was with Scottish Power for years, and even though I was switching tariffs with them, the price was always climbing, so a few years ago I went for a less well known supplier, who went tits-up after a few months of switching and was automatically transferred to another less well-known supplier and the service was risible.

So two years ago I thought sod-this and went to British Gas for both E & G, and they’ve remained competitive and the service is good.

Unless they start increasing their prices significantly, I really can’t see me playing with the comparison sites again.

[woofgang]

intersting deskdiary....I do my due diligence every so often and whenever I find a cheaper option than my BG tariff, there is always a catch.

[jno]

https://www.energyhelpline.com/

[Gromit2]

I changed to Bulb Energy 2 years ago, and I have been very please with them.They estimated my bill £20 cheaper per month than I was paying, and they haven’t increased it.

https://bulb.co.uk/

[barry1010]

I've looked at Bulb but they don't supply Economy 7

[barry1010]

I was with a small company that went bust, too, and had a hell of game getting back the money they owed me. I did get it in the end.

[ladybirder]

Barry have you checked Ebico? I have a No Standing Charge deal with them.

[jno]

re energyhelpline, I get an email from them every year saying "We've found you a cheaper supplier". They've saved me literally hundreds and they handle the actual switching, all I have to do is sign a form.

[barry1010]

jno, I get that email from ALL the comparison sites every year :) That could save me hundreds if I were on the most expensive tariff available, I suppose, so they aren't exactly lying. I've been paying the same for my gas and electricity for the past three years at least and switch to the cheapest I can find every year.

I'll have a look at Ebico (never heard of them). I've decided against Bulb because they cold call on the doorstep. I hate that.

[barry1010]

ladybirder, I have checked Ebico. Their quote is the highest I've had so far and their standing charges are 19p a day for electricity and 26p gas.