Allotments 4 All

Hi Everybody,

Wondering if someone can help me make up my mind. We've decided to combine our gas and electricity payments as it seems a much cheaper option than paying them seperately.

Does anyone pay theirs in this way with either Telecom Plus Utility Warehouse or with Powergen. If you do - are they reliable and do they give good service as well as saving you money? I haven't heard of Telecom plus here in Scotland so need your input.

Thanks, Eileen.

Try www.utilitiesagency.co.uk they are really good at finding you the lowest prices out of loads of suppliers - I found them very helpful.

Sam

Done that Sam but thanks for offering your help and for posting the website address!!!  :)

It's just I don't know much about Telecom Plus or Powergen and needed info from folks that use either as they're the cheapest two around here and I want to know just how reliable they are and if they give good customer service.


Eileen.

I used these http://www.buy.co.uk/home.asp to find me the best deal at the time and they recommended Scottish Power for both Gas and Leccy if you book online and send readings online you get an extra few quid off on top of your savings.

Roy ;D

hi eileen,
we're with powergen for electricity, we have no gas in the village. as regards our experiences with them, well, when we had a faulty meter they replaced it promptly and beacuse they could not get a reading from it did not charge us for that quarter.  :) not heard of your other supplier. hope this helps.

Hi Eileen

Last year i got caught off guard when some door knockers tried to get me and change my elec/gas supliers (currently British gas and Powergen).

Ordinarily,if coldcallers wont go away when i tell them to-i simply call my dog and he see's them off,but i was ill at the time and allowed them in.They managed to convince me to change (remember-i was ill) and it wasnt till a few day later when i read ALL the small print that they were going to be more expensive.I currently pay £14.50 per month direct debit for electricity and am £55 in credit.Their minimal amount for direct debit was £25 so they would have been fleecing me! I cancelled all the details and stuck with present suppliers.My gas i pay quaterly and refuse to pay this DD because i dont use the same amount of gas in summer as in winter and dont want them earning intrest on MY money.

But since British Gas are gonna up their prices- i may have to look about...

Thanks everyone for your help. I think we'll hold off just now and see what all the price rises are like first before changing suppliers or combining bills.

Bubble, my gas bills and electricity bills for the year come to a massive £1002.00!!! We only live in a mid-terraced, 3 bedroomed cottage for goodness sake not a mansion!!! That's why I was wondering if it would be cheaper combining the bills but after reading what happened to you :o I'll be extra careful about reading the small print!! Thanks.  :)

Eileen I assume you mean pound sterling as you went all American on us for a mo, 8) so £1002 works out at £83.50 per month we are in a 3 bed terrace and pay £44 per month Gas and Leccy combined thats £528 per year and that’s bringing it all the way down from Scotland. Maybe you should check your house insulation as it appears a lot of energy maybe going through the roof and walls. :o

Roy :)

Just what Ian said Roy. We'll be doing exactly that ASAP!!!

Thanks for your help :)

Eileen.

Strange thing is,i paid a quaterly gas bill 2 weeks ago which was for £26 and checked out last year of augusts bill which was £17.

Im sure i havent used anymore gas from last summer to this so am at a loss where the supposed extra charges have come from.Have only today received a letter from British Gas saying they are upping their charges 92p per week so over a 52 weeks=£47.84 extra per year.

Looks like im shopping around also...

ps.Check the lagging in your loft cause when i bought this house,the lagging was only 1" thick! It had compressed over time and had only ever been done once when the house was built in 1972.I spent £100 on lagging and the difference was immediately noticable.My walls have somesort of cavity wall insulation which is like polysterene balls (it has oozed out of gaps in brickwork up in loft) so this must make a difference also.

Hi Bubble,

We live in a 17th centurty cottage and our walls are made of stone which is 2&1/2 feet thick so I don't know if we can get insulation in them or not but we will certainly look into re-cladding the loft as I'm fed up paying such high prices for gas and electricity. When they put the prices up it's going to be even more extortionate!!!   >:(

Eileen.

We swapped to Powergen about 18 monthes ago and have never had any probs, however, their prices have crept up.....I shall have to dig out a bill to see what we pay.  Anyhow, a rather lovely young man accosted me in Sainsburys a couple of weeks back and said all the right things so  now we are with Scottish Power.  According to Which? they are the most reasonable.  Will have to see.

Since your walls are 2 1/2ft thick with no cavity-i dont think any cavity wall insulation company could help you out here  :'(

If you re-lag your loft-dont forget your loft hatch.I cut several pieces to fit then stapled it to the panel with an industrial stapler.This is the one place most people forget to insulate when doing the roof! I was going to use that "pink panther" non itchy insulation,but almost died when i discovered how much the stuff was.In the end,i used standard fibreglass insulation in rolls,wore a mask,goggles and threw away the clothes i was wearing afterwards as they were full of tiny particles.

Boy,does that stuff make you itch  :(

I tried to switch electrics but SEB 'wouldn't let me go'. This includes off-peak power.
Don't know what to say? Ours is 17thC too, with 2' - 4' walls - but we get through one hell of a lot of watts. = Tim

Thanks EJ, Bubble & Tim.  :)

EJ, maybe I should do as you have and combine my gas and electricity with Scottish Power. We already use them for our electrical supply so Ill have a 'look see' at their prices.  :)

Bubble what a great tip - I doubt if I would have done the loft hatch if you hadn't mentioned it - just something I would never have thought to do but it does make a lot of sense. Thanks.  :D

Tim, isn't living in an old house fun!! I hate having such high bills.  :( I take it yours are as high as mine? Wish there was more I could do to get them down. BTW measured the thickness of our walls and they're actually 3' thick so, as you say, no hope of insulating them.  :(

Eileen.

Eileen, you may be eligible for an energy grant if your loft insulation is minimal, we had ours years ago, owners or tenants can apply, definitely worth checking out try this link http://www.easington.gov.uk/services/energy/egrants.asp and or ring your local council or energy supplier.

Roy. ;D

Thank you soooo much Roy that sounds just the ticket. ;D I've put it in my favourites so that Ian can read it when he comes home. (He's in London until Thursday :() Then he can ring up Scottish power and West Lothian Council and see what they say.

Eileen.

I think its time for us all to act now see link. ::) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3636512.stm
Whilst watching the Beeb news this morning about Npower 12% increase on energy, I jotted down a website that was put on screen and I will be phoning them today if I get time as it looks very interesting (see testimonials) http://www.simplyswitch.com/index.html
Apparently they do all the work for you for free (hmm I wonder?)  ???and take all the stress and effort out of it for you (I wonder who pays em?). ??? Still, worth a try me thinks, watch this space.

Roy. ;D

Well I phoned Simply Switch .com and they claim to be able to save me £45 per annum by switching to Duel Fuel Powergen from Dual Fuel Scottish Power, it took only a few minutes (freephone) to do the switch.

Time will tell. ::)


PS. Tim How can SEB not allow you to switch ???

Thats the same way that the utilities agency work -www.utilitiesagency.co.uk - I believe that they work in the same way as Dan does with his advertising clicks or an insurance broker - they get paid a small amount each time they help someone find a new supplier by the new supplier that is why it is important to ask how many suppliers they deal with.

Sam