Changing electricity supplier

We are also with octopus.
Scottish Power were a nightmare.

Because of my eyesight problems, I could no longer read my outside meters. I was with Octopus and they suggested I hang on for 6 months until the latest Smart meter came on the market. I did that, there were minor problems at the start, easily sorted out so I no longer have to worry about reading meters because the Smart meter sends all information back to the company so no more estimated bills.

If I could read the meter properly I could possibly save money by working out how much each appliance is costing me.

Change to Symbio Energy is one of the Cheapest Electricity Supplier UK Cheapest Electricity Supplier I have ever seen. They are providing excellent service for households. I have saved my money a lot. Especially they are offering 100% green energy solution. You can find at OFGEM recommended Open Market View.

Rather prickly, aren't you aprilrose?

I may well be.
When it comes to agenda pushers - the issue of green or anything else was not asked by the OP and although I mentioned it as a result of another answer, it was not on my list of issues either and still is not. I dont like people who want to try and push their ideas and make them sound like education of informing others. Its sheer hypocracy and that annoys me.

I change supplier annually or bi-annually depending upon the deal I've got. I'm in the process of changing to Octopus and would recommend that you choose a supplier which does not penalise you if you want to move to another supplier before your 'deal' ends.

Sorry cant offer recommendations only who to avoid. When we moved house five years ago we left Scottish Power who I had no issues with and went with EDF who previous owner used. They kept messing up the readings and a year later sent me a bill for over 5k which I refused to pay. Got letter from them saying I was being referred to a debt collector. Long story short after various letters they got someone independent to look at meter. It was their fault but once resolved I left them. I went with British Gas no issues but not cheap. I moved again this time to Together Energy let's just say they did similar to EDF. They took £700 out of the account after 12 months saying we had been under charged for both. No its not being refunded and I'm back with British Gas on a smart meter, we'll see.

And by the way, I do actually know that unit prices and the daily standing charge are how to check pricing, but thank you for that info.

Rather prickly, aren't you aprilrose?

Phoenix It was not intended as a threat. I just thought that, as my contract was coming to an end, that I would shop around. Once given the price from the alternative cost, I decided to accept it and rang the current supplier to tell them that I wanted to leave and why.

I agree that, if that new lower price is available, it should be offered to all loyal customers.

aprilrose perhaps if you had another look, you might find a provider that gives you a better deal and happens to be "green"?

No harm in checking!

I have looked. I am always looking. I am not that bothered about being green. As I said , its a choice. You can make yurs and I make mine.

The OP asked for experiences of electricity companies not for a lesson on green credentials anyway.

I said Yorkshire and So Energy have both been good to me ( neither have been expensive as electricity unit prices, which is the true measure of cost together with standing charge ) . Both companies have an express policy of ensuring they end a year where you neither owe them nor do they owe you if at all possible and both reduced my DD when it looked like I was paying too much after they had set a DD figure. Both companies offered me easy to read bills in clear English and liked to receive monthly readings if possible to keep the books straight. They have one simple tariff rate depending on what your energy needs are so no need to try and find the right deal within 20 or more different ones.
I have a fixed rate deal for one year ( electricity price will remain fixed for the year) at the moment but no penalties if I were to change companies at any time once I had been with them a month. They both have English call centres if you need advice for anything and good web sites. Both are British firms. Does that matter?

I have heard of bulb. I know a number of people who have used them. None have complained. It depends on what is best for the OP in her location and the type of supply ( by that I mean is it a standard or an E7 as I have). Of course the OP may also have a duel fuel need for all I know. I dont have duel fuel where I am as we dont have gas by mains in this area.

Having gone to the trouble to look it up, it seems that Yorkshire Enegry and So Energy ( my previous provider) both use renewable sources and are "green"..... but as I said, that doesnt matter to me.

Yorkshire energy also claim on their web site that they pay their workers a living wage. Now that does mean a lot to me! Not that I chose them based on that. Ethics in business are always good when it comes to treating people fairly though.

Shame though Tweedle24 that you have to threaten to leave to get a good deal.

We had a similar experience with BT over our phone and broadband. They offered to price match, but we still switched as so fed up with their attitude.

I tried using ‘Look after my Bills’. They got me a much cheaper deal with another company. However, when I contacted the current firm, they dropped their price to match and gave me a £50 ‘loyalty award’. This also happened in the past when I was going to change my home insurance. It is not always necessary to change to get a good deal.

Bulb are "green" providers and were considerably cheaper than EDF, who are only partly green (i.e. only some of the electricity comes from renewable sources.

So, not only am I saving money, but also using a provider that uses only renewable energy.

aprilrose perhaps if you had another look, you might find a provider that gives you a better deal and happens to be "green"?

No harm in checking!

Perhaps now that you’ve been made aware of the possibility of using renewables it might be something you would consider in the future. One of the good things about GN is the way it presents new ideas to those who hadn’t previously been aware.

I was going to bite my tongue on this, but I have to say it really annoys me when some people on GN are hypocritical enough to hide their preaching under the guise of "education" As if you thik I must be stupid or something that I have to be "made aware". I am fuly cognisant of green issues. Thankyou.

My money. my choice.

When I came to the end of my contract with Octopus, they offered me three alternatives, each costed. I chose the Green Tariff and saved £2 a month.

What you write is accurate MamaCaz. Good companies, like Octopus, Bulb and a few others treat their customers well. I think if Hetty moved to one of these she would not only save money but feel able to pay by DD.

The only way to get an accurate estimate from a company is if you know roughly (or better still, accurately) how much energy you use in an average year. If, instead, you have to do a comparison based on the size of your house/number of people living there, it will only give a rough idea of how much a year you will pay a new company.

Some people don't realize that a fixed tariff means that the price per unit you pay for your energy is fixed, , not your total/monthly payment.
In other words, the more energy you use throughout the contract, the more you will have to pay (on the plus side, if you use less energy than expected, you will pay less than the estimate suggested)
That means that most companies will want to adjust your monthly payments if, after a few months, their computers start telling them that you might be using more/less energy over the year than the initial comparison suggested.

Companies are now discouraged by OFGEM from letting customers either build up a lot of credit or get badly into debt. That is why they might suddenly want to either refund credit if a lot has built up, or increase Direct Debit payments. However, there is a huge difference between companies as to how this works in reality.
Good ones allow some flexibility, whereas bad ones (as I said, I have had one of those!) suddenly impose increased Direct Debits in winter, even if a customer is in credit, sometimes refuse to refund even large amounts of credit, change terms and conditions without informing customers, and generally treat their customers like dirt, refusing even to respond to queries.

Sorry for the length of the post

You can claim back money from your energy supplier too:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/claim-back-credit/claim-back-credit-from-your-energy-supplier/

I could 'save' a couple of quid a week by paying with Direct Debit. Past experience tells me, though, that they'd take too much out, so I pay monthly (when I read the meters) and/or on receipt of bill. I prefer my money to stay in my bank account - where it belongs!

And another vote for octopus.
Avoid Scottish Power like the plague.

Another vote for Bulb. They're reliable and only have one tariff (not a confusing selection of 'special deals' that soon run out).

Thank you for clarification april. Perhaps now that you’ve been made aware of the possibility of using renewables it might be something you would consider in the future.

I very much doubt it. I have think about cost above all else. I do not hav a sufficiently deep purse to be able to consider anything outside of that I am afraid. I am sorry if that offends. I did not need to be made aware of the green issues debate, I just cannot afford it. Hence I said I do not look at that . I look for the cheapest for me.

I haven't changed supplier for a long time but find that changing tariff with my supplier cuts bills a lot.

I meant it being winter you will start off paying more, then it should decrease.

Sorry I want to be responsible but I was mislead really.

Just be aware Greymar that you will be using more energy just now.