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changing electricity supplier: choosing start-date?

(6 Posts)
MamaCaz Fri 21-Feb-14 17:17:27

Petra, I know exactly what you mean and I am always sorely tempted to stay put.
The experience reduces me to a nervous wreck each time. It's the same when I have to renew my car insurance.
However, my Yorkshire / Scottish genes win through, forcing me to put myself through this rather than pay more than necessary! grin

petra Fri 21-Feb-14 17:01:26

I'm in admiration to all of you who put yourselves through this pain.
I know it makes financial sense, but i would rather stick pins in my eyes.

MamaCaz Fri 21-Feb-14 15:06:06

These moves are a pain, aren't they?

Twice in the past I have been offered a better deal by the company I was leaving, when the cooling-off period had come and gone! The first time, I managed to wriggle out of the switch because the company I was supposed to be moving to (through a compare website) hadn't even bothered to contact me in any way, shape or form some month or more after I'd supposedly set things in motion, and the second time I angrily told the company I was leaving that if they had a better deal to offer me, they should have offered it in the first place. angry

If I find a better deal elsewhere, I will have a dilemma: if I set the change in motion too soon I risk being moved before my current good deal comes to an end, but if I wait until near the time I risk being put on the current supplier's expensive tariff for a couple of months. I am almost certain to lose out one way or the other!

Grrr, why do they make life so difficult?

mollie65 Fri 21-Feb-14 12:24:56

they dictate the date of start - had this with edf when I was going to switch from npower with whom I was tied in until the end of the month (subsequently discovered I could get a good tariff (fixed) with them) and when I phoned EDF to remonstrate that I could not change the start date so wanted to cancel - they did not cancel transfer although in the cooling off period - and it took nearly 3 months to action an erroneous transgfer angry
it is a good idea to see what your current supplier is offering and then consult the comparison sites - most fixes now have no tie-in so I should not have the same problem if I spot a better deal.

glammanana Fri 21-Feb-14 11:47:54

This is the question I have been asking Mama we are with E-on and very pleased we are with them we are on the Stay warm plan with them but we are hopefully moving into a bungalow shortly and the supply is with another Company altogether,we did want the new supply up and running on the day of moving but no switch can take place until we occupy so it will probably be a few weeks after we move that things are sorted .

MamaCaz Fri 21-Feb-14 10:19:28

I have had the dreaded letter through today, the one telling me that my current electricity plan (EDF Blue April 2014) will end on April 30th, meaning that I have to go through all the rigmarole of comparing deals/suppliers again.

If I don't do anything, I will automatically be put onto their standard (rip-off) price plan from that date.

I'm not sure if it's just me being silly, but I don't see how I can arrange to change supplier on a specific date. Whenever I have changed in the past, I have had to put the changeover into the hands of the new company, and have been told that they will notify me when the change has taken place. In reality, this has meant that I haven't known until well over a month after it's happened.

In other words, does anyone know of a way (other than staying with my current supplier) of arranging a specific changeover date in advance?