I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one
I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.

--
Davey.

On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:30:42 +0000, Davey wrote:

I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all the
time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered a Fixed
Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one I
have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.

Worth looking at the moneysavingexpert site. They give details of user
surveys on customer service, etc. Not always useful as the sample sizes
are sometimes small, but worth a look.



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 22 Mar 2017 13:22:08 GMT
Bob Eager wrote:

On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:30:42 +0000, Davey wrote:

I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly,
but when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched
on all the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas
supplier is currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they
have offered a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas
prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them
matching these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested
that I research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of
these suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website
Service Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low.
The only one I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.

Worth looking at the moneysavingexpert site. They give details of
user surveys on customer service, etc. Not always useful as the
sample sizes are sometimes small, but worth a look.




Thanks, I'll take a gander.

--
Davey.

On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one
I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.

Dual tariffs paid by DD are usually the best deals if you can get them.


--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:39:11 +0000
Martin Brown wrote:

On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly,
but when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched
on all the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas
supplier is currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they
have offered a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas
prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them
matching these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested
that I research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of
these suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website
Service Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low.
The only one I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.

Dual tariffs paid by DD are usually the best deals if you can get
them.



The ones I have looked at save about £15-20, which may or may not be
offset by the savings of the different supplier.

--
Davey.

On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one
I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.


I've got no experience of any of them, but it's worth looking at one or
two of the comparison websites such as "switch with Which?" - or
whatever it's called. If you feed in details of your likely consumption
(assuming you know it!) you can see relative prices *and* get an idea of
the customer satisfaction rating for each potential supplier.

If your consumption is very low, it's worth looking at tariffs which
don't have a standing charge. You pay more per unit for the first so
many units (until the equivalent of the standing charge is recovered)
but save overall if you don't use enough to qualify for any cheaper
units. Hope that makes sense!
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one
I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.


For electricity only I avoid the small suppliers that I don't know. One
of them went broke recently though I don't think their customers lost
money. The customers were taken over by the Co-op.

Very likely it is important to switch supplier immediately the contract
ends, otherwise you end up with some expensive standard tariff.

It appears that Theresa May wants to change the energy market because
many people don't switch to get the best tariff as often as they could.
I expect that this will make life worse for those who do switch at the
moment, and remember to switch again immediately their contracts end.

The switching process is very tedious and slow. You can't just make a
phone call with a meter reading and say I want to switch.

I can order a year's supply of oil, get it delivered the next day (if
urgent) and then pay for it. Doing the same with utility energy supplies
takes weeks.


--
Michael Chare

Michael Chare was thinking very hard :
I can order a year's supply of oil, get it delivered the next day (if urgent)
and then pay for it. Doing the same with utility energy supplies takes weeks.

Around four weeks, so do the research early.

On 22/03/2017 17:04, Michael Chare wrote:


The switching process is very tedious and slow. You can't just make a
phone call with a meter reading and say I want to switch.



Switching online is a doddle, we've done it several times. Only takes a
minute or two using one of the comparison websites. We've never had a
problem.


--
Reentrant

On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 17:21:12 +0000, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Michael Chare was thinking very hard :
I can order a year's supply of oil, get it delivered the next day (if
urgent)
and then pay for it. Doing the same with utility energy supplies takes
weeks.

Around four weeks, so do the research early.

And remember that you can switch up to 49 days before the old contract
expires, and still not pay an exit fee.



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

LSR submitted this idea :
Switching online is a doddle, we've done it several times. Only takes a
minute or two using one of the comparison websites. We've never had a
problem.

Only twice so far, but the process is simple and easy.

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
news
LSR submitted this idea :
Switching online is a doddle, we've done it several times. Only takes a
minute or two using one of the comparison websites. We've never had a
problem.

Only twice so far, but the process is simple and easy.

you the lucky one

one attempt 9 months

another attempt (different address) 6 months

there should be automatic fines for these cock ups, but no they just wash
their hands of it and say "national database fault"

tim

On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one
I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.


AFAlAW Bristol Energy is run by Bristol council, although l have no
direct experience of them, l have successfully changed supplier several
times without problem, go for it!

On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:

Avoid Extra Energy - the most complained about energy company!

(You and Yours 23/3/17)


--
Michael Chare

"Davey" wrote in message
news
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Useful comments welcomed.


also worth looking at
https://ebico.org.uk/

http://switch.which.co.uk/energy-suppliers/ebico.html

-

On 22/03/2017 16:44, Roger Mills wrote:
On 22/03/2017 12:30, Davey wrote:
I have a flat, which is used as occasion arises, ie not regularly, but
when we or friends or family need it. The heating is switched on all
the time, at a sensible maintenance temperature. The gas supplier is
currently British Gas. It is renewal time, and they have offered
a Fixed Tariff, which could save some money if gas prices change.

Looking at options on a comparison website, I can make substantial
savings by switching supplier, to either Bristol Energy, Greenstar
Energy, or PFP Energy. I called British Gas to ask about them matching
these lower prices, and they don't do that, but suggested that I
research the other companies before jumping to one of them.
So does anybody here have any experience, good or bad, of any of these
suppliers? It's a fair question, I don't know how the website Service
Ratings are calculated, but Bristol Energy is pretty low. The only one
I have even heard of is PFP.

Useful comments welcomed.


I've got no experience of any of them,

I have been with Greenstar Energy for a couple of years, no issues with
them. I pay quarterly by DD for energy used in that quarter. They have
a good website for entering meter readings and if you do that a couple
of days before the bill is calculated you will get an accurate bill not
an estimate.



but it's worth looking at one or
two of the comparison websites such as "switch with Which?" - or
whatever it's called. If you feed in details of your likely consumption
(assuming you know it!) you can see relative prices *and* get an idea of
the customer satisfaction rating for each potential supplier.

If your consumption is very low, it's worth looking at tariffs which
don't have a standing charge.

I have a friend who uses very little energy in a holiday flat. They used
to be on a no standing charge tariff with NPower, but NPower have just
abolished that raising the predicted bill by over £100/ year. We have
just switched to Ebico in a perfectly quick and painless process.


You pay more per unit for the first so
many units (until the equivalent of the standing charge is recovered)
but save overall if you don't use enough to qualify for any cheaper
units. Hope that makes sense!


--
Chris B (News)

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 09:47:12 +0000
Chris B wrote:

I have been with Greenstar Energy for a couple of years, no issues
with them. I pay quarterly by DD for energy used in that quarter.
They have a good website for entering meter readings and if you do
that a couple of days before the bill is calculated you will get an
accurate bill not an estimate.



Thanks for the vote of confidence.


but it's worth looking at one or
two of the comparison websites such as "switch with Which?" - or
whatever it's called. If you feed in details of your likely
consumption (assuming you know it!) you can see relative prices
*and* get an idea of the customer satisfaction rating for each
potential supplier.

If your consumption is very low, it's worth looking at tariffs which
don't have a standing charge.

I have a friend who uses very little energy in a holiday flat. They
used to be on a no standing charge tariff with NPower, but NPower
have just abolished that raising the predicted bill by over £100/
year. We have just switched to Ebico in a perfectly quick and
painless process.


NPower always seems to be in the news for the wrong reasons!

--
Davey.

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 12:47:22 +0000, Michael Chare wrote:

Avoid Extra Energy - the most complained about energy company!

Meh the delivery networks for the actual gas or electricity never
changes and it's the reliablity of those networks that is the really
important bit.

Extra Energy where slow with bills when I was with them but no
cockups. They did offer good prices and I suspect they weren't quite
prepared for the demand. I think EBICO are going through that now
with the move from SSE to Robin Hood Energy as their supply partner
and the EBICO Zero tariff which is about 5% less than their previous
Equipower/Gas offering via SSE and will be nearer 15% when the (SSE)
Equi.. tariffs go up on the 27th April. Oh and don't get confused by
SSE's Zero tariff...

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
idual.net...
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 12:47:22 +0000, Michael Chare wrote:

Avoid Extra Energy - the most complained about energy company!

Meh the delivery networks for the actual gas or electricity never
changes and it's the reliablity of those networks that is the really
important bit.

Extra Energy where slow with bills when I was with them but no
cockups. They did offer good prices and I suspect they weren't quite
prepared for the demand. I think EBICO are going through that now
with the move from SSE to Robin Hood Energy as their supply partner
and the EBICO Zero tariff which is about 5% less than their previous
Equipower/Gas offering via SSE and will be nearer 15% when the (SSE)
Equi.. tariffs go up on the 27th April. Oh and don't get confused by
SSE's Zero tariff...

Dave will know all about this, wait until he's released from essential
guvmint workings/********.
He knows how many beans make 5, make no mistake.

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:48:24 -0000, tim... wrote:

Switching online is a doddle, we've done it several times. Only
takes
a minute or two using one of the comparison websites.

That only starts the process, your actual switch date will be about 3
weeks later, a week of which is your "cooling off period". Not as bad
as it was though, ISTR the first switch I did took 7 weeks.

We've never had a problem.

Niether had I until the one of the recent switches which is in the
process of being reversed.

Only twice so far, but the process is simple and easy.

Ten company changes, nearly as many tarrif chnages with the same
company.

you the lucky one

one attempt 9 months

another attempt (different address) 6 months

there should be automatic fines for these cock ups, but no they just
wash their hands of it and say "national database fault"

Funny you should mention "national database fault". That's the root
of the problem the suppliers are having with my latest switch. nPower
can't cope with having two supplies at one place when the postcode of
that place doesn't match the postcode in the national database for
either supply and the NDB address's have different first lines
(building names, no silly numbers around here). They closed the wrong
account and passed the wrong supply information to EBICO... *None* of
the EBICO paperwork has the MPAN or meter number on it. First I know
is when I get emails and final bill from nPower detailing the wrong
account/supply as closed...

1/2 hour call to EBICO and very helpful, *knowledgable* and able to
work without a script chap, managed to track down the supplies in the
NDB, see the cockup by nPower and suggest course of action. Reverse
the incorrect switch and start a fresh one for the correct supplies.
The EBICO site lists supplies properly ie the MPAN and meter number
but of course to get to them I had to enter the wrong post code and
enter a billing address to overide the incorrect address...

All three supplies we have have incorrect postcodes and first lines
in the NDB. When the dust settles I'm going to try and get them
corrected.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 09:47:12 +0000, Chris B wrote:

but it's worth looking at one or two of the comparison websites
....

There are lots of comparison sites but only two maybe three backend
databases. Once you've looked at a couple you'll start to recognise
any free form text, supplier ratings, reviews etc. The eye candy will
be different but the information the same.

... you can see relative prices ...

Many sites default to only showing you suppliers that you can switch
to via the site. Look for the show all suppliers button, and a couple
of cheaper ones may appear, like EBICO...

They used to be on a no standing charge tariff with NPower, but
NPower
have just abolished that raising the predicted bill by over £100/
year.
We have just switched to Ebico in a perfectly quick and painless
process.

Guess why I'm (trying) to do the same switch...

You pay more per unit for the first so many units (until the equivalent
of the standing charge is recovered)

Those "Tier 1 / Tier 2" tarrifs haven't been available for a good
couple of years. The standing charge can vary from 0.00p/day to the
best part of 30.00p/day, The unit cost for the true no standing
charge tariffs is higher but a single flate rate.

You really need to know your annual consumption and plug the actual
tariff costs into a spreadsheet to work out which of 0.00p/day
16p/unit or 13p/day 11p/unit is the cheapest for your consumption.

The "Tarrif Comparison Rate" (TCR) is a load of ******** unless your
consumption is close to that they use to calculate it. 3200 kWh/year?

--
Cheers
Dave.