All entries for Sunday 10 March 2019

Delaying an Energy switch by a week plus 4 week switching time costs £32 extra over previous tarrif!

I was happy with Scottish Power after my switch over three price fix contracts.
Each time the offer of a new fix was pretty near the best on the MoneySavingExperts’s Cheep Energy Club.

This January there was not a tempting offer but a confusing comparison to their default variable tariff, both a lot more than the old deal as I was about to find out.

I got around to searching for a new Energy Provider and made signed up for a switch on the 7th February. One problem that the whizzy graphical energy used displays were useless for getting an accurate comparison. I had login in and check the last 4 bills to get the data.

I went for Avro Energy, based in Hinkley, so pretty local.
Their electricity tariffs were particularly competitive and as I have just switched from an old brute of a Canon Powerflue Gas Fire in the lounge for occasional additional heating to a pretty new electric this tipped my decision.

Avro seemed to kick the switch off promptly however it took exactly 4 weeks to complete.

When I was asked to upload the initial meter readings to Avro I also went onto Scottish Power and loaded their final figures. This was when I got out my calculator and compared the 2 weeks before the switch to the standard tariff to the 5 weeks and found it cost an extra £32 for the 5 weeks.

The 28 day switching time was 10 days over the latest Ofgem average for the highest of the Gas and Electricity switching times.

Clearly, we should be kicking off a switch a month before the end of the last contract, detailing the fix end date. The other problem is that the customer’s data can be deliberately obscured. Ofgem should regulate for simple complete annual summaries with data in the form that the switching sites need.

Robert McGonigle : 10 Mar 2019 18:23 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem