First time buyer energy bill confusion - please help!

[Bluehasnoclue]

Hi all,

I just completed on my first property (2 bedroom flat) which is so exciting! I’m a solo buyer so don’t have anybody to help me make decisions and I am really struggling to understand the situation with energy bills as I have previously lived with parents/in house shares where bills were included, but I really want to learn.

I’ve read Martin Lewis guide about whether to choose a fixed tariff or the standard rate which is fine, I can make a decision for this part.

What I don’t understand and I’m really hoping you can help me with is the following:

I’m at work Mon-Fri for most of the day. As it was a probate property, no idea who the current gas/electricity suppliers are. A lot of companies aren’t taking on new customers at the moment too.

When I look at websites and put in the details, it comes up saying £250-400 per month for electricity and gas.

I feel that surely this can’t be right? Even with high standing charges and unit charges I don’t think I’ll be using enough electricity & gas for it to be that much.

If I sign up will they set the direct debit at £250 a month? Or am I able to choose how much it is?

Ideally I’d like to wait a few months and see how much I’m actually using & then have a direct debit set for that amount + £20/30 each month to build up a buffer for winter.

But I’m unclear if this is possible. I’ve tried calling up several suppliers to ask but they’ve all been unhelpful so I am coming here hoping someone can explain it to me as if I’m an idiot (I might well be at this point to still not understand haha).

Thank you so much in advance!

That sounds like an insane quote. When I lived alone in a flat (it was 1 bed though so slightly smaller) my electricity was £70pm it was no gas and expensive electric heaters. With the increases I would say £150 max unless you have the heating on all the time.

Thank you! I feel like they’re massively over estimating but unsure how to deal with this as don’t want to sign up to pay £3000 a year if I’m not going to use that much energy! It’s so confusing

Your legal pack from your solicitor should have who is your current supplier.

I've just moved in and the new supplier was trying to set up my DD on the basis of those who moved out - a family compared to me living alone! I had my old bills so could tell them the usage and I added 10% just whilst I guage what will change in the house.

You decide how much you set your direct debit at, they obviously "quote" the direct debit amount for you but you can change it if you want. Also, you don't even have to have a direct debit- you can just choose to pay for what has been used each month.

Thank you. Unfortunately in the pack & on the property info form it all just says unknown because the property was sold by distant family who had never visited the property. And unfortunately the estate agents removed any post so unable to tell from that either.

That makes sense about the direct debit thank you. So I can just choose an amount and then increase or decrease or at any time if necessary? I read that usually you get a discount for paying via DD, otherwise I would definitely just pay for what was used.

Thank you so much for your help!

Yes that sounds a lot. I live in a 2 bed semi and even with the increases my dd will be 80quid p/m based on my usage and thats with wfh every day.

Annoying that you can't work out who is currently supplying you but they should contact you at some point. Just make sure you have a meter reading of the date you moved in (ideally a photo) so you only have to pay from there on.

When people say you can choose your dd it's only to a certain extent - if they estimate your usage as 200 p/m they won't let you say "well I'll only do a dd for 50!"

Can you have a smart meter installed? I only pay for the electricity and gas that we actually use each month.

Phone around a few suppliers and ask if they are supplying your property. You could go on a standard tariff for 6 months, it's more expensive than paying by DD but it gives you six months of actual usage. I think the bills are quarterly but you can submit monthly readings.

Try and get a smart meter, you'll probably need to get a DD contract to get one, but it tells you how much you're using on a daily basis and helps you budget.

You have to join the current supplier first. Once you have that account you can switch to anyone else. So your first job is to call the supplier and say you are new. It’s easy to find out your supplier by looking at this website:

www.energynetworks.org/operating-the-networks/whos-my-network-operator

so you don’t have to think about the future step until you’ve done this. good luck!

Ok, first of all go onto www.findmysupplier.energy and pop in your address. This will show who your current supplier is.

Call them and advise that you have moved in and want to set up an account and get a quote, they will quote you on the size of the property and how many people live there.

This is important....ask to pay by Variable Direct Debit, this take the exact of your usage each month so you can get an idea of what you are using and the cost. When we go into Winter then change to a Fixed Direct Debit and add £30/£40 on top of your average Summer spend.

Any fixed tariffs that are available now will be higher than the price cap tariff but bear in mind that prices go up again in October.

For reference I pay £160 per month on a fixed, 2 people, 1 wfh, 3 bed semi.

You can find out your supplier quite easily - we've just had to do this!

www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

Contact the supplier with your details, move in/completion date and meter readings. They should give some options eg direct debit or pay on receipt of bill. That sounds like a very high estimate for the energy use - ours has been estimated at about £200 per month for a six bed house.

Also bare in mind the prices you are seeing on the websites will very likely be for fixed tariffs, which will be higher than the current price cap. Get set up with your current supplier first - don't lock yourself into a fixed tariff with them straight away if it has exit fees, give yourself chance to work out what will be best.

That sounds a lot. For context I'm a three bed terrace. Work from home most of week and my electric is currently costing me £80 a month. We have no gas so this is cooking and water too.
I am paying £130 as a direct debit as it will ramp up massively in winter so am now £500 in credit.

I don't have a smart meter but I'm with utilita and they are currently billing monthly. I enter my readings into the app on the last day of every month (get a text reminder). If the property doesn't have a smart meter recording your actual usage for the first few months either through an app or on the phone would be sensible. You can ask about monthly (rather than quarterly) billing when you set it up.

Prices are going up in October so paying over is a good idea but not by £300!
Do you know who lived in your flat before? A pensioner in all day is likely to have been using more than someone working full time out of the house.

Also check how your water is heated. If you have an emersion system check the settings. It's things like this that can run up a big bill before you realise