Mumsnet users discuss their energy supplier

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We’re very aware that energy bills are not the most exciting topic to discuss and that sorting them can be a pain, but they are a fact of life and we’d like to find out how you get on with your energy suppliers. The government has recently passed through some new legislation which will cap the total amount a supplier can charge, but do you think it will make a difference? Some of us are super organised and expert at searching for the best deals and negotiating costs each year whereas others me included overestimate our capacity to be organised enough to sort our energy bill in the least painful way.

We’re really interested in finding out how you get on with your current energy supplier and what you like and dislike about them? Is there something they particularly do that makes your life much easier? Or something you wish they’d start doing? Or even something that frustrates you about them?

Whatever your thoughts are on what makes a good energy supplier and creates a good or bad energy tariff, please share them below for your chance to be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

We're with Ovo - great customer service and really good rates.

weve been very happy with our supplier since we moved in over 10 yr ago. the only thing i dislike is the end of their rewards scheme.

I can't stand it when they automatically increase your direct debit. I understand their reasons for wanting fixed monthly direct debits, to be able to purchase in advance, but I do not like being made to use a power company as a savings account over the summer. I would prefer to have a low direct debit and then pay for usage above that when necessary. Some of them make it easier than others to keep direct debits low. IME British Gas make it the most difficult to choose the level of your own direct debit.

The Smart Meter roll out is a mess. As I understand it, energy companies still have quite a lot of the first generation models on their hands, the ones which may not work if you switch suppliers. And they are trying to palm these off on people: often those taking them up are less informed and haven't heard about the problems. This is unethical yet there appears to be no requirement on the companies to tell people about the problems with these earlier smart meters before installation.

I've shopped around a lot - and also switched on more than one occasion - and I still have to say that sadly suppliers all fall into the same boat in the long run. All as bad as each other. There is no trust. Transparency in everything would be ideal ...but can't see that ever happening.

I switched to Bulb last year and can't rate them highly enough. Much cheaper than the big guns, great customer service, easy to use website where I can give a meter reading every 3 months.

I honestly feel like they’re all a con. I don’t trust any of them.

The model for charging isn’t particularly clear/straightforward. I think it needs to be completely revised

It was worth switching tariffs using a price comparison website as our energy provider seems no better, or worse, than previous ones but is slightly cheaper.

I'm with ebico, can't complain yet. On an economy 7 meter where I get free electrical energy between half 12 at night and 7.30 am and only 18p per unit used. Standing charge about 40p per day.

wow, that's a high unit rate and a massive standing charge. I hope you get your moneys worth at night!

I dislike all of them as I believe energy should be a nationalised industry. I switch frequently, usually when I get an email from the Money Saving Expert thing I’ve signed up to, which apparently knows exactly when a cheaper deal is available. I can never remember who I’m with without checking and I don’t care - in my opinion they are all rip-off merchants who make their pricing structure as complex as possible to confuse people into paying more than they need to, to fund their excessive profits and annoying adverts. As other posters have mentioned vulnerable people are most likely to be ripped off - I have no respect for any business that boosts profits that way. It’s also strange that some suppliers to the UK market are based in other countries, that makes us a bit vulnerable perhaps.

We've been with Octopus for two years now. They're the only supplier we've not moved away from after a year. They're price competitive, big on green energy, easy to get hold of, remind you to do your meter reading, pay you back quickly if you're in credit, give you two options if you're in debit after a full year to either up your payments or make a one off payment (in our case it was only £7 so they're quite good at predicting usage) and I can't think of a bad word to say. When we switched two years ago the whole process went smoothly. I think what you really want from your supplier is to not have to contact them. It's not rocket science to get it right. When we moved in I had to contact edf four times before they issued a correct bill with our meter readings on it. It tools months of waiting as well. And despite already supplying the property, they managed to guess our direct debit amount incorrectly and set it at double what it needed to be. They were in no rush to give it back either.

BabyTeeth

I agree. And I’m very much a free market advocate

But for the essentials - water, energy - I think nationalised

Octopus - offices in Soho ( so clearly money to burn as they could work anywhere), no warm home contribution ( sod the poor..), windfarm builders ( very iffy on the eco credentials), and as usual no information on how that 97% renewable is actually generated.

same old same old....

Another happy Bulb customer. Very simple and easy to do meter readings etc.

Smart meter from previous owners energy company was left here. No idea if it's accurate or not? It's it worth the electricity it uses to leave it plugged in?

Pay monthly DD. I don't mind overpaying over summer and building a bit of a buffet for the winter. Makes budgeting easier.

@specialsubject a retired chap I know here wants to quote me to swap ALL my utilities to one provider - gas, electric, phone, B.B., tv, hime and contents insurance etc. I don't think water is included. He reckons I'll save an astonishing amount. I'm but said he can quote me if he likes.

Do you know about these deals? New way of doing things?

utility warehouse, probably. forever living for blokes...

let him quote but he is on commission and will therefore come out pricier.

and ask him for actual unit prices and standing charges. he wont be.able to reduce the bill if you are on a fix.

there are a couple of good broadband offers on moneysavingexpert today, have a look.

you need to do a bit of work but you get paid by the savings.

I have Scottish Power and a Two Year Fix. I like the fact that I can check I am on the best tarriff with them and the site is really easy to check my use, get a refund if I am in credit etc.

forever living for blokes...

thanks Special

water isn't included because domestic customers can't switch providers at the moment. Nor, you will note, is your council tax.

it is worth investigating all this, there is money to be saved - but not by paying out to someone else. There are also companies that have appeared on MN offering to take over all the switching for a mere £25 or so. As I mentioned upthread, it isn't hard even though MN are pushing that it is far too difficult for mere females.

I'm with Eon and was really annoyed that just a few months after I joined them they stopped running their loyalty point scheme so no more shopping vouchers for me!

Their customer service with me has always been excellent when I have spoken to them about my account yet when I was trying to help my grandparents they were really difficult to deal with.

So my feeling about them as a provider are mixed.

Another vote for Bulb here. They've been great. They claim to always have you on lowest possible plan so have no different tariffs to trip you up. Lots of advance notice of price increases and why. Hopefully a good percentage of green energy too. Cheaper than ecotrocity.

The company I use are great value in comparison to other energy companies.

Free, expert advice on switching at Money Saving Expert. www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub
Very easy to use.

I think they're all much of a muchness really. Like car insurance and broadband, it's worth shopping around regularly for the best deals.
We're with Southern but I'll change when our deal is up.

I always shop around and keep an eye on prices, if I left it to DH we'd be on a standard tariff.

It's the same energy whoever you go with, so they can only compete on price and/or customer service.

We were with First Utility for three years but I found their tariffs had become uncompetitive for us when it came to renew this year. I used USwitch and then googled TrustPilot reviews of the results. The cheapest two companies had terrible reviews of their customer service so I chose Octopus and went via a cash back site. The switch was easy and I've already earned a £50 referral bonus for referring someone on a local Facebook group.

I would never use NPower again after they refused to pay back a massive credit balance and had to threaten the regulator to get it back after we left. First Utility were very efficient paying back our credit balance at this switch so I would use them again. I would avoid Utility Warehouse as I hate their MLM model.

We have a smart meter but all that did was send our meter reading to First Utility each month, we didn't have anything to show what each appliance was costing us. Now we've switched it is just a dumb meter again.