Scottish Power

[Stephen]

Does anyone on here use Scottish Power as their gas and electric supplier, and are they a good company or don't touch with a barge pole.

The reason I ask, I have just done comparison on the 'Which' site and there is a significant saving to be had over a year by changing over to Scottish Power, even keeping our same quarterly payment option rather than monthly direct debit.

[GillD46]

Yes we do. We got an amazingly good deal a couple of years ago, which still has a couple of years to go. They are just about ok -ish, BUT and it's a big BUT, if you need to speak to them, they are impossible to get hold of!

Despite being locked in, we have done a price comparison and intend paying the "get out" fee and changing back to OVO. Ovo are not cheapest for us, though will be a bit cheaper, albeit for a shorter term, but their Customer Service is second to none.

So would would I recommend Scottish Power - probably not.

[oldbluefox]

I have just changed over to Ovo about 6 months ago and find their website so easy to use. We haven't been with them long enough to know how much better off we are (or even worse off) but our experience with them has been snag free so far. They certainly seem cheaper than nPower.

[Stephen]

Strange Gill, because I have just phoned them twice on the free phone number and got straight through.

I'm not normally one for change, but with all the hype over energy companies and customers being over charged because they are not changing suppliers I thought I would check and see if a saving was there to be had. A £366 saving over a year is not to be sniffed at, based on a fixed rate until next March when I can if I wish change supplier with out penalty.

It's tempting, but I like to know all the ins and outs before jumping.

[Dennis The Menace]

I've had these lot a couple of times Stephen and never had a problem. although they have a reputation for poor customer service, I've always used the online account/never really needed to phone them.

Re changing generally, I do a comparison at least once a year and usually save a decent amount, plus a further £30 cash back if you use Martin Lewis' money saving expert site (or some of the comoarison sites ). I think the biggest saving is usually the first time you do it but, as each deal comes to an end and/or new price changes are announced I normally switch to another company or tariff if the saving is £50 or more.

[Dennis The Menace]

P.s. There's also a handy facility on Martin Lewis' MSE site where they will automatically email you in future if another company tariff becomes available that is cheaper than the one you are on currently. Obviously you don't want emails every month, so you can set this additional saving to a predetermined amount (£50/annum in my case) and take into account any penalty for leaving your existing deal early.

[Manoverboard]

We don't bother changing cos not having gas the leccy savings on their own seem to be minimal.

The best way, for us, to save is to use less so it's been a case of switching one's water heating from 24/7 using the emersion heater to a couple of hours twice per day using the oil fired boiler .... result has been quids in and no shortage of hot water at any time of the day

[Stephen]

We don't bother changing cos not having gas the leccy savings on their own seem to be minimal.

The best way, for us, to save is to use less so it's been a case of switching one's water heating from 24/7 using the emersion heater to a couple of hours twice per day using the oil fired boiler .... result has been quids in and no shortage of hot water at any time of the day

Have you considered a price comparison with candles Moby

[Stephen]

P.s. There's also a handy facility on Martin Lewis' MSE site where they will automatically email you in future if another company tariff becomes available that is cheaper than the one you are on currently. Obviously you don't want emails every month, so you can set this additional saving to a predetermined amount (£50/annum in my case) and take into account any penalty for leaving your existing deal early.

Thanks for the info Dennis, I'll take a look

[qbman1]

In my experience their customer service is the worst of the lot. They must pay peanuts - 'cos they have plenty of monkeys !!

[Manoverboard]

We don't bother changing cos not having gas the leccy savings on their own seem to be minimal.

The best way, for us, to save is to use less so it's been a case of switching one's water heating from 24/7 using the emersion heater to a couple of hours twice per day using the oil fired boiler .... result has been quids in and no shortage of hot water at any time of the day

Have you considered a price comparison with candles Moby

Not really because they tend to stain the ceilings but if you get any other bright ideas do let me know / keep them to yourself ( delete as applicable )

[Stephen]

Dennis

I Just went through Martin Lewis' MSE site and it again came up with Scottish Power as the best deal but the saving was almost £50 less!

This is what confuses me with comparison sites, which one is giving correct figures.

[Stephen]

We don't bother changing cos not having gas the leccy savings on their own seem to be minimal.

The best way, for us, to save is to use less so it's been a case of switching one's water heating from 24/7 using the emersion heater to a couple of hours twice per day using the oil fired boiler .... result has been quids in and no shortage of hot water at any time of the day

Have you considered a price comparison with candles Moby

Not really because they tend to stain the ceilings but if you get any other bright ideas do let me know / keep them to yourself ( delete as applicable )

Go to bed when it gets dark and get up when it's light, which is what I thought all the oldn's done

[towny44]

I have been with SP for over 2 yrs and find them quite good, after my 1st 12 month fix ended I have continued with them, updating their fix as each new and lower offer came out. As well as having no penalty for in-house changes they currently allow penalty free switches to any other supplier.
During this period these fixes have been the cheapest of the big 6 suppliers and within £20 pa of the cheapest most of the time.
I find their customer service to be as good as any of the other big 6 I have used, allthough their website can be bit slow, but they only advise you about cheaper tariffs when you receive a bill, so you need to set up U switch or similar, to advise you when there are cheaper offers.

[Stephen]

OK, slight hiccup with my initial saving figure which should have read £306.77 not £366 (bl**dy glasses are going back)

So here are the yearly saving results based on our last four quarter gas and electric bills, in no particular order.

All three comparison sites returned the highest savings with Scottish Power who have a fixed tariff until March 2016

Which £306.77
Uswitch £316.48
Martin Lewis' MSE site £317 + £30 cash back after 3 months

And the winner is......... ME

[david63]

This is what confuses me with comparison sites, which one is giving correct figures.

They all are - based on the criteria that they use. All of the comparison sites have a bias towards one supplier (normally the one giving the biggest "back hander") which is why you need to check with several before making a decision.

I have seen differences between the various comparison sites in the £100s

[towny44]

This is what confuses me with comparison sites, which one is giving correct figures.

They all are - based on the criteria that they use. All of the comparison sites have a bias towards one supplier (normally the one giving the biggest "back hander") which is why you need to check with several before making a decision.

I have seen differences between the various comparison sites in the £100s

Never experienced that problem David, if I have input the same annual Kwh and current supplier and tariff correctly, then the answers are always the same within a pound or two. Of course you do need to click on show ALL comparisons and not leave it to only recommend it's chosen ones.

[Stephen]

I have since checked with several comparison sites David and they all come out roughly the same. I have now taken the plunge and am currently in the process of switching to Scottish Power via the Martin Lewis' MSE site. If I change my mind I can cancel the switch within 14 days. Scottish Power also have a Nil early exit fee so it should be a win win deal.

Yes, Scottish Power have had major customer and billing issues in the past, but having read the reports from the CEO on their web site hopefully things are improving. At least paying quarterly with a debit card I have control not them if they cock things up.

As Dennis also mentioned I like the idea with Martin Lewis's site where they monitor all the energy companies and inform you via email if you can get a better deal elsewhere depending on the saving limit you set. Nice one Dennis

[towny44]

I understand your reluctance to switch to DD payments Stephen, it does need regular negotiation with the customer service dept to agree a mutually accetable monthly payment, I think their computer programming must be done by similar twerps to P&O, that applies to all suppliers not just SP.
However I have always argued my case and they mainly agree a reasonable figure, and this does have the advantage of smoothing out the very uneven quarterly bills that otherwise result.

[Stephen]

Not for me towney. I like to know I am paying the correct amount, not too much or not enough.

They or I will take meter readings and upload each quarter, and I pay the bill if I think it's right based on those readings. If I feel I'm being charged too much or I'm not noticing any significant savings that I am supposed to be getting then I'm off elsewhere or back to my original supplier.

[Whynd1]

We have just changed today from British gas to sainsburys whose power is supplied by British gas. Saved over £270 . Interesting to see how it goes. On another note AOL e mail has been down for most of the afternoon, not for the first time since being taken over by talk talk can see a change of provider coming on.

Lindsey

[Dancing Queen]

We switched to British Gas last year after being with Eon for many years, at the time BG came up with the best saving but I won't have any loyalty towards them when it comes to renewing.

[Meg 50]

...... On another note AOL e mail has been down for most of the afternoon, not for the first time since being taken over by talk talk can see a change of provider coming on.

Lindsey

I could only get onto aol email cos I have it installed. I couldn't get in off any browsers. It is now working, but they are still posting warnings that it's not quite right yet.

Despite their grovelling claims in recent weeks we move from them to BT on March 1st!

[Delboy]

I am with BG, was originally with BG, changed to another supplier, then returned to BG about 2 years ago. I am happy with BG, I pay £110 per month Ddebit for my gas and electricity, we received a £200 refund last year. At the moment our account is £500 in credit, but due our next quarterly bill at anytime now, looking to get another refund. I look at it, as having a small savings account

I have an app on my IPad, which enables me to check my account, my usage and post my meter readings. It even flashed up a reminder to let me know my annual CH boiler was overdue its annual service. So I booked a service again via the app.

Re AOL being down this afternoon, it was also down most of the morning, used to use AOL as my service provider, cancelled it but kept my EMail address.

[Dennis The Menace]

OK, slight hiccup with my initial saving figure which should have read £306.77 not £366 (bl**dy glasses are going back)

So here are the yearly saving results based on our last four quarter gas and electric bills, in no particular order.

All three comparison sites returned the highest savings with Scottish Power who have a fixed tariff until March 2016

Which £306.77
Uswitch £316.48
Martin Lewis' MSE site £317 + £30 cash back after 3 months

And the winner is......... ME

Maybe you should put the savings towards some new glasses Stephen