Click Energy 6 is born…

British Gas, it seems, has played a final trump card in the battle of the energy giants. And it’s a move I’m not best pleased about.

No sooner had my household switched to Click Energy 5, when the supplier raises its rates and introduces Click Energy 6.

The new Click Energy 6 tariff, while still being the cheapest online tariff, is more expensive than Click Energy 5’s original price. Click Energy 5 was previously priced at around £845 a year for the average household, but the move from British Gas will now see Click Energy 5 customers’ (like me) bills increase to around £1,150.

And the price of new online energy tariff Click Energy 6 is only marginally cheaper, at £1,057 a year for the average household dual fuel bill.

Click Energy 5 is no longer available to new customers, and any existing customers on the tariff will see their bills rise by an average of £305 a year. What an absolute pain!

British Gas are now, let’s be honest, not my favourite supplier in the world. My housemates and I will now have to wait until the switch from npower to British Gas is complete, and then switch again from Click Energy 5 to Click Energy 6, which could take another six weeks.

During that time we’ll be being charged the higher Click Energy 5 rate, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

I think it’s fair to say, I’m more than a little annoyed…

  British Gas continue to fight for the title

Following on from my last blog post, the battle of the giants has reached a standstill, with neither newcomer npower or reigning champ British Gas refusing to back down.

After my household switched its energy supplier from British Gas to npower, British Gas began fighting for our custom, offering us a 15% discount if we signed back up with them.

Since then, my housemate emailed npower; giving them details of British Gas’ proposed 15% discount in the hope that npower would retaliate with an even bigger discount.

Our efforts were wasted it seems though, as npower have yet to respond.

We have received a letter from British Gas, confirming the termination of our contract, and requesting a final meter reading, so that they can bill us to the exact date.

Unlike fellow Consumer Choices blogger Olivia’s switch with E.ON, ours has been really quick and easy.

Because of the deal offered by British Gas though, we are now unsure of whether to continue with the switch to npower or not. With their Click Energy 5 tariff, and the 15% discount we’ve been promised, our bills would be a fraction cheaper with British Gas, according to the EnergyChoices comparison service, but we’re worried that if prices rise again, British Gas may end up more expensive than npower.

We could sign up to a capped tariff, to fix our prices at a set rate. This would mean we’d avoid any future price increases, and Olivia certainly recommends it, but what if energy prices drop?

What should we do? Any suggestions?

   Will npower come back with a vengence?

After a few very turbulent weeks, it seems the dust may be starting to settle around the energy market battlefield. Gordon Brown has promised an energy efficiency plan to help combat fuel poverty, supermarkets are lowering the price of unleaded at their petrol pumps, and children are being encouraged to ‘Green Up’.

Battle is still raging in my household though. And I’m not talking about the battle for the bathroom in the morning…

Oh no, this is much bigger. It’s a battle of the “giants” no less, with reigning champion British Gas clinging on for dear life, while npower, the competitive newcomer, claws its way in to our home, with promises of cheaper gas and electricity, and paperless billing.

It all started a few weeks ago. The news of price increases and bigger bills was a much talked about topic, in the press and in our household.

Naturally we were keen to see how much we could save by switching.

Using EnergyChoices comparison service, we decided that our best bet would be to switch to npower, who promised to save us up to £400 on our annual bill. Hurray!

Switching was really easy; we did it there and then online, and it only took a few minutes.

A welcome pack from npower a week later told us everything we needed to know about the switch. Our household was one of happiness and relief – we had managed to avoid the price hikes! Double hurray!

But our happiness did not last long… A week later I received an email from my housemate:

Yo Becca,
I had phone call from British Gas today and they asked me why we left.
They want to give us a better deal - 15% off!
They also said that npower had a price increase a few weeks ago, and now British Gas is only 3% more expensive than npower. Please can you check this?
If this is true… what do you think we should do?
Should we go back to British Gas?

Evidently battling it out for our custom, British Gas is trying to win us back with its own promises of cheaper gas and electricity. It’s no surprise really – until the npower switch day, we had been a long-standing loyal customer, always paying our bills on time and in full. And like many households, we hadn’t even considered switching, or thought about how much we could save by changing suppliers.

So, what to do? Well, after much deliberation, we decided to email npower with British Gas’ proposition, asking whether they could match it, or offer us a better deal. If they can’t then we may well switch back to British Gas, and opt for their Click Energy 5 tariff, an online tariff which allows you to input your own meter readings.

In the words of the ever authoritative John Anderson: “Contender ready! Gladiator ready!”

Let the battle begin…

  The message is lost….

Did anyone see yesterday’s edition of Newsnight?

In truth, I only tuned in for two reasons:

(1) To get the inside track on David Milliband’s subtle allusion to a positive Labour outlook without our belligerent but utterly hapless leader at the helm. Best case scenario in my opinion, I’ve been on Team Milliband for some time.

(2) It filled a gap between Big Brother and Long Way Round.

Effectively, I got what I wanted, but with an extra bonus I hadn’t bargained for.

Who should appear midway through for a grilling on inflation-busting gas and electricity price hikes, but your friend and mine Phil Bentley, Managing Director at British Gas.

Fantastic.

Although presenter Gavin Esler immediately went on the front foot with the question ‘why are you raising your gas prices by 35 percent, when EDF are only raising theirs by 22 percent?’, it became abundantly clear within seconds of Mr. Bentley’s response that public speaking isn’t his forte.

I don’t know if he was caught off guard by the ferocity of Esler’s interrogation, too pre-occupied with damage limitation to answer the questions naturally, or just genuinely lacking insight and understanding, but the responses from Mr. Bentley were consistently unsatisfying.

The one saving grace was an admission from Mr. Bentley that EDF price rises are less severe than those of British Gas because EDF operate more coal-fired, cost efficient power stations. This little factoid was delivered with a somewhat regretful tone.

All in all, I learned very little but a bunch of facts that I and most of the country are familiar with already:

• Britain imports 40% of its gas supply
• The cost of this gas is linked to the cost of crude oil
• Crude oil prices have double over the last 12 months
• Therefore, Centrica must hike prices or operate their gas supply arm at a loss

Amazing, thanks Phil.

 Do it do it do it do it do it now?

The energy world is on fire. Prices are rising here there and everywhere and it’s hard to keep up with the ever spouting predictions and advice. Fear is in the air and the headlines are becoming more and more terrifying:

• “Energy customers face 60% price hike” (Energy Choices)

• “People ‘pushed’ into fuel poverty” (The Press Association)

• “Lives at risk fears as gas bills rocket 35%” (The Press and Journal)

• “Child poverty charity deplores British Gas fuel price hike” (Easier Finance)

• “Energy powder designed to look like COCAINE could be sold in Britain” (The Daily Mail)

OK, so the last one won’t affect our gas bills, but energy news at the moment is SCARY. According to the Mirror, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has claimed that soon “Thousands will be forced to choose between heating and cooking!”

Reading these headlines it seems the UK is headed straight for an energy apocalypse, and the advice tagged on the end of each article is…

GET A FIXED RATE TARIFF NOW. OR ELSE.

But really, is this sound advice or classic scaremongering? Well actually, it depends at which rate you fix it. There are only two fixed rate tariffs on the market right now which are set at pre-hike prices and they are the Energy Saver 4 and the Price Protection October 2009 from E.ON.

If you can snatch one of these then you are onto a winner, but as the dashing Martin Lewis so eloquently puts it, these existing fixed rate tariffs are “disappearing quicker than a rabbit near Paul Daniels” and it’s predicted they will be pulled by midnight tonight.

Yesterday, as well as hiking gas prices up by a massive 35% and electricity prices by 9%, British Gas announced the launch of their new Fixed Price 2011 tariff, the only other capped tariff available. If we follow the “cap now” mentality, then surely we should dash to grab this now? Well actually, maybe not.

As my good friend Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at Energy Choices says: ‘Fixing your energy tariff now will protect you from round two of the predicted price hikes, which are expected to hit consumers in December or January. However, it is quite likely that the other big energy suppliers will follow British Gas’ lead and announce their own fixed rate tariffs for newly increased rates. Obviously some will be cheaper than others and while it’s a gamble, it may be better to wait for the launch of these.’

So, if you miss the E.ON boat, don’t jump straight for British Gas. If you can hold out for alternative tariffs, you might be able to cap at a lower rate.

 We’re pulling rabbits out of hats…

In response to the deluge of mail we received regarding the complexity of submitting meter readings to British Gas, here at Consumer Choices we are pleased to announce we’ve cracked the code.

For the inside track on how to successfully submit a meter reading at britishgas.co.uk/meter, take a look at the latest instalment from our very own Consumer Spy, Becca Talbot.

Having liaised with British Gas itself, Becca has constructed a step by step guide to help you through the process, designed with newcomers to the world of online energy tariffs in mind.

So stop tearing your hair out, hitting your head against the wall or, worse still, thinking about reverting back to paper bills, and use Becca’s guide to take the sting out of online account handling.

The Consumer Spy - Meter Reading Made Easy

 This is the easy bit….

*UPDATE* Find out how to input your Click Energy 5 meter reading by following our guide.

It’s been drawn to my attention by many Consumer Choices subscribers that manually inputting meter readings on the British Gas site is at best confusing, and at worst virtually impossible.

Here’s a selection of the comments I’ve received:

• “I have gone to britishgas.co.uk/meter and can not find where you add the reading”

• “Need to give British Gas a meter reading, can’t find where to put it. beginning to wish I hadn’t bothered”

• “I have tried to give you my first meter reading but it seems that whoever is responsible for this website has omitted to make provision for clients to use”

• “I am trying to submit my first meter reading but cannot find a way through the minefield”

• “Come on British Gas sort out your system, I see I am not the only one having this problem”

Damning indeed, and sent in the kind of volume that suggests there is a genuine problem here.

As an E.ON customer myself, I’ve not had any first hand experience with the British Gas Click Energy 5 online account management system. If anyone does know of a direct solution to this problem, please leave a comment below.

Having had a look at the ‘your account’ area, I would strongly suggest that you log in before attempting to submit a meter reading. It should make the process a whole lot easier.

One final note, and I really hope I’m putting two and two together here and making five, but I noticed the following in the Click Energy 5 terms and conditions:

“Click Energy 5 is for customers who agree to manage their bills online and take paperless billing. We reserve the right to transfer you onto our current standard variable rates if you fail to sign up to online account management and paperless billing within the first 6 weeks of coming onto supply with us and/or signing up to the Click Energy 5 product from us.”

British Gas wouldn’t be making it deliberately hard for you to input your meter readings would they?

 Another one bites the dust

Ok, a quick round up of a few happenings in the world of energy that occurred during my absence last week:

(1) The FA Challenge Cup, sponsored by E.ON, was deservedly won by Portsmouth on Saturday. It finally hit home for me why E.ON has spent the best part of £35 million on sponsoring the event this year; it’s all about the final isn’t it? E.ON hoardings, E.ON blimps, E.ON giant sized foam hands, even E.ON emblazoned ribbons on the cup itself.

Did I see ‘We won this cup thanks to the power of E.ON’ type flags being waved by the victorious side, or were my eyes deceiving me? Presumably ‘We won this cup thanks to a dodgy penalty at Old Trafford and some astute dealings in the African transfer market’ didn’t fit.

(2) I’ve had a number of aggrieved npower customers write to me this week in response to this story:

npower slammed by customers

One such complainant reported being told by an npower door to door salesperson his monthly electricity bill would not exceed £40, only to receive a first quarter bill for £600!

My advice, if you’re having no luck with the customer services department of your provider, is to complain about corporate miss-selling through Energywatch (the utilities watchdog). There are two ways to do this, either tell your story to Energywatch, and they will complain on your behalf (adding credence to your complaint), or use their online ‘letter wizard’ to construct a hard hitting and concise written argument.

In fact, I’d suggest tackling both.

(3) Finally, a strange week for British Gas, who surmised the strong possibility of further price rises during high summer (a price hike that’s been anticipated within the industry for some time), then cut the cost of their Click 5 online dual fuel tariff.

Again, I like to throw in my two penneth worth, but this is a no brainer. Take advantage of the cheap energy while you can, get yourself online, and sign up for Click Energy 5. It may not last forever, but Click Energy 5 is currently the cheapest way to buy your fuel.

 Ha ha ha….oh god i’m so in debt

Tuesday May 13th - £9,485.54 in debt…

In a previous life, I worked for a well-known comparison website. On a daily basis, I encouraged hapless consumers that one of the most effective ways to save money on their household bills was to change their suppliers. Or, in a nutshell, “yoooooou gotta SWITCH!”

Regularly changing my own suppliers over the past few years has saved me literally millions of pounds, as you would expect. Well, I haven’t done the sums recently, but I’m led to believe it’s something like that.

However, I’ve been in the same house for the last two years and haven’t bothered changing suppliers in that time. Even after a particularly hideous experience with Toucan’s customer so-called “service”. Now is the time for action.

Energy

I’m currently with Southern Electric, which was the cheapest supplier for me when I moved in. According to Consumer Choices, if I switched to British Gas, I could save £193.90 over the next two years.

Broadband

I pay Toucan £15 a month for this, even though I detest them to the very fibre of my being. As I’ve got a Sky TV package, I could get free (but limited, download-wise) broadband from Sky, saving me £360 over two years. Why haven’t I done this yet? Because I’m a berk.

Home phone

If I switch this to Sky as well, I’ll save £1.75 per month (£42 over two years) on my line rental and get free evening calls as well as the free weekend calls I currently get from my BT Unlimited Weekend Plan.

So, what do you think? Before I start switching away like a lunatic, are there any better deals? Is this a good time to switch suppliers? Any tips…?

  European Students with Backpacks - Cool

….particularly a Mr. M Ballack of Kensington, West London.

Ok, that’s quite enough of that; I obviously don’t want to labour the point (Chelsea 2 – Manchester United 1). It’s not just the Germans I’m enamoured by anyway; I’m quite keen on the Norwegians since last Tuesday.

Putting all football allegiances to one side just for a moment, I’ll tell you why I still love the Germans, and steadfastly refuse to switch from my current (German) energy supplier, E.on.

A blog posting on Times Online this weekend invited Times readers to leave feedback concerning their energy suppliers, a kind of ‘open forum’ if you will.

Perhaps they were expecting a few responses along the lines of ‘they keep coming to read my meter at pesky times’ or ‘I think I was slightly over-charged last quarter’, but what they got was fire and brimstone launched from the mouth of hell itself!

The first comment is quite ominously titled ‘WHY YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO BE A CUSTOMER OF EDF ENERGY’, all in capitals of course. The author of this post goes on to describe a horror story that visits inaccurate direct debits and shoddy customer service via a series of payment duplications. No energy supplier is perfect, but this consumer does seem to be especially cheesed off.

Ok, so if I’m a little down on EDF right now, how about npower? I’ve heard all the brouhaha surrounding allegations of an npower sales team miss-selling door to door, but that’s only one team, and the rest might be fair. So what sort of comments did they receive from their loyal servants yesterday? Well….

‘We unfortunately agreed to change to npower. This month I have received a statement from npower informing me that I owe them £706.00. We feel tricked.’

‘I found that they had charged me twice for almost the whole of one year’s supply of gas.’

‘I was recently approached by a salesman for npower in my local Woolworths. A promise of £100 pounds credit convinced me to switch and sign on the dotted line. Bad move. The wool had been pulled over my eyes.’

This is a sample of the more ‘polite’ comments. Let’s be honest, they don’t make for great reading. The revelation that npower reps stalk their local Woolworths looking for victims already bedazzled by cheap duvet covers is bad enough.

A number of other suppliers came in for criticism also, with Scottish Power accused of ‘appalling service’, British Gas lambasted for punishing Saver 7 customers, and Scottish & Southern scolded for blindly signing up new customers days before a planned price hike.

The most intense ire is reserved solely for npower though.

Having spent considerable time over the weekend sifting through a list of endless energy wrath, is it naïve of me to want to concentrate on the positives rather than the negatives?

I’d like to focus on all the aspects you find pleasing about your energy supplier. I’ll start the ball rolling with my own contribution to the Times debate this weekend:

‘E.on supplies me with concise and easy to understand billing information, and I’ve never had to take issue with a bill I’ve received. The direct debits come out of my account on a pre-ordained day, and I’ve just received my online ‘energy tracker’, which allows me to check my energy usage on a daily basis. Although they’re far from the cheapest in my area, I’m happy enough with the level of service to stick with them.’

It’s an honest account, and I’m aware that against a backdrop of fuel poverty and the credit crunch, I could be accused of focussing on trivial issues. But it’s my point of view on my energy supplier.

So how about yours? Does anyone have anything positive to say? Or are you all feeling right royally ripped-off at this moment in time?

Please let me know.