Perhaps this may a salutory lesson for some.
This afternoon I decided to check that I was getting the best deal on my Gas and Electricity. This was inspired by me seeing the latest bank statement and seeing how much we are being charged a month for both. (£128 gas, £86 electricity. Yes I did nearly faint).
I would not mind but we have drastically cut back on our use, and short of supplying the gas to power something like... I don't know... Birmingham, I have no idea why ours is so high. Our boiler is old, but regularly serviced (and hopefully soon to be replaced with an A rated one).
However I felt that I would not find a better deal than my current deal which was with British Gas. I like to think of myself as someone who keeps tabs on the deals. So you can imagine how horrified and then delighted I was when I logged on and found I could save over £500 a year by switching to another company. I was staggered at the discrepancy in prices and I urge anyone who has not checked they are getting the best deal to do so. With gas prices so volatile, you may well be being charged the Earth, as I was. I checked on 4 comparison websites and this one deal I got seemed to be the cheapest on all of them. (For gas & electricity paid monthly via direct debit).
Suffice to say, I switched and I am now waiting for a huge bill from British Gas telling me this is what I owe them...
So my question is this, how often should we check our provider is the cheapest we can get?
This afternoon I decided to check that I was getting the best deal on my Gas and Electricity. This was inspired by me seeing the latest bank statement and seeing how much we are being charged a month for both. (£128 gas, £86 electricity. Yes I did nearly faint).
I would not mind but we have drastically cut back on our use, and short of supplying the gas to power something like... I don't know... Birmingham, I have no idea why ours is so high. Our boiler is old, but regularly serviced (and hopefully soon to be replaced with an A rated one).
However I felt that I would not find a better deal than my current deal which was with British Gas. I like to think of myself as someone who keeps tabs on the deals. So you can imagine how horrified and then delighted I was when I logged on and found I could save over £500 a year by switching to another company. I was staggered at the discrepancy in prices and I urge anyone who has not checked they are getting the best deal to do so. With gas prices so volatile, you may well be being charged the Earth, as I was. I checked on 4 comparison websites and this one deal I got seemed to be the cheapest on all of them. (For gas & electricity paid monthly via direct debit).
Suffice to say, I switched and I am now waiting for a huge bill from British Gas telling me this is what I owe them...
So my question is this, how often should we check our provider is the cheapest we can get?
