Hey all, just a heads up.

Our npower tariff is ceasing to exist soon and they wrote to us saying it would change to their 'Go Save' tariff.

If you're in the same boat it's worth checking on their site as they have a new 'Sign Online 23 tariff' that, although there's a £20 cancellation if you leave before Nov 2012 and a standing charge, it works out much cheaper, over £200 cheaper for us.

It's worth checking no matter who your supplier is TBH, they never seem to give you their cheapest option straight off the bat, even when your tariff plan ceases to be it seems.

Anyway, just in case it's of any use.

Npower, of Watchdog fame? Thanks but no thanks.

I actually think I'm going to switch from a shareholder-owned company to the Co-Operative for energy.

Ooh. I'm a Co-op member and I hadn't even heard about this.

*dons deerstalker and grabs magnifying glass and briar pipe*

TBH they've been fine, even given us some cash back this month from accumulated overpayments. Not a fan of being overcharged just to get it back later mind although this is happening quicker than most other companies that have tried it.

As for co-op, just checked, sorry but I need to save what cash I can TBH.

Anyway, it was just a heads up if anyone else has had an automatic change of pricing.

I did a quick comparison - not scientific yet - and potentially the Co-op would save us nearly £170 a year on dual fuel over our current provider.

Plus free money points, as we're members.

Anyway, we're definitely going to have a more in-depth look later.

Luckily with the letter we got it gave us exact figures with costing so it's easy enough to do a direct comparison.

No matter all the news talk though most, if not all, energy companies still make it generally impossible to decypher bills and don't make people aware of cheaper pricing structures that may be available to them.

When I moved NPower wanted to up my gas and electricity combined bill from £60 a month to more than £100. They still wanted way too much. My bill arrived today and my leccy is only 1.86 over the DD but the gas is more than £55 over paid after just six months. I will be looking to switch providers once I have worked out how much I can cut. Switching to LED lamps means that my two desktops and Fridge use nearly all my electricity.

E.on £120 pm by DD and had to pay extra after winter billing
moved to Scottish Power £75 pm by DD after last winter £35 in credit

at the mo after the last bill £75 in credit

if SP start playing around with the DD, as E.on did, will move to another provider ...

I think it's pretty much the usual tactic in my experience. £70 odd quid a month here for both but it's only settled down to that over the past year or so as we've stayed with them, I remember the first 6 months being way too high. £100 cashback each year for DD is kind of nice. Should be about the same on the new tariff as well thankfully, the other they were going to switch us onto would have been £200 or so more.

You really have to keep an eye on them.

Yes but even accepting that it is a small amount, with the numbers of people in credit it must add up in total. There should be rules about how big the surplus should be and penalties for exceeding that.

Energy companies causing hardship by unilaterally increasing DD payments is nothing new; it's a scandal and it needs to stop.

I refuse to pay for dd for all these reasons. I just pay quarterly for what I've used. I could save money with dd, but it doesn't seem worth the bother that comes with it.