andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2018-08-09 12:00 pm

Interesting Links for 09-08-2018

xenophanean: (Default)

[personal profile] xenophanean 2018-08-09 11:53 am (UTC)(link)
Out of interest, what does swapping energy suppliers actually involve? I'm fairly convinced that Scottish Power are screwing me out of quite a lot of money, so I'm interested as long as it's not to onerous.
bugshaw: (Default)

[personal profile] bugshaw 2018-08-09 01:01 pm (UTC)(link)
My last three energy changes have involved a step between "Give them a final meter reading online" and "That's it" of spending 3-6 months challenging final bills from the old supplier who use a totally different higher reading and say I need to get my new supplier to sort it out because it must have been their problem which I suspect is a bunch of lies. There's a threshold difference between readings below which they "don't have to investigate" and you just have to pay up, and the last supplier upped their reading to just below that threshold. I'm grumpy. Perhaps you have better luck. They're always good at the joining end.
darkoshi: (Default)

[personal profile] darkoshi 2018-08-10 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Out of curiosity, what is a "final meter reading", and what is it required for?

Is it common in the UK to be able to switch electricity providers (ie., to have multiple providers to choose from, not just whichever company operates in the area)?
errolwi: (Default)

[personal profile] errolwi 2018-08-10 10:03 am (UTC)(link)
Even if a utility has a monopoly in an area, you need readings when a property is sold, surely?
darkoshi: (Default)

[personal profile] darkoshi 2018-08-11 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
That is what I guessed final meter reading meant, but Bugshaw's comment confused me enough that I wasn't sure.

When a property is sold over here, I think a utility worker will stop by to either turn the power off (if the new owner hasn't set it up to transfer over to their account right away) or to check the meter reading. I didn't have to check the meter reading myself when I got this house. And I guess that is what surprised me the most, that the utilities over there would trust the payer to provide an accurate number. Although from Bugshaw's comment, which makes more sense to me now, apparently you can't trust the utilities on that either.
xenophanean: (Default)

[personal profile] xenophanean 2018-08-10 10:57 am (UTC)(link)
I'll look into it!