Gas and electric via the internet! (Scottish Power)

Member Name: mdp97jes

Product:	Scottish Power
Date:	01/03/02 (1561 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Accurate billing - self read meter, extra internet discount

Disadvantages: none

Just over two years ago, my boyfriend (now hubby) and I, bought our first house. We'd both been living with our respective parents previously, so like most first-time buyers, we went with the conventional option of British Gas and (in our area) Yorkshire Electricity.

As we got settled in we decided to have a look around for a cheaper deal, as there was a lot of media coverage and advertising at the time about how much could be saved by switching. After looking at the websites of several suppliers, we settled on Scottish Power. Like most energy companies, they have a "savings calculator" on their site. You just enter you current suppliers and how much your bills are, and they tell you how much you will save. In this case it was £72 per year - well worth having.

The transfer to the new service was very easy. We just filled out a form and put in our current meter readings, and they sorted the rest, including disconnection from British Gas and Yorkshire Electricity.

The only minor complaint with the service was that they kept estimating our bill, and it usually wasn't very accurate. However, it was just a case of doing a reading myself and leaving the reading on their (freephone) answermachine, and they updated it. But why can't we just read the meter ourselves in the first place I asked?

Well, six months ago they started a service where you can do exactly that - you just register via their website. When the bill is nearly due, they send you an email asking you to visit their website and enter your meter readings. They then deduct the right amount from your bank account or credit card. The first time it went a bit wrong as we didn't realise you had to click the "pay now" button after entering the reading, but they sent an email reminding us and we sorted it out easily.

Accurate billing is not the only advantage of this - they give you an extra £10.50 per year off your gas and ele
ctric as well, so its good all round.

I don't know if Scottish Power are still the cheapest energy supplier, but they are certainly one of the lower priced options, and much cheaper than sticking with the pre-competition combination. If your happy to read your own meter and deal with your billing via the internet, this is a good deal.

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