Earn Avios on your energy and telephone bills with Utility Warehouse

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• John says:

  17 Mar17 March 05:41

  Their rates are very expensive. Not worth the switch to them for some Avios points. You’re better off Using CheapEnergyClub from MoneySavingExpert.

  • Jonathan says:

    17 Mar17 March 06:24

    I agree they don’t always have the lowest headline cost, but those tariffs at their competitors are only available for new customers.

    UW is great for people that don’t want to be having to change tariff every 6 months, plus with 3% off at Santander they’re actually far more competitive than the headline differences from a comparison site indicate.

    • Genghis says:

      17 Mar17 March 06:33

      Changing energy provider is so easy. No one has a reason to pay more than they should.

    • Genghis says:

      17 Mar17 March 07:00

      To add, I’ve found the MSE collective switch tariff that comes out around Sep to be v competitive and has always paid the £30 (or whatever) cash back. Done it for two years now.

    • the real harry1 says:

      17 Mar17 March 07:00

      and remember – you can switch supplier up to 49 days before your contract ends, without paying any early exit penalties

      • Anon says:

        17 Mar17 March 07:51

        Thanks G & RH, need to sort a new deal out.

    • Jonathan says:

      17 Mar17 March 08:09

      Who got up on the wrong side of the bed!?

      I disagree, yes I do think there’s something to be said about opting for a slightly more expensive option for convenience – knowing that your tariff will always be reasonable and won’t revert to a uncompetitive standard variable rate. People opt for convenience all the time, for example by hiring an accountant for a tax return. Convenience vs. Cost.

      The UW contracts are cheaper than the regular SVR from the main utility suppliers.

      Just because you have the time and inclination to switch regularly doesn’t mean that others will. This is evidenced by the government trying to induce competition in the industry as the majority of people sit on SVRs.

      • mark2 says:

        17 Mar17 March 08:47

        There is plenty of competition in the industry otherwise ‘switched on’ people would not be able to switch to lower tariffs at will.
        But many people prefer convenience like you.

      • Genghis says:

        17 Mar17 March 09:34

        Switching energy provider literally takes 5 mins and can save you a few hundred quid.

        My Dad hires an accountant to do his tax return but he saves him more in tax than he charges. I could do it for nowt but then I’m not a tax accountant, don’t deal with small businesses and don’t really know the ‘loopholes’.

      • Andrew* says:

        17 Mar17 March 19:43

        +1 on the accountant: people hire them when they save more than they get charged and/or their hourly rate is higher than the accountant’s.

        That said, I’ve done a few online surveys (time ‘rich’, points poorer) and they often ask how much (little) you’re have to save to be prepared to move…

      • Alan says:

        18 Mar18 March 17:50

        Although the Gov’t keep having weird ideas in this area – they want a competitive market and folk to switch, yet they don’t want expensive SVRs, despite the price difference between them and the fixes normally being what actually encourages many folk to switch. I think they should just send more time educating folk how to switch (it’s bloody easy) rather than introducing more legislation. Sadly they also mucked up smart metering by forcing it to be done, but not setting a decent standard so all the suppliers are off doing their own proprietary thing and we’re all ultimately paying for it in our bills. Really frustrating how poorly Gov’t performs in this area…

• mark2 says:

  17 Mar17 March 06:55

  Always be careful when you compare energy costs. Often they make assumptions that favour their tariff e.g. that when your current fixed tariff finishes you will change to the expensive standard rate,
  You should compare the price per unit, standing charge and Tariff Comparison Rate (TCR) which you will find on your current bill. They will be somewhere on the potential supplier’s projection but will probably be hidden somewhere.
  Also check that they have used the correct rate for your current supplier; often there are lots of very similar tariffs and you may have chosen the wrong one (like I did).

  • Liz says:

    17 Mar17 March 08:03

    I make a diary note now on a specific date each year and take meter readings and keep my own accurate usage records. I search for the best deals using uswitch, MSE and simply switch but then work out manually using the tariff and standing charge rates plus VAT. I find the comparison calculations inaccurate so stick with my manual calculations for actual costings. I don’t use the TCR numbers.

• Matt says:

  17 Mar17 March 07:28

  Up to £500 of LED lightbulbs sounds like the biggest sweetner here, and a lasting benefit – LED bulbs produce more and better light (plus faster to do so) than the compact flourescent ones, still save energy and will last for years.
  I guess the devil is in the detail, anything in that area for my houseshold would enable us to switch our all the bulbs in the house, but how much more does it cost as a package?

  • mark2 says:

    17 Mar17 March 08:03

    I have already changed all of our bulbs and they have down in price sharply as volumes increase.
    £500 seems ludicrously high since even large ones only cost about £8 and some as low as £4.
    Sounds like a classic ‘Up To’ come on.

    • Andrew says:

      17 Mar17 March 09:18

      £500 would buy a lot of bulbs in Clas Ohlson or Wilko – even the very posh LED filament style.

      All mine are now LED with the exception of the fluorescent tubes in the garage which are rarely on anyway.

      Saying that, I know at the bottom of my kitchen cupboard there are at least 30 brand new, boxed CFL bulbs of various sizes that are almost 20 years old – a legacy of the Green nonsense from the late 90s where, as a new homeowner, there seemed to be a daily delivery of “eco” bulbs from the District Council, County Council, British Gas, Southern Electric, Thames Water, community organisations and eco-charities. I must take them to the tip to be safely disposed of at some point.

  • Imbruce says:

    20 Mar20 March 09:18

    The lightbulb replacement scheme is free for the time that you remain a customer of
    UW but you Must have all of your utilities with them to get this benefit they also bill monthly and you ONLY pay for total of the bill each month, it’s a single bill.
    They are now moving over to Smart Meters
    Also as mentioned previously their Discount card is a like a prepay MasterCard as you shop the discount you earn comes off your monthly bill, customers are known to pay virtually nothing for their utilities. You can also earn referral commissions if you refer friends to the Discount Club

• signol says:

  17 Mar17 March 10:06

  We’re with Utility Warehouse, inherited them when we moved into our current house. Electricity only, dual supply (for Economy 7 and regular). I get 42 Avios per month, so not life changing at all. When I compare tariffs, they always come out cheapest for us, so have always stayed. Shockingly bad customer service though. Took 2 1/2 months to get an engineer out with the correct part (2nd visit) to find the issue was upstream on the power line. National Grid were then onsite within 3 hours!

  • mark2 says:

    17 Mar17 March 10:45

    Just for a laugh I have asked them for a quote (You would have got the commission Jonathan if the prices had not been so high).
    UW rates are variable whereas Scottish Power’s (SP) are fixed until 31 Jan 2019 with no exit fee.
    –
    Prices per kWh including 5% VAT
    Electricity: SP 12.11p UW: 15.282p
    –
    Gas SP: 2.4564p UW: 3.959p
    –
    Standing charge (for both) SP 51.6p UW 43.15
    –
    For the same number of units the total costs including standing charge and VAT are:
    SP: £903 UW: £1101
    –
    perhaps you should have another look signol?

    • Genghis says:

      17 Mar17 March 10:47

      Perhaps signol has super low usage such that the lower UW fixed cost outweighs the higher variable cost?

      • signol says:

        18 Mar18 March 13:28

        I really must run another comparison then!

        • signol says:

          18 Mar18 March 13:31

          To clarify, I’ve got dual electricity. Normal supply 14p per unit, night rate 6p per unit, which only supplies underfloor heating and hot water…

• Leo says:

  17 Mar17 March 12:26

  I was thinking of moving to E-ON but the Tesco points deal between them definitely ends this April is that right?
  Leo

  • Tina says:

    18 Mar18 March 13:11

    Yes 🙁

    You have until June to transfer them to BAEC

  • the real harry1 says:

    18 Mar18 March 18:17

    only a complete moron would still be with EON or move to them

• the real harry1 says:

  17 Mar17 March 19:15

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/17/theresa-may-reveals-government-preparing-step-control-energy/

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.