The Big 6 Rip Off.

Today we have hundreds of energy supply companies to chose from and are no longer at the mercy of the big 6 who've dominated the UK energy supply market with an overpriced product for so long.

The big 6 Energy suppliers are:

• E.on UK
• British Gas
• SSE
• EDF Energy
• npower
• Scottish Power

For years these massive companies have known that once we start with an energy supplier we rarely change to another one, we also do this with our banks, telephone and insurance companies.

Instead of rewarding customer loyalty, these companies have systematically increased prices above what is reasonable, knowing that our reluctance to switch means we will keep paying.

The big 6 are only interested in shareholder profits, and if it means unfair charges to long-standing customers and jacking up prices for no reason so be it, customer service had been replaced with customer rip off.

We have learned the hard way that long-term customer loyalty means nothing to these companies, we need to change our habits and look for better deals, even if it means switching to a different supplier every year.

Finally in October 2018, after many years of consumer complaints and every consumer group making representations the government are finally having an inquiry to see if these companies are behaving unfairly, spending £1000s of our tax money to verify what we've been complaining about for years.

What were they waiting for, MPs to offload their load shares in these shyster companies? Please excuse the mini rant but energy is not a luxury it is a necessity, ask any pensioner who has to make the hard winter choice of eating or heating. This needs sorting now!

The New Suppliers

Many smaller energy supply companies have sprung up and they all are promising money-saving packages, even Marks & Spencer are supplying energy now!

The deals the new small companies are offering look very tempting, but like everything else where money is concerned, take time to read the small print.

Like every other business sector, there are genuine companies who are out to make a difference and give consumers a better deal and there are the con artists and get rich quick merchants looking to make a quick buck off our efforts to save money.

Some of these new companies are very good and offer excellent service and highly competitive prices

Others ask for things we are wary of such as

• Non-refundable 'joining fees'
• Paying fixed amounts in advance.

We are also concerned about customer service from suppliers who have just a website you e-mail, with no contact phone number & address to send letters to, if they don't e-mail you back what do you do?

We have also had reports from suppliers who have double billed customers then refused a refund until legal action was taken.

There are some who once you join refuse point-blank to let you switch from them.

Our advice is that before you join any new energy supply company check the review sites, it is only by looking at other peoples experiences that you will find out who you can trust and who you cannot.

The Big 6 Response

As Millions of consumers are now prepared to switch from the big 6 in search of fairer deals the big boys are hitting back with a raft of new low tariff deals and are overhauling their customer service, surprisingly you may now find that a big 6 provider can give you the best service for your needs.

The fact the that they can match and even beat some of the low-cost providers while still making a decent profit is proof that for years we have been overcharged, but it now means that we can get a good rate from an established company with the structure to provide good service.

What to do Now

Go to the comparison sites, be careful some will push deals that pay them the highest commissions and not list the suppliers with the best deals for you.

This is why we recommend Energy Helpline, use them and note the energy-saving tariffs you prefer, then spend a few hours checking the online reviews for each company, let their customers tell you what you need to know about the company, customer service and costs.

Those few hours spent checking can save you hundreds of pounds and future problems.

You may not go for the cheapest tariff but are willing to pay a little more for the service you need, chose a plan that suits your needs and look very carefully before you commit yourself.

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The 3 step Insulation Fix

1. Stop heat being conducted away:

Do this by stopping your warm air and furniture from touching cold surfaces:

Cover any cold wall or floor with something that won't conduct heat easily. Use simple measures such as putting rugs on cold floors, using thermal lining wallpaper (£4.99 a roll from Wickes), draping heavy curtains over walls and outside doors.

More expensive options include getting cavity wall insulation, double glazing or putting non-heat conductive coverings on cold outside walls.

Lag pipes, hot ones to keep them warm, cold ones to stop them from cooling the warm air heating your home.

Lag the hot water cylinder if you have one and make sure the cold water tank is lagged too, not just to stop it freezing but to stop it sucking heat out of the air.

2. Stop your house losing warm air:

Insulate the attic: Warm air travels up if you have an attic your heating is going to be warming up the cold roof tiles and leaking out into the sky.

Insulating your loft prevents this, the thicker the better and remember to stick some over the inside of your loft door as well.

Stop those draughts: Check the gaps between your doors and the floor, if cold air is being sucked in, then warm air is being pumped out. Pin draught excluders to the bottoms of the doors.

Stop the gaps: Cover the letterbox and keyholes, if you can put up door curtains. Check around the window frames, the gaps between skirting & floors, even the gaps around the electric wall sockets. If you have a hearth you are not using then stop warm air escaping up it with a Chimney Balloon Kit.

Remember your house needs to breathe, you have to allow some air flow through it, but make sure it's ventilation you can control.

3. Stop your house radiating heat:

Notice how hot a greenhouse gets on a cold and sunny winters day? That's because glass lets the suns heat energy (infrared radiation) travel right through it. This warms up the stuff inside the greenhouse which in turn warms up the air in there.

This works the other way too, your heat energy will radiate out through windows. Next to the roof and poorly insulated walls your house will lose most heat through the windows, this is why we use double glazing (and now heat reflecting glass).

If you don't have double glazed windows and can't fit simple secondary double glazing, then get some thick curtains.

As you only need them for winter there is no need to spend too much on them, check out your local charity shops most will have loads of decent curtains at low prices.

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