BetterBills.net :- A Brief History.

BetterBills.net was set up as an online service to inform and encourage UK energy consumers to switch their current gas , electricity , telephone and broadband provision to one of the many new lost cost suppliers currently available in the UK.

Not since the deregulation of the energy industries under Mrs Thatcher in the 1990’s has it been as easy to choose who you want to supply your utilities rather than being forced to go to one source or another. With this choice come competition and with competition comes lower prices and the promise of a better service. For many years the utility companies have rested on their laurels earning the name of “fat cats”, turning a blind eye to their customer needs and necessary investment instead concentrating on profits above all else.

The same story has already happened in the UK Airline industry with the new low cost carriers like Easyjet , Ryan Air and Monarch marching forward and grabbing the market share away from the more traditional airlines such as British Airways. This new breed of carrier runs a leaner, healthier, more customer orientated business, offering many of the same routes as the traditional airlines but at a much lower price. These new companies make a healthy profit, their customer service is normally first class and they market themselves online rather than via costly intermediaries like travel agents

The difference between air travel and gas for example is that gas is gas. The product you get after swapping to a new low cost provider is exactly the same as it was before, the only change is the price you pay and savings can be as much as 35%. The new gas flows along the same pipes into the same meter. Often you can change provider on line , no one needs to call to the house and the whole process only takes a couple of weeks or so. It’s the same with telephone , broadband and electricity.

The people behind better bills have been in the utility industry since the early 1980’s setting up and running successful companies supplying telephone lines to the business community as well as developing a chain of mobile phone shops with prestigious clients such as many London Borough Councils , Customs and Excise and the Post office.

If you want more information on how to change your supplier just click HERE.

How change your Gas and Electricity supplier

To swap your gas and electricity supplier is simple and should take only a few moments to complete. Please see below for our guide and tips.

Finding the best deal on your Gas and Electricity Provider

• Gather together your last three or four gas and electricity bills together. Quickly add up the total you have spent or work out how many units of gas and units of electricity you have used.
• Important Tip – Use a winter and a summer bills so you have a good balanced average of your energy usage.
• Look to see how you pay your bill, remember that monthly direct debit this is the cheapest way to pay your gas and electricity bills, savings can be as much as £20 a month.
• Consider the following when changing your supplier.

• Price; if you are swapping energy providers to save money then this is fundamental of course. You want to find for a supplier that is cheaper than your current one and if possible go for the biggest savings. Recent findings for the influential Which? Magazine, one of the biggest independent product review companies in the world, recommended the Utility Warehouse as their overall Best Buy winner.
• You should also research the Customer Service Ratings for your choice of energy supplier as some UK energy suppliers have better/worse customer service ratings than others. Customer service ratings are derived from aggregating the statistics collected by Consumer Focus. http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk. Again The Utility Warehouse triumphed as top dog here to with almost twice the positive customer ratings of some of the biggest providers.
• Ensure your new provider has an Online Account Facility. Only some of the UK’s energy suppliers have this. It’s a great asset , allowing you to manage your account over the Internet , submit meter readings and get paperless billing if you wish.
• Remember that if you have a prepayment meter you will need to get your existing supplier to physically change the meter before you can swap. It should not cost you anything to do and will only take an hour if that.  Prepayment meters are the most expensive type of way to pay for your gas and electricity so get off this type of provision as soon as you can.

Once you have chosen who you want to supply you the following is a guide to what to do next:

• You will need you mpan and mprn numbers. They might sound a bit odd but these are the numbers the new energy supplier will need to know where to send the gas and electricity to. These can be found on your bill and often on the meter. Your new supplier will need your bank details for the direct debit.
• If you have chosen to manage your account online ensure you have an email address to be able to log into the supplier.

What to do after you have switched Energy Supplier

Once you have completed one of our online forms to change your gas and electricity supplier there are a few simple things you can do to ensure it all goes smoothly:

• First be aware of your rights to cancel and change you mind. Under UK regulation you have ONE FULL WEEK to change your mind from the date of your application so you have 100% peace of mind.
• When you get the confirmation of when your new supply will start, ensure you take meter readings so you can give these to both your old and new gas and electricity suppliers. This ensures you only pay for the power you have used. Its simple to do
• Pay your outstanding gas and electricity bills when the final bill arrived remembering to check the reading on the statement against your own records. If you have overpaid during your time with your current energy supply you will get this money back.

Lots of people have contacted us regarding reading their meter and we decided to provide this short video to explain what all those numbers and dials mean. Just click on the link below