@chris-in-kemnay thanks for the reply and yes it is a little unfair with the additional costs especially when they talk about a National Grid but obviously not a fair grid !. I love Lochinver, I’d been looking for years for just the right place in the highlands and it is just perfect, the people are amazing and the scenery is just beyond brilliant. I know there are two charging units in the car park near the village hall. The EV is a definite its just deciding what to get. (I’m into my motorbikes so maybe a get an electric one). If you visited last year you may have seen the large red house on the other side of the small bridge 🙂 thats my view point 🙂 

I'm currently with Symbio at 10.88p per kWh locked in till December this year.

I've just seen that Orbit Energy are currently offering 11.9p if someone needs a new supplier (I don't have any experience or info about them).

As long as Symbio keep my rate low and I get my meter readings in on time I will be sticking with them (unless they go under).

Hi Everyone,

At the moment I am looking for a new gas and electricity supplier and had a look at Symbio after it was mentioned in the forum.

I also did a search for customer reviews and I'm afraid there are many that are not very complimentary as per the example below.

@Derek-m, the reviews are correct; Symbio has a terrible reputation. But - if you opt for their variable DD, as long as you submit meter readings regularly, on the last day of the month, the worst that will normally happen is they will overcharge you for the coming month based on their 'estimate' and it the next month reconcile based on your reading of the previous month.  Most of the angst is because people don't understand what they are doing or don't submit meter readings.  You can also opt for a fixed DD, where it works more like a 'normal' supplier, where they adjust it periodically according to seasons.  The also make mistakes, seemingly make it awkward when you want to leave and are in trouble with Ofgem.  It's up to you to decide whether the savings are worth it; for me they were.  I wouldn't recommend Symbio to a 'novice' user though; you need to be on the ball with your readings and understand utilities billing.

I've never had to use their customer services but they can't possibly be worse than British Gas based on my experience. 

Octopus normally get good reviews but (for me anyway) they were much more expensive.

Hi Kev,

Thanks for the info.

I have decided to go with Avro, who have good reviews, and quite reasonable tariffs. In fact we should end up paying approximately the same as we did for the past year, even though all the firms have been increasing their prices. 

I have been with Symbio since August 2020 and after 9 bills the difference in actual usage and what they have billed me is £7 (this is with £3,590 worth of electricity).

I am on the variable direct debit and as long as I provide a reading at the end of each month my bill/direct debit is accurate. I think the majority of bad reviews are when people use the fixed direct debit where it can take months to balance out and they don't reply quickly to emails trying to settle this.

At 10.9p per kwh I can't complain and will continue to use them if they keep offering me these fantastic tarrifs. We use a lot of electricity 35,000+ kwh a year so having it this cheap makes a big difference to us. 

Hi George,

I am pleased that you a satisfied Symbio customer, it is always a problem reading reviews, in that it is more often dissatisfied, rather than satisfied, customers who write them.

We are fortunate in that the price is only one of the deciding factors, since we only import approximately 1500 kWh each year. 

We’ve been with Symbio since November (George suggested we check them out) and it’s been ok so far, but we’ve not had any interaction with them. If their prices remain low, that’s our main incentive to stay with them, given we’re on course to exceed 15,000kWh this year, so every pence counts.

As an additional point, there’s a certain level of irony that Symbio, who’s customer service is non-existent, do more to retain their customers than customer-centric providers who raise their tariffs by 20% at the end of a contract forcing you to jump ship.

@siko, the nighttime tariff, but the 18p daytime tariff is steep. For our house, we’ve found that anything over 15p starts to become really pricey.

@siko, you can do a lot better than that.  Octopus are not the cheapest. A quick look using a random Shropshire postcode suggests 12.4/9.7 day/night or a single rate of about 12.  Work out your day/night usage and use the CAB price tool (it's whole of market).  And you don't need to wait until you get an ASHP. 

We had storage heaters/immersion/solid fuel before the ASHP and (so far) it's cheaper and much better.

https://energycompare.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Peoples Energy with a 2 year fix 17p for electricity and 2.9p for gas.

Massive price rises look like they will be coming due to Brexit.