Category	Date	Subject
Car Warranty	11/07	Warranty Cover Price Doubles at Franchised Dealers
Car Warranty	11/07	Over 1 Million Cars Will Break Down Just Outside of Warranty
Debt & Motgages	11/07	The Credit Crunch
Car Warranty	11/07	North South Divide as Garage Charges Top £183 an Hour
Energy	11/07	Avoid the Winter Bill Chill
Energy	10/07	Top 10 Tips for Saving Money on Energy
Prepaid Cards	10/07	ABC’s of Prepaid Cards
Energy	10/07	Barriers to Switching Energy Supplier
Credit	10/07	Consumer Credit Crunch
Energy	10/07	Consumer Prices are Standing Still – Why?
Energy	10/07	Lock in Savings Before the Winter.
Energy	10/07	Why do I Have a Paper Bill? 10 Reasons why you Shouldn’t.

Articles supplied by Xelecta plc, Warranty Direct Ltd and Brightside Plc

Avoid the Winter Bill Chill

Now that the clocks have gone back and the temperatures dropping, one thing is for certain: winter bills are upon us. And we’re not just talking about the cost of forking out for another Christmas. Keeping our homes nice and cosy during the winter months means turning up the thermostat and that can cost dearly.

Well, that is unless you heed our feisty tips:

Lock in the savings: Switching energy supplier is a superb way of combining big savings with creating an accurate record of your energy consumption in the run-up to winter. Average savings from switching supplier currently stand at £162 per year, and because an actual meter reading record is created during the switchover, your consumption will be recorded when your new supply goes live.

But how does switching protect me from price increases, we hear you ask? Well luckily, one supplier currently offers a “Fixed Price 2008” tariff, which combines a very attractive price for your gas and electricity, with a promise not to raise these rates until November 30th 2008. That’s a whole year of not worrying about price increases! But to get this particular deal you do need to hurry and visit our impartial comparison service – as winter draws nearer this particular deal will be withdrawn, so will be strictly first come first served.

You can review this and other offers on our simple to use and energywatch-approved gas and electricity cost comparison calculator.

Guard your cash flow: If you are paying by monthly Direct Debit and don’t call in regular meter readings to your energy supplier, chances are that your supplier is billing against an estimate of your energy consumption. Your Direct Debit payments might therefore reflect your actual consumption from the summer months when you were using less energy, and not cover your actual winter consumption.

Underpaying for your energy now means that you could end up owing your supplier a significant chunk of money (up to £200 given the seasonal variation in energy usage) by the end of the winter. Since many of us will be struggling to repay our Christmas debts by that time as well, it is recommended that you read your meter on a regular basis during the winter months and to call these readings in to make sure that you pay for what you use at all times (see our list of energy supplier phone numbers below, which you will also find on your latest bill).

Still not convinced? Consider this: There is a strong likelihood of renewed energy price hikes this winter in the UK. European consumers on the continent have already been hit with price increase announcements over the past month.

If you find out that you owe your supplier money after a price increase has come through, you will be paying for this debt on the newly inflated rates, even though you might have consumed the energy before a price increase came into effect.

So go on and call in that meter reading to your energy supplier now.

Energy supplier contact telephone numbers:

Atlantic Electric and Gas: 0845 678 0055
British Gas: 0845 955 5200
EDF Energy: 0800 096 2270
npower: 08457 145 146
Powergen: 0800 052 0351
ScottishPower: 0845 2700 700
Scottish Hydro Electric: 0845 300 2141
Southern Electric: 0845 7444 555
SWALEC: 0800 052 5252