Considering a switch to Electric Ireland

Cherrycola

Hi

Im thinking about moving my gas and electricity to Electric Ireland, and was wondering about the direct debit option. I am a previous customer of ESB so if i choose NOT to pay by DD am i excused from any security deposit? And do i still qualify for the reduced rates or am i subject to the standard price plan?

And what are the advantages of paying by DD? ie discounts?

And will both my electricity and gas be billed as one at the same time, so any DD would come out in one lump sum, as opposed to my current bills which are spaced a month apart ie gas one month, electricity the next.

Thanks

EI: Una

Hi Cherrycola,

You can indeed avail of discounts if you switch to Electric Ireland, whether you are a former customer or not. Direct debit is mandatory though - this gives the customer a discount of 4% on each fuel. There is also a 2% discount available on each fuel for online billing. And there is the Dual Fuel discount of 3% and an additional discount of 5%, both of which are applied to the one fuel of the customer's choosing (just to advise: this cannot be changed to the other fuel down the line).
Note: this price plan is a contract and expires on 30th September 2013. Should a customer elect to change provider prior to this date, they would be charged an exit fee of €50.

The electricity and gas bills do not come out at the same time - each fuel has its own account number. This is due to meter readings for electricity and gas being carried out at different times by different organisations (electricity - ESB Networks; gas - Bord Gáis Networks).

Do let me know if you would like further assistance.

Regards,
Una

Cherrycola

Thanks for you reply.

So to clarify,if i want the discounted rate i must pay by DD, however there is a an option not to pay by dd but it means i will be on a standard price plan? Or are you saying Electric Ireland will only except payment by DD on any price plan?

Also once my years contract is up, do the discounts cease? what price plan would i switch to then and whats the incentive not to move to another supplier offering discounts?

Thanks

EI: Una

Hi again Cherrycola.

It is correct that if you switch to Electric Ireland and do not sign up for direct debit, you will be unable to avail of our discount price-plans.
It is possible to make pre-paid instalments on a direct debit account though (via paperless methods - online banking, paying by debit card on our website) in advance of the bill, in order to reduce the eventual total automatically debited.

When the contract expires on 30th September 2013, yes, the discounts cease. The customer can contact us to have a new price plan applied. At this stage, we do not know yet what the specifics of price plans will be by then.

Bonkers.ie enables the customer to carry out a detailed supplier comparison tailored to their specific wants here.

All the best,
Una

Cherrycola

Thanks, very helpful.

just one more thing, im in a rented house which is for sale, so should the house sell in the next 12mths and i have to move out, what happens with my account? can i move it to a new address without any penalties?

Cherrycola

Oh and are there any differences between signing up online or over the phone? as in, do you offer different discounts over the phone?

EI: Una

No problem Cherrycola!

Moving address makes no difference - no penalties or effects on discounts, and yes, it is simply a matter of transferring the account to the new address and updating.

No difference either in discounts whether a customer makes the switch online or via telephone. Here is the link to commence switching to Dual Fuel.

Do let me know if you require any further info/assistance.

All the best,
Una

Cherrycola

Thanks, youve sold it to me. I will be making the switch today.

EI: Una

No problem - happy to help!

It will take a few weeks to receive the documentation in the post, but the switch will be processed before then. If you wish, drop me a private message at some stage with your name, address, MPRN/GPRN (meter/gas point references) and telephone number and I can check whether the account numbers have generated - and pass them on to you to enable you set up online billing.

All the best
Una