[honeyend]

We moved house in December 2012, my husband swopped from British Gas to n-power because they supplied the old owner. We use very little gas as its a new well insulated home and I have been nagging my husband to see what are bills are, he pays by direct debit and hadn't got a clue.
 Well we got a paper bill on Friday and I was horrified to find out that we have been paying way over the odds to the tune of £700, they had put him on a standard tariff which is nearly 6p kw hr more for electricity,
  We also have a smallholding so I rechecked the rates there as well and could also make savings there even though I had swopped in October.
 So my advice would be check your rates on a regular basis and if you have family with no access to a computer get them to check theirs, if they are on standard rate they are paying far too much.

[Marches Farmer]

A lot of companies rely on "customer inertia" - we always shop around for electricity prices - watch the charges if you don't pay be direct debit, too.  These should be about £24 - they're not allowed to charge more than it actually costs them but some suppliers are charging way above this.

[RUSTYME]

I did , about 20 years ago .  I don't have ANY bills full stop now , just the paygo mobile , and it is getting close to that going atm .
I do realize that not everyone 'can' step off the merry go round , most don't want to , fair enough !