iSelect Electricity: Not the Cheapest

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Exhausted with overpaying for my electricity, I finally decided to take things into my hands and find an electricity provider that will save me some moolah! I thought iSelect electricity might be worth trying.

I’m currently using AGL for my energy needs so I decided to look at what was out there. With nearly 50 providers to choose from in Victoria, and each of those offering countless plans I decided to opt for an electricity comparison services. Pretty obvious, eh?

ISelect Electricity – worth a try

I chose iSelect electricity first. It is legit the most used comparison service all over Australia.

iSelect compare electricity using a pretty painless and straightforward process. In the first stage a Customer Service officer asked which State that I was calling from. The next sales person took my address and NMI, the code for my account. I said I live in Cranbourne, and he explained that prices varied depending on which area you lived.

After, a brief “electricity” talk, he narrated the iSelect terms and conditions to me and pretty much made the following things clear. iSelect:

• DOES NOT compare all available providers but comes up with a cheaper plan.
• ONLY choose from its partner energy companies who pay a sales commission for electricity customers.

I’d heard that iSelect get paid about $150 for switching an electricity customer, so I was worried that they might not be giving me the cheapest electricity price for my area.

ISelect offered 2 electricity choices

In under 5 minutes, iSelect came up with 2 suggestions.

The first involved joining NRMA Blue at a cost of $5/month. NRMA Blue offers discounts on a range of services similar to those offered by other motoring clubs. It looks like Simply Energy have partnered with NRMA after their partnership with RACV was terminated. My friend had been burnt by Simply Energy before, so I wasn’t about to repeat his experience!
It’s a similar story in QLD with Simply Energy and RACQ.

Their other suggestion was simpler, so it was more tempting, although It was from a Company I’d never used before. ISelect assured me that all Energy Companies had to meet the same onerous licence conditions, so it should be fine. Their recommendation was also delivered straight to my inbox in those 5 minutes.

ISelect electricity partners

I checked iSelect’s website. The electricity options for home customers are: AGL and its subsidiary PowerDirect, Origin, Momentum, EnergyAustralia, sister providers Lumo and Red Energy and NRG, which focuses mainly on business customers. It’s really only a small sample of the nearly 50 electricity providers in Victoria. ISelect also reveal that not all plans from each provider are available through ISelect. I found out later that Momentum for example currently don’t offer their cheapest price via ISelect.

But I wanted the Cheapest Electricity

I was a bit wary and I wanted to check up on ISelect electricity prices. Moreover, I needed another perspective. I needed the CHEAPEST electricity plan. I also heard that ISelect were fined for misleading customers.

My finances are always a bit of a struggle, which made it imperative for me to not spend anything extra on energy.

After some searching online I discovered a personalised and simple energy comparison service called Energy Umpire.

Unlike other services, Energy Umpire is not associated with any Energy company thus helping me with a bias free comparison. 

After uploading my latest bill to Energy Umpire, I got an instant and Free Comparison report online, confirmed instantly by email! I was impressed that they put my savings in writing too.

The Savings I could make

Below are comparison details of Annual Savings with between my current plan (with AGL) and iSelect’s plan and Energy Umpire’s plan.

Using Energy Umpire’s recommended electricity provider and saving over $220 annually was the way to go. I was amazed to find that Energy Umpire also switched me to the cheapest gas provider.

More than happy to answer any questions, my switch was completely guided by a very helpful Katie. Energy Umpire also checked the counter offer from AGL.

Then came the clincher: If another supplier becomes the cheapest in the future, Energy Umpire helps me to get switched to the cheaper provider.

The cost was minimal. I get access to savings reports on every bill and switch instructions when needed, all for a price of just $10 which includes personalised advice for 3 months to make sure my switch is completed properly and any counter offer is checked. Alternatively I could choose the $15 plan which covers a full year of subscription to the Basic Energy Umpire Service (learn more about our services).

You should try it.

Thank You Energy Umpire!