Smart meters mean you don’t have to manually submit meter readings anymore and your bill will be more accurate. You can also monitor your usage on the screen throughout the day and reduce consumption in real-time.
Your electricity usage will be reported every few seconds, and your gas usage every half an hour. The government have set a deadline for energy companies to provide all eligible customers with smart meters free of charge by 2020.
If you’re not able to get a smart meter just yet, sending regular meter readings is the best way to keep your bill accurate.
Utility Warehouse Bills
You can receive your bill through the post or email, and check them in the ‘Clubhouse’ (what Utility Warehouse call their online account). What your bill means and how it works is explained in a guide on the UW site too.
Utility Warehouse Warm Home Discount
Utility Warehouse was part of the 2017/18 Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme, which gives vulnerable people £140 towards their energy bills. For the latest information on UW's participation in the WHD scheme, see their relevant Utility Warehouse Warm Home Discount page.
Utility Warehouse App
The Clubhouse app is available on the App Store and Google Play Store, giving customers access to their energy, mobile, phone, and broadband accounts in one place. Utility Warehouse offer Cashback with 2000 retailers, so you can check your balance here too. There’s a separate app for Utility Warehouse Partners to help them bring new customers onboard.
410 Android users give the app 4.2/5 and 77 iPhone users give the app 3.5/5, though some people find it difficult to log in or found the app crashed regularly.
Switching To Utility Warehouse
Switching takes roughly 3 weeks, but because you’re switching your broadband and phone as well as your energy, it could involve more complications than usual depending on your existing providers and their rules/costs.
Moving Home With Utility Warehouse
Utility Warehouse stress that they want moving house to be as simple as possible, so they ask you let them know when you’re moving and they’ll “arrange the rest”.
As tariffs vary from region to region, and depending on what kind of home you live in and how your boiler functions, you might find the prices go up or down if you move to a different area if you stick with them.
Utility Warehouse Fuel Mix
Coal – 1.2% (8.5% UK average)
Gas – 90.1% (44.1%)
Nuclear – 1% (21.0%)
Renewable – 7.3% (24.2%)
Other – 0.4% (2.2%)
Utility Warehouse Feed-in Tariff
Utility Warehouse is a mandatory Feed-in Tariff (FIT) licensee. This means you can receive your FIT payments from them (as long as your system is MCS certified) if you are an Utility Warehouse customer or your current energy supplier is not a FIT licensee. You can learn more on their website.
Utility Warehouse In the News
Small-cap focus: retail energy minnows challenge the big six
3 Nov 2017, Financial Times
Utility Warehouse is listed as one of the “more successful challengers” of ‘The Big Six’ in terms of profit. The share price has increased by 5% since the start of the year and their base has grown to 2.3 million customers.
Roaming warning: ‘I was charged £8,000 for 40 minutes’ data in Europe’
27 Oct 2017, Money Saving Expert
A warning from MSE to those using Utility Warehouse as their mobile data provider. A British woman on holiday accidentally connected to a mobile network in Greece and was charged £8,000 for 40 minutes of usage. Utility Warehouse responded on 3 Nov 2017 to say they believed the customer was in Turkey, hence the high costs.
Ofgem names and shames utilities giants for treatment of indebted customers
17 Oct 2017, Credit Strategy
Some energy companies have been outed for letting vulnerable “customers accrue £800 of debt in unpaid bills” before helping them with a repayment plan, and Utility Warehouse is listed as one of them.
Get rich quick? Not with Utility Warehouse
8 July 2017, The Guardian
A summary of how profitable Utility Warehouse is for its partners. According to the Guardian, “the average amount being earned appears to be less than £10 a week”, despite Utility Warehouse’s promotional material saying earnings could be “life-changing”.
Utility Warehouse Complaints
Overall, the reviews are pretty good across the different sites, particularly Trustpilot (67% of reviews are ‘Excellent’) and Which?
The majority of negative reviews involve switching, moving home and getting set up, and though Utility Warehouse do respond, it’s mainly out of courtesy.
On their website, Utility Warehouse are aiming “to be the Nation’s Most Trusted Utility Supplier”, but they haven’t published any complaints reports, so that’s difficult to prove.
Contact Phone Numbers & Email
Phone: 0333 777 3 212 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5:30pm. Sat 9am-4:30pm)
Email: You can message Utility Warehouse using this form.
Utility Warehouse Address
Utility Warehouse, Network HQ, 508 Edgware Road, The Hyde, London, NW9 5AB
Website: https://uw.co.uk/
Utility Warehouse Summary
Theirs is an unusual model, but it’s a winner for many of their customers and the reviews seem to prove it. Price-wise, Utility Warehouse are quite affordable, particularly if you want to combine your broadband and phone costs with your energy. The majority of reviewers are pleased, but a few voices find the switching process difficult.
Pros:
- Cheaper than ‘The Big Six’.
- App offers many advanced features.
- Reviews are positive overall.
Cons:
- Only suits customers interested in switching broadband and phone suppliers as well as energy.
- Only two tariffs to choose from and they’re very similar.
- Becoming a partner doesn’t sound like a big earner.
