Gloria Hunniford has been an Electric Ireland customer for fifteen years, and she wants everyone to know how the supplier has managed to keep her so happy for so long.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Gloria yesterday and I kicked off our conversation by asking her for her top savings tips for 2017.

Savings tips for 2017

Gloria is a woman bursting with wisdom and wit and, across our wide-ranging conversation, she shared the following top tips for energy customers this year:

• Ditch your energy-sapping appliances – Gloria told me a story of a friend of hers who kept a gigantic fridge in his shed but only filled one shelf. By getting rid of this greedy energy guzzler, he managed to shave a decent chunk off his bills.
• Watch your T&Cs – Gloria also urged customers to carefully read the terms and conditions on their energy price plans and to keep a particular eye out for discount expiry dates. The majority of unit rate discounts expire after 12 months, and customers are then quietly bumped onto expensive standard rates. Every 12 months, customers should seek a strong retention offer or switch suppliers!
• Spring clean your subscriptions – when’s the last time you went through your current account statement? The chances are, there are some legacy subscriptions in there that you’re still passively paying for, despite no longer needing the service. In our conversation, Gloria preached the advantages of regular subscription service spring cleaning.

Electric Ireland’s loyalty deals

Gloria has been an Electric Ireland customer for over fifteen years and she told me that the key to her staying happy for all these years has been the “long-term value and loyalty” she has received from her supplier.

Last May, Electric Ireland announced an 8.5% loyalty discount for all existing dual fuel customers who sign up for direct debit and ebilling, which amounts to a saving of €141 a year for those with average consumption.

If you’re an Electric Ireland customer on standard rates and already have direct debit and ebilling in place, you can get the 8.5% discount too. And if you only get one fuel from Electric Ireland, you aren't left out - you can get a 5.5% loyalty discount.

Shopping around

At bonkers.ie, we’re passionate about helping customers to find the energy deal that’s best for them and it was great to hear just how happy Gloria is with Electric Ireland.

With retention offers and new customer discounts more competitive than ever, nobody should be paying standard rates for their gas and electricity these days.

If you are, you should make it your mission to compare the market and switch suppliers – it’s still the best way to get the very biggest savings. In fact, there’s a whopping €402 to be saved by average customers who switch today.