Would you like to save money on your heating oil?
West of England Rural Network has set up, in partnership with a number of neighbouring rural community councils, a bulk oil buying scheme to help people in our area to save money on the cost of heating oil. We do this by combining orders from all over our area and placing a bulk order each month at the lowest available price from all suppliers, negotiated by our expert in domestic oil prices.
How can I make savings on my oil bill?
By joining our bulk oil buying scheme, you can download an application form here, or ask for a copy to be sent by post. There is an annual fee of £20 for householders (£30 for community organisations, £100 for businesses). The average saving for a 1,000 litre order is about £50, so you could easily recover your membership fee with your first order. The minimum order is just 500 litres so you can start making savings right away.
How does it work?
Every month your local co-ordinator will ask you (by email for most members) if you need heating oil this month. You then let your co-ordinator know if you wish to place an order. Your local co-ordinators pass on the orders to us and we negotiate the best price from all the suppliers. Because we are buying for a large number of customers, we can negotiate hard on the members’ behalf.
Once we have negotiated the price, we let you know approximately when the delivery will be, who the supplier is and how much your delivery will cost. The supplier then contacts you directly with a firm date, your oil is delivered and you pay the supplier at the price agreed by us.
How much can I save?
Oil prices vary month to month, day to day and even hour to hour. Our heating oil price expert is watching wholesale prices at all times and places each monthly order at the optimum moment to secure the best possible price. Savings each month will vary, similar schemes in our neighbouring counties have achieved an average saving of £50 against the average oil price for 1000 litres and a whopping £120 compared with the highest oil prices quoted. Just for comparision, here are the oil prices acheived by a similar scheme in Oxfordshire in January:
Member price (kerosene): 54.8p per litre
Highest price quoted by a supplier: 70p per litre
Average price quoted by suppliers: 61.5p per litre
(All prices +5% VAT)
Any Questions?
Check out our frequently ask questions page, take a look at our oil buying scheme membership brochure, send an email to oil@wern.org.uk or call us on 01275 333701.