Initiative to help homes save on bills

HOUSEHOLDS can save up to €700 on annual utility bills by signing up to a new initiative which will negotiate lower prices.

Cut-price-deals for neighbourhoods are being sought for waste disposal, insurance, home heating oil, electricity and gas as part of the initiative.

UnitedWeSave.ie is asking people to sign up for the service online and when it has enough members in a certain area it will go to suppliers and negotiate lower prices.

It is currently offering savings on home heating oil and refuse charges on its website but plans on adding home insurance in the next week and electricity and gas in the next month.

It plans on bagging savings of around 8%-12% on electricity and gas, in addition to the many cut-price deals that are currently on offer. It expects savings of about 15% on home insurance. The company plans on adding telecoms to its service over the coming year, which will see them negotiate lowers prices on home phones and broadband.

Kerry-based company owner, David Slattery, formerly of Slattery Travel, said households could save about €50 on a fill of home heating oil and around €40 on refuse charges. He said an average house could have three or four fills of oil a year.

“We build up a group of homeowners in a certain area and negotiate with suppliers on that basis and are able to get commercial prices. Every household, whether it is a one-bedroom apartment or a 10-bedroom mansion, is looking at savings at the moment, particularly with another dreaded budget looming on the horizon.

“Household utilities are something that we all pay for and by joining together there are great savings to be had,” said Mr Slattery.

He said the idea for this business came to him at an annual barbecue in his own housing estate in Tralee, Co Kerry. He said as he chatted to friends and neighbours the topic of the economy kept coming up and what he was hearing, he said was utter frustration with everyone feeling like we had no control over the situation.

“I looked around me and thought, even in our small housing estate, we could take some control back, by grouping together on bills that are similar to all of us and bulk purchase.” he said.

* More information at www.UnitedWeSave.ie.