Get charge and commission free heating oi quotes from HeatingOilshop.com who is the UK’s only #1 commission and surcharge free Heating Oil Site. It provides a simple, heating oil quote service. and brings your needs to local heating oil suppliers that service your postcode area.
The website listings we provide for each postcode area consist of two types of heating oil supplier. These range ranging from small family businesses to large multinational companies.
We do not include heating oil brokers or comparison sites like boilerjuice, heatingoil.co.uk or directoil.com. These online sites are owned by large heating oil suppliers. Our experience of these sites has been good but prices tend to be more expensive than using a distributor.
Independent Heating Oil Suppliers
As the name implies, independent oil suppliers are usually well established family owned businesses that vary in size. Some operate multi-supply depots and others a single depot or shared depot business. Many of these suppliers provide heating oil quotes to our customers from our website.
These suppliers pride themselves on good service, competitive prices and punctual deliveries. They are the mainstay of the heating oil business. We highly recommend supporting your local businesses wherever possible.
Most suppliers will also be members of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers.
Some supply large areas of the country and have a sizeable tanker fleet where others will have a smaller fleet and concentrate on serving the local community.
In general, the majority of these business will have supply contracts with either major UK oil producers, and buy “ex tank”, or on a “spot” basis. The smaller independents may have supply contracts with a larger distributor.
Most suppliers will provide a heating oil quote that will be valid for 24 -48 hours. They will hold the price for this period and until you firm your order. Seasonal operations will change as demand outstrips demand. Most distributors will supply their regular customers first.
Non Independent Heating Oil Suppliers
Non independent distributors whilst independent from oil producers are usually large corporate concerns who have over the years sucked up the smaller, local oil suppliers as well as larger ones.
They operate in much the same way as independent suppliers, but, because of their size, they can guarantee higher volumes to an oil producer and should command a better pricing structure from the producer.
Whilst they are not in business to control the market price, it is inevitable that they can influence local pricing purely because of the sheer volume of fuel passing through their business.
Some operate their companies by using locally acquired businesses and using retaining the company’s trading name and style, staff and delivery assets to maintain goodwill and customer loyalty.
Heating Oil Brokers
In short, brokers usually do not deliver fuel, own trucks or have fuel related assets. They arrange to supply through a local third party supplier at a price. The broker adds commission, which is usually a “pence per litre” rate on top also add a service charge. (Boilerjuice)
This usually makes heating oil much more expensive than the local rate unless you specify a cash payment. Brokerage fees can range up to 5ppl, dependant on supply and demand and the time of year. For instance, a brokerage fee of 3p per litre will add £27.00 to a 900 litre quote.
This is money you can ill afford to put into somebody else’s pocket, especially these days. However, a broker may be your only alternative if your credit rating is poor or you have left bad debts with other suppliers.
One major point about using a broker is that they cannot control delivery times or dates at any time and especially during the run up to Christmas and into the winter months. So why pay for the inconvenience of waiting for your fuel
At the end of the day, any add-ons no matter how small will soon escalate the price.
Please check out our piece on heating oil tanks. Every heating oil user must be aware of your legal obligations and costs associated with heating oil spills and leakages
