Prepay & SmartPay Plans Open in May Annually
Great home heating service plans from Oehlert Brothers!
The price of heating oil can be unpredictable – but that doesn’t mean your monthly heating bills have to be. With the Prepay and SmartPay programs from Oehlert Brothers, you’ll be protected from unwanted surprises on your monthly bill – and from rising and falling oil prices. Find out more, below.
Benefits of SmartPay include:
- More predictable and manageable bills – With SmartPay, your total cost of fuel for the year is spread out over twelve equal monthly payments.
- Price cap protection – A price cap puts a limit on how high your fuel price can rise in a given period.
- Downside protection – If the daily market price drops below your cap price between May 1 and April 30, you’ll pay the lower price, guaranteed.
How a Price Cap Program works
- A price cap program like SmartPay sets a ceiling for the cost of your oil, which limits how much the price can rise – but not how far it can fall.
- Like all heating oil suppliers, we charge a fee for this service. That’s because to offer a price cap, we have to buy insurance from our suppliers in case the market price drops.
- The global oil market has been volatile in recent years, so the cost of this insurance has increased dramatically. To continue to offer a price cap option, we must pass along a “hedging fee” to cover the cost of insurance. We do not profit from this fee.
- This hedging fee is invoiced to your account in May, but is paid for as part of your monthly bill for convenience.
- Despite the required fee, you can still save a lot with a price cap!
Enjoy price protection with our Prepay Program
Did you know that paying for your fuel in advance could potentially save a bundle on your heating bill – with limited risk to you? Each summer, when you purchase your oil from Oehlert Brothers in advance, you lock in a preseason rate that guarantees that your price will not go up during the winter, no matter what happens in world oil markets. Since preseason prices are usually more favorable than in-season prices (when demand is higher and supply is lower), you could save substantial money by paying for your fuel in advance. If prices go up, your price won’t!
How the heating oil Prepay Program works
- You make a single payment upfront, specifying the number of gallons you want to buy. Prices are usually lower early in the season before demand increases, so locking in a price early is usually – but not always – an advantage.
- Rising prices do not affect your bill, since you’ve prepaid for your oil.
Choose the program that works best for you
- The downside to prepaying is that if you order too little oil, you must pay market prices for additional oil for the rest of the season. If you want the benefits of price protection but don’t want to prepay, our SmartPay program may be the better choice for you.
Take control of your home heating oil bills
Oehlert Brothers Inc. proudly serves Limerick, Berks County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Eagleville, Pottstown, Phoenixville, Norristown, Oaks, Royersford, Schwenksville and Trappe, PA.
Contact us today to take advantage of our Prepay Program and start saving on your home heating oil bills. We can’t wait for you to join the Oehlert Brothers Family!
