Is Martin making things worse?

jay_w_uk

His OTT antics on GMTV etc are panicking people and removing their ability to think rationally and calmly. I'm a fairly savvy chap and even I was rushed into capping without realising it has actually increased my bills. I'll only win if prices go up by about 30%.

The problem is that all this panic is creating a false market, ie providers changing their capped prices when they realise that's what we're all doing. In addition, surely it lessens the likelihood of a provider doing what supermarkets have done and starting a capped price war in a few months (as they'll have fixed us all in already!).

Martin has done wonders, but I'm pig sick of all this scaremongering.

sarah1980

My point exactly Jay! Well said! I don't understand why it's called "capped" either, does this mean when their wholesale prices go down they will pass this on to the consumer? I think not!

DGJsaver

I agree and have posted as much , the energy companies are loving all this panic

My missus had a day off when he was on GMTV and she even phoned me in panic after seeing it !! and she knows NOTHING about all this and cares even less !

PeteHi

My thoughts exactly. They should rename this place 'The Panic Forums'.

I didn't watch the TV programmes in question, and I'd be concerned about unqualified people giving advice on anything.

Saving money on your bus-pass, recliaming bank charges and encouraging people to turn the lights off is one thing, but scaremongering and showing families with young children being being evicted from their homes does nothing to help the situation, aside from raise ones own profile and create panic.

jay_w_uk

sarah1980 wrote: »

My point exactly Jay! Well said! I don't understand why it's called "capped" either, does this mean when their wholesale prices go down they will pass this on to the consumer? I think not!

Interestingly, E-ons site says they won't go above the quoted price, but only that they COULD come down if their standard ones do.

I'm just getting suspicious now. People with bags of money pretending they care about saving it? I remember Noel Gallagher saying something about how he couldn't justify writing songs about being skint and taking drugs when he didnt do it anymore...

jacksons_mum

buy WHY is Martin doing this? i would usually take any advise he gives but this one has got me confused. why would be so admant that we should all cap if it isnt the right thing to do - surely he knows what he is talking about? do you think he is on commission from the energy companies?!

jay_w_uk

Not for me to say. But I doubt he earns his living purely from tv and radio appearances.

No1Joker

I guess i am in exactly the same state of confusion as everyone else. Usually Martin gives some pretty strong counter arguments about making sure it's right for you etc.
I haven't seen the TV show but i have read the email and there are splatterings of hysteric panic.

Electricity companies are not idiots, they must monitor this place like hawks and yet for some reason, they are happy to keep these ""Bargain"" capped deals on offer. It's almost like they are throwing money at customers!!

A capped deal is 30% more than my tariff, prices are expected to go up 30-40% (Experts suggest). My down side is maybe 10%. I'm happy to take the risk. I hope this doesn't alienate Martin too much.

jay_w_uk

Advice is fine, and it's normally well balanced. But some bloke screaming at me to cap is something I don't appreciate. It's like thos bad timeshare salesmen you see on watchdog. He seems to have become more forceful and patronising, I saw him (again on GMTV) almost telling off a couple for not dealing with the credit crunch when they already shopped at Lidl, paid credit cards off first, used tea bags three times etc. Ok that last one was made up ;-). Just seems less credible now that we see him everywhere and he's obviously raking it in.

He is a writer, and knows how to use certain words to get a reaction. He certainly doesnt need to shout, which he is doing more and more. And as this very site says he used to be a city spin doctor - so how much can we trust him?

AMILLIONDOLLARS

The reasons why I switched/capped with EOn were

1. with EDF prices had increased
2. E-On were offering extra 6% off annual bill if you paid by direct debt EDF were only knocking off £2.10 per quarter
3. No tie-in, cancellation charges.
4. If prices fell they would do the same (remains to be seen by how much if this does happen!!)

Each person should take into account what they want to achieve with switching before doing so, in a sentence, do your sums, if its worth it, do it, if not, leave well alone until the next price hike!!!

AMD

WestonDave

My view is that Martin may well have got this one wrong. Forward prices (which is what these capped rates are technically called) generally factor in expected price changes - in times of rising interest rates, fixed mortgage rates are usually higher than variable rates for example. Big companies employ very clever analysts to try to predict the way the market is going to go and set those forward prices accordingly and frankly they are more likely to get it right than Martin as that is what they spend all day doing. At the moment on my area and spend for dual fuel, the best capped deal is factoring a 30% rise over the best spot deal. 3 things fall out of that. Firstly if prices generally rise by less than 30% I would be better off not capping. Secondly if prices rise by 30% but don't do so for a week or so then I am better off not capping (if they rise by 40% but not immediately I could still be better off not capping depending on the exact delay), and thirdly if spot rates come down again after Christmas as they traditionally do, then that impacts on the balance depending on whether you can drop out of the capped rates without penalties that would remove the savings.

For budgeting purposes capped rates are clearly best as it makes life more predictable, for outright savings then it is as much a gamble to cap as to not. As has already been stated the more people that cap now and start paying over inflated prices and build the "warchest", the longer the suppliers can hold out before raising spot rates or alternatively the lower the rise in spot rates can be. I'm not capping, and I will wait to see how long it is before we see all the big 6 increase and whether any of them hit the much warned of 40%.