SWITCH/DON'T SWITCH... huh? (Has MSE cost you money?)

midflight

Am I missing something here?

All throughout the bitterly cold winter, when prices were sky high, Martin was saying "Don't switch, DON'T SWITCH!"... but now that prices have fallen very slightly, and the weather is getting milder, he's saying it's a 'perfect' time to switch. Surely anyone waiting until now would have lost money?

(i.e. paying top prices during high usage periods FAR outweighs any benefits to be gained by switching to the recently 'lowered' prices at this time of the year)

This guy certainly seems to agree...

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/household-bills/beware-of-energy-switching-advice-2442.aspx

...and even suggests the recent energy-price 'reductions' are nothing more than a sham...

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/household-bills/recent-energyprice-reductions-were-a-sham--3216.aspx

Interesting... :cool:

KimYeovil

If Martin told you to jump off a cliff... ?

1carminestocky

Anyone who has seen my posts will realise I'm no Martin apologist when it comes to this switching/capping/fixing malarky (I said at the time of his infamous gmtv appearance that IMO he was playing into the hands of the greedy energy industry and nothing that has happened since has caused me to change my views) but, to be fair, that article linked to is MotleyFool by another name and they seem to have been saying switch switch switch forever - whilst inviting people to use their own swiyching service which they no doubt earn mega bucks from. You really have to be careful out there...

The last article that journalist wrote on the subject was when feedback was allowed - and, boy, was their feedback. :eek:

Premier_2

This website is based on journalistic research. It does not constitute financial advice. Any information should be considered in regard to specific circumstances. All tips are followed at your own risk and should be followed up with your own research

:cool: .

johncolescarr

I'm afraid even Martin cannot get you a better deal than is offered on the market.

The whole point of switching energy provider is to get you the cheapest tariff available for your usage at that specific time.

Whole sale energy prices were higher in the winter, but there was an uncertain market and energy prices were set to fall as the whole sale price was predicted to fall, along with increasing pressure on energy providers to pass on cuts.

Now, if you switched in the winter, you may have got a cheaper tariff temporarily, but then the market would shift any you may well be on an expensive tariff relative to the others available.

Obviously, the most economic procedure is to switch all the time! But this is impractical. Therefore Martin tells us when there has been a change in the market so we can re-examine whether our provider/tariff is still the cheapest.

If you have re-evaluated your position before the winter, ie last time martin said "switch switch" then you should have been on the cheapest tariff anyway.

Perhaps the announcement should read "check check"

As for fixing your tariff price, this is simply a gamble. You are paying a premium to ensure that the price does not go up in the hope of saving money if the price does indeed go up. If you think that energy prices will rise, then many are happy to take this gamble. If it turns out you were worst off by fixing, you have simply lost your gamble, but this does not necessarily mean it was a bad idea to fix as it could have gone the other way. However, if you couldn't afford for your tariff to increase then you are protecting yourself and lowering your risk of getting court orders etc

This can be likened to the stock market. When you invest, you are doing so in the hope that your investment will increase in value, usually based on market research, insight, possibly if you are bullish gut instinct. If your investment drops, then tough luck, that was your gamble.

Ultimately, without a crystal ball there is no way of predicting these things.

midflight

If Martin told you to jump off a cliff... ?

I would do it, of course! Wouldn't you?

Oh, but he doesn't TELL us to do anything though, does he? I never claimed he did. No, he just advises us...

This website is based on journalistic research. It does not constitute financial advice. Any information should be considered in regard to specific circumstances. All tips are followed at your own risk and should be followed up with your own research

Oh, no - sorry, he doesn't even do that. Erm... what does he do, then?

Provides information? In order for us to make up our own minds, after doing our own research, and seeing what's best for us? Cool. I'm happy with that.

In that case, what's with all the articles that have headlines like this?

"Cheap Gas & Electricity: All big providers have cut prices. Switch Now!"

Fire_Fox

midflight wrote: »

I would do it, of course! Wouldn't you?

Oh, but he doesn't TELL us to do anything though, does he? I never claimed he did. No, he just advises us...

Oh, no - sorry, he doesn't even do that. Erm... what does he do, then?

Provides information? In order for us to make up our own minds, after doing our own research, and seeing what's best for us? Cool. I'm happy with that.

In that case, what's with all the articles that have headlines like this?

"Cheap Gas & Electricity: All big providers have cut prices. Switch Now!"

If you don't like the way MSE is run, buy a domain name and start a revolution. :rolleyes: The following paragraphs have been part of the article that you refer to for many months now:

"If you’ve never switched before
This means you’re using British/Scottish Gas for gas and your regional electricity company for electricity; in which case you can cut your bill by up to a massive 20% by switching. This is because, if you’ve not switched before, they know you’re willing to pay high prices without considering it and thus profit from your inertia.
If you have switched before
Here, savings are smaller, as you've already had the big ‘first switch' gain, yet you can still get around 10% off. As the cheapest supplier changes regularly, it’s worth comparing annually or after a major bout of price changes to see if it’s worth it."

Premier_2

midflight wrote: »

...In that case, what's with all the articles that have headlines like this?

"Cheap Gas & Electricity: All big providers have cut prices. Switch Now!"

It was an update to a previous headline along the lines of:

"Gas & Electricity: Some big providers have cut prices. Don't Switch!"

The idea behind that headline was that as some, but not all, companies had started to alter their prices, you could be mis-led into switching to one of the companies that had reduced prices, yet as the switch would take at least 4 weeks, by the time it occurred there could be a cheaper alternative as another company reduces it's prices.