nPower Price Rise Again

Stormy

Cardew wrote:

When will 'this round be over?'

The truth is we are in an era of leapfrogging price rises by all the companies. Those that delay their increases do so in order to persuade people to change to their company and once the customer is ‘captured’ they tend not to bother changing again.

Or, if they do not delay increases, they make lower increases than the others and then increase them by a further amount a few weeks later. Which is exactly what NPower have done.

There is not a company that has consistently provided the best value.

This is what really pisses me off, you have people from uswitch saying "switch, switch" etc. But the Utility companies seem to be able to raise prices whenever they feel like it, so there by removing consumer power completely, I am with Npower standard at the moment because my new house is being renovated and I have not moved in yet. But Npower standard prices are really a complete rip off now.

I have been looking at Equigas for ages, but they still have not raised their prices yet. I am not convinced there will ever be a good time to change, especially with companies like Npower raising prices every 12 weeks, it makes a complete mockery of switching.

Mike

lisyloo

When will 'this round be over?'

I don't KNOW for sure but if it all goes quiet after 2 price rises per company then that's good enough for me.
I am not saying that you can KNOW. What I am saying is that you can make a reasonable guess.
I guessed that Npower would put up their prices because everyone else has done it twice recently and Npower have done it once.
This is an example of the reasonable guesswork I'm talking about.

Most companies have put up their prices twice recently.
anyone that hasn't will probably do so soon.

If it goes quiet for a while after 2 price rises per company and the switch sites are updated then I think personally that this would be a good time to switch.

Of course everyone is at liberty to make their own decisions.
I just don't see the point in switching whilst there is a reasonable chance the prices at your new company will have gone up by the time you get there.

The truth is we are in an era of leapfrogging price rises by all the companies. Those that delay their increases do so in order to persuade people to change to their company and once the customer is ‘captured’ they tend not to bother changing again.

So what do you suggest. Switching every 6 weeks and finding that the prices have gone up by the time your switch comes through?
Are utilities a huge proportion of your outgoings?
Most people would do better by concentrating their attention on their mortgage (not everyone but most).

There is not a company that has consistently provided the best value.

I have found Telecom Plus (Utility warehouse) to be pretty good.
They aren't ALWAYS the cheapest because as you say the price rises are leapfrogging. But they have consistently been in the bottom few for me.
Note I'm not a rep or connected with company in any way. They have just been good value for me.
Have you checked them out?

I am not convinced there will ever be a good time to change, especially with companies like Npower raising prices every 12 weeks, it makes a complete mockery of switching.

Well, my opinion is different from yours.
I don't think prices will rise every 12 weeks ad infinitum (UK plc will go bust if they do and there will be civil unrest).
I think it will calm down at some point.
Obviously you have to do what you think is best.
But I don't think that running round like a headless chicken when prices are leapfrogging is helpful.
I would suggest working out what are your BIGGEST outgoings and concentrating on them.
Most people will be able to save FAR more on their mortgage than their utilities.

I did some anaylsis on my savings recently to enter the "Britains best money saver" competition and I reckon most people could save more money on these than utilities.

Mortgage
taking free company pension if available
loans
house insurance

Obviously there will be some people on lwo and fixed incomes that this doesn't apply to but the rest of you should prioritise your money saving.

Hope that helps.

lisyloo

There were people who authoritatively posted that as NPower had just raised their prices in the last round (in January) so they wouldn't be raising them again for a while

What authority did these people have?
Were they officials from Npower?

If not then it's the same as talking to a man down the pub or at a bus stop.
I'm not saying that they were lying but I think they were wrong.
I take on board most of what I read but I don't believe it before judging it on it's merits.
You should judge each post as if you've heard it from a stranger down the pub.
It might be really good and really useful on the other hand they could just be plain wrong - like the people above.

I think the vast majority of money savers are honest and trying to help. That doesn't mean that you should believe everything you read without applying your own judgement.

theloft

I too made an educated guess that NPower, having raised prices in January would not put them up again for a while, so chose them over Powergen, who were the cheapest on the comparison sites! I was congratulating myself when Powergen announced their price increase, but when NP did the same thing a few days later, I felt a bit of an idiot. However it was the last day of my cancellation period, so have cancelled and am now going to look at Powergewn's capped prices deal.

tk

i remember reading somewhere that n power didnt raise their prices at all in 2005, so were using that to justify their recent double whammy rises!
now i havent checked this information just repeating what i heard!

lisyloo

I'm not sure they need to justify their double whammy rises (in relation to the rest of the market).
Most others have done it twice and some (like British Gas for example) have made higher rises.

The fact is that wholesale prices have gone up hugely and these companies have no alternative but to pass these costs on.

I don't think any of them want to do this, it's just a fact of life when there are an increasingly large number of people wanting to use an increasingly scarce resource.

I don't have any connection with any particular company but I don't see a "guilty" party here.

Cardew

lisyloo wrote:

If not then it's the same as talking to a man down the pub or at a bus stop.
I'm not saying that they were lying but I think they were wrong.
I take on board most of what I read but I don't believe it before judging it on it's merits.
You should judge each post as if you've heard it from a stranger down the pub.

That is exactly the point I was making!!

I have found Telecom Plus (Utility warehouse) to be pretty good.
They aren't ALWAYS the cheapest because as you say the price rises are leapfrogging. But they have consistently been in the bottom few for me.
Note I'm not a rep or connected with company in any way. They have just been good value for me.
Have you checked them out?

Haven't they sold out to NPower?

I don't think that the margins the distribution companies operate on allow any one company to undercut the others by a significant amount, for any significant period. Any price advantage is normally a marketing ploy to build their customer base.

lisyloo

Haven't they sold out to NPower?

I believe so, but it's still operating as a seperate brand.
We are still on Tplus tarrifs and not Npower tarriffs so nothing has changed.
They did put up prices at the beginning of March but their price rises have been inline with other companies so I don't see it as connected with the takeover. They are just having to raise prices like every other comapny.

Another advantage I find with Tplus on gas is that they don't charge me extra for being non-TRANSCO (independent pipelines) whereas most other companies charge about £40 per year and that information is hard to find (ring up their call centres and they don't know).

I don't think that the margins the distribution companies operate on allow any one company to undercut the others by a significant amount, for any significant period. Any price advantage is normally a marketing ploy to build their customer base.

So once you've done the initial switch from the expensive incumbent supplier then there isn't a lot to be gained?
You can try to second guess the market but because of the long timescales in switching there's a chance you might get it wrong and switch to a company that puts up prices more than your previous supplier.
Personally I don't see much point in doing that.

As I said before I think most people could save more by diverting their time and energies elsewhere.