BG websaver6 electricity is cheaper than websaver5?

pksaraf

My understanding was that only gas prices have gone down in websaver 6. But comparing the economy 7 tarriffs (electricity) between websaver 5 & 6, it seems that even electricity rates have gone down in the new tarriff, atleast in London.

saver 5 rates: 26.177p per kWh (day) 10.285p per kWh (day) above 500 kWh p.a 3.881p per kWh (night)

saver 6 rates: 29.411p per kWh (day) 9.248p per kWh (day) above 500 kWh p.a 3.785p per kWh (night)

Hope someone can help answering the following:

1. I thought that all websaver tariffs just offer a 6% off from standard rates. Shouldnt this mean that both saver 5 & 6 rates should be same, at least for electricity where there is supposedly no price cut?

2. i signed up for websaver 5 and my elec will switchover to BG on 23rd feb. Am I still in the cooling off period? Can I still switch to websaver 6 without incurring any cancellation fees?

cheers....

Cardew

I think you will find that BG in common with most other firms state that a particular tariff is guaranteed to be AT LEAST x% cheaper than the standard tariff.

Some while ago a tariff was offered(not BG) that guaranteed it would be at least 2% cheaper than their standard tariff, yet on introduction it was 18% cheaper.

So you got tied into a contract with penalty fees for early exit and yet they could increase the price by 16% and still be within terms of their guarantee.

I can't keep up with all the dozen or so variations of BG's 'Click' and 'Websaver' accounts - but exactly the same principle applies. i.e. it must be 6% lower but can be more!

earthlover

Cardew - Correct me if I'm wrong here but I assume that means that when comparing prices one should be careful to work out how much of a discount is being given at the time of comparison because if one company is actually giving a whopping 18% discount and promising to stay at least 2% below standard rate tariff, they could become ridiculously expensive if they did drop their discount to 2%!

As compared with B Gas who I am thinking of changing to, who are promising to stay at least 6% discount for D/D payment, and I have calculated that the discount in my comparison is working out at 6%.

Therefore I should'nt have to worry. Is that right?

pksaraf

thanks for the clarification cardew.

So it seems that it makes sense to switch to websaver6. Can you think of any catches? - any terms which makes websaver6 worse than 5?

Cardew

BG websaver 6 gives a discount far greater than 6% off BG's Standard tariff.

The discount varies on consumption and area, but for my area(Midlands) someone on average consumption(20,500kWh gas & 3,300kWh electricity) would pay £1074 on standard tariff and £889 on Websaver 6.

So that is a discount of 17.2% instead of the guaranteed 6%.

So in theory BG could increase Websaver 6 prices by 11.2% and still be within the terms of the guarantee. Conversely they could reduce their standard tariff and not change Websaver 6 prices.

IMO neither of those options are likely to happen before August 2010 which is the tie in period for Websaver 6.

With the ever changing internet tariffs for all companies(none worse than BG) it is a fact that you have to keep abreast of the situation if you want the best deal. As BG have had a dozen or more internet tariffs in the past 4 years, it is a fair bet there will be more in the next year. However jumping to another company just might be 'frying pan into fire'?

earthlover

I'm obviously getting mixed up about the discount. I thought the 6% discount for paying dual fuel by d/debit was the 6% off the standard tariff. I am in Manweb area. I think I need to look at their tables for the two tariffs!

Thanks Cardew.

earthlover

Just checked the difference between the BGas standard tariff and the Web Saver 6 tariff and the discount came to 17.12% by my own calculation.

So thanks again Cardew. I understand now.

Cheers.

smjxm09

I used two comparison sites and both state that for me websaver 6 is dearer than websaver 5 so I am staying put.

pksaraf

smjxm09 wrote: »

I used two comparison sites and both state that for me websaver 6 is dearer than websaver 5 so I am staying put.

lucky you.

in my case, BG wont start supplying electricity until 23rd feb and I still cant change my tariff without penalty which i think is nonsense. i thought the contract with them only started from when they supply the electricity which is 23rd feb, but they say that the contract started the date i received their letter and i am out of the cooling off period, although that was more than a month ago!

so they dont provide electricity to me today, but i will still be penalised for cancelling a contract against which they havnt delivered anything yet?

KimYeovil

Sorry, but that is entirely reasonable. The machinations and costs of a switch do not start the day the supply is switched over - they have mostly all been done by then. You have seven or fourteen days to cancel (even when YOU initiate the switch). Caveat emptor.

smjxm09

pksaraf wrote: »

lucky you.

in my case, BG wont start supplying electricity until 23rd feb and I still cant change my tariff without penalty which i think is nonsense. i thought the contract with them only started from when they supply the electricity which is 23rd feb, but they say that the contract started the date i received their letter and i am out of the cooling off period, although that was more than a month ago!

so they dont provide electricity to me today, but i will still be penalised for cancelling a contract against which they havnt delivered anything yet?

I was a month into websaver 4 when I wanted to switch to websave 5. The T&C stated that I would have to pay a penalty but I just emailed them and pointed out that if they didn’t let me switch without penalty I was going to change providers and use the cash back for changing providers to pay the penalty. They contacted me and agreed to drop the penalty.:D