Price comparison sites-are they reliable?

adamsmith_2

I visited five sites, including the linked site to Money tips, yesterday for best prices for dual gas and electricity supply. All five came up with a similar set of offers but at least three of the sites used incorrect prices and quite a bit higher than actual energy prices for BG Click 6 energy prices. Consequently all the offers considerably overstated the possible savings. Are any these sites independent and reliable.

Plushchris

adamsmith wrote: »

I visited five sites, including the linked site to Money tips, yesterday for best prices for dual gas and electricity supply. All five came up with a similar set of offers but at least three of the sites used incorrect prices and quite a bit higher than actual energy prices for BG Click 6 energy prices. Consequently all the offers considerably overstated the possible savings. Are any these sites independent and reliable.

The comparison sites usually include VAT whereas the unit rates on your bills usually dont so that would equate to a 5% difference.

The other difference could be due to recent price rises, if you have a bill that covers the last quarter then the prices would be lower, the comparison sites usually update their prices as soon as the suppliers announce price rises, BG are putting their prices up early december.

As far as being independant, if you put in your annual Kwh you will get accurate results, the comparison sites are regulated by consumer focus to be accurate, far more so than you would get from a salesman at your door (who can and do say anything they like..)

Pincher

But how big a discrepancy are you getting?

They don't take exit penalties into consideration,
and some loyalty bonuses are only payable if you stay a full year.
You have to go through the small print before switching.
The comparison sites just help you narrow down the list.

deshepherd

Things that could affect the figures are whether they include "loyalty bonuses" into the annual cost (e.g. I used to be wirh NPower who applied a £100 credit every 12 months from my initial switch - when comparing tariffs when I switched from them some site included this and others didn't). The other factor is that if you are on a fixed tariff that is about to expire then some sites "helpfully" compare tariffs against the one you will get switched onto if you did nothing rather than comparisons with what you currently pay.

I think the obvious advice is to try several sites and see what the general concensus is!

uptomyeyeballs

Plushchris wrote: »

As far as being independant, if you put in your annual Kwh you will get accurate results, the comparison sites are regulated by consumer focus to be accurate, far more so than you would get from a salesman at your door (who can and do say anything they like..)

Is UKPower (http://www.ukpower.co.uk) included in this?

FOREVER21

Try the Which web site they are pretty good and unbiased.:)

adamsmith_2

The main problem is that BG lower their rate to tier 2 after 680kWh gas useage whereas the comparison site all seem to use a figure of 2680kWh and similarly 180/720kWh for electricity. This can make an enormous difference to the bill.

DUTR

adamsmith wrote: »

I visited five sites, including the linked site to Money tips, yesterday for best prices for dual gas and electricity supply. All five came up with a similar set of offers but at least three of the sites used incorrect prices and quite a bit higher than actual energy prices for BG Click 6 energy prices. Consequently all the offers considerably overstated the possible savings. Are any these sites independent and reliable.

I have scoured the comparison sites too, and find that at the moment FU is the leading 'cheapie' some do seem to purposely exclude your current provider, the savings promised also seem far fetched or further fogged by discounts for this that and the other of which you may have to wait 12 months to see.
My annual gas from BG came to under £700 but the comparison sites seem to think I have spent more

backfoot

DUTR wrote: »

My annual gas from BG came to under £700 but the comparison sites seem to think I have spent more

I imagine it's because BG have recently put their prices up.

DUTR

backfoot wrote: »

I imagine it's because BG have recently put their prices up.

Nope, I have my last 4 bills to hand, and even allowing for the price increase the bills would not be as the comparison sites suggest.

backfoot

DUTR wrote: »

Nope, I have my last 4 bills to hand, and even allowing for the price increase the bills would not be as the comparison sites suggest.

Well if you have your actual bills with actual Kwh consumption, you should be able to do a precise reconciliation of where the difference arises.

Why don't you do it and let us know the outcome? There aren't many variables so it should be very easy.:)