Capped 2014?

liquidstool_2

here's the blurb

"
E.ON Price Protection April 2014* - Our best Price Protection deal, exclusively for our existing customers


E.ON Price Protection April 2014 deal will protect you from future energy increases, so by switching today you can get the best of both worlds – you’ll not pay more than the price you sign up to and you could pay less if our standard prices fall.
That’s the reassurance of three winters with no price increases. Even better there are no cancellation fees."

"*A premium of 7% above standard prices applies. Your prices will not rise above the contracted price within the term of your deal. If, during the Price Protection period, our standard unit prices fall below those that apply when you sign up, yours will go down too. The extent of the reduction will be determined by us. Prices are protected subject to regulatory or VAT changes. Available to Electricity customers on standard and Economy 7 meters only. Excludes prepayment, Heatwise and restricted hour tariff meters. Following the end date of 1 April 2014, we will switch you to a similar plan if available, or to one of our Standard plans. We will contact you in advance to notify you of your new terms and conditions and prices"

"Normal units up to 900 kWhs per year
26.502 pence

Normal units
12.075 pence per kWh"


Here are my details from my last bill....

Normal previous
25823 read by you on 13 September 2010
Normal current
28220 read by you on 30 December 2010


2397 Normal kWh (kilowatt-hours) used







Charges

Normal primary units used
266kWh at 22.37p each

59.50

Normal secondary units used
2131kWh at 9.53p each

203.08

my question - and i really can't do the math, am i better off by capping til 2014? on the face of it, it sounds like a great deal!

macman

Same answer as always-no-one knows. If we did, and capping were cheaper, everyone would do it. Basically you are buying a very expensive insurance against possible increases. You're not buying necessarily a cheaper tariff, you are buying peace of mind.
My take on caps and fixes is that the energy companies don't know either, although maybe they have a marginally better chance of guessing the way prices will go than we do. They know their fixed costs, but they can no more control or predict the raw material costs than we can. And you can be sure that they then set their prices on these tariffs at a level where they are more likely to benefit than you will.

Cardew

There is a similar thread on the EDF 4 year fix.(to 2015)

Depending on your consumption you will be paying approx 25% more than your present charges.

So prices have to rise 25% until you start to have an advantage.

However you will have lost out over the period it takes for prices to rise 25% and reach parity.

You will need to recoup those losses over the remainder of the term of the tariff to break even.

As an example, if prices rose 25% over the next 18 months, they would need to rise a further 25%(over your current prices) in the remaining 18 months of the tariff to break even.

Who do you think will win the 2:30 race at Kempton Park?

notbritishgas

If you had been on the price protection 2014 tariff for the bill you quote as costing £59+£203=£262, then the new cost would have been £327.
So the premium you would be paying for that quarter would be £65 or an increase of 24% on your present tariff.
Like any insurance you must decide if that increase is going to be worthwhile.

Edit: Doh, beaten by Cardew (the cad)

macman

I'd call it a Clint Eastwood type-scenario:
'Do ya feel lucky?'

liquidstool_2

hmmm not much help! And i'm not a gambling man so i'm thinkin it's prolly best to stay with what i've got!

Thanks for your comments peeps

backfoot

liquidstool wrote: »

hmmm not much help!

:eek:

I was just about to offer my wisdom as well but....I can't face a put down like this.:p