Are the price comparison sites working??

davemorton

Are the price comparison sites working??:o
I have been on Scottish Powers Online Energy Saver 6 Dual Fuel tariff for about a year and a half now, so thought it was time to change.
Have put my details into the price comparison sites and they are all saying that there is only 2-3 tariffs cheaper than the one I am on.
It just doesnt seem right, surley even Scottish Powers Online Energy Saver 7,8,9,10,11,12, etc Dual Fuel tariffs would be cheaper I would have thought. Most odd, got me thinking I am doing something wrong.

ricky9

why do you think that they would be cheaper prices have risen over the last 18 months

davemorton

Yes, but the tariff I am on is not a fixed tariff, so it would compare the price per unit I am paying now wouldnt it??

macman

Are you using your annual kWh consumption figs, not your DD amounts? The latter produces inaccurate results.

davemorton

macman wrote: »

Are you using your annual kWh consumption figs, not your DD amounts? The latter produces inaccurate results.

Yes, have tried both (kWh figures were roughly guessed), I just found it incredibly hard to believe that I am on one of the cheapest tariffs with a tariff that is 18 months old.

victor2

Don't guess your kWh figures, get them off your bills. Ideally, get 12 months actual usage as it is very seasonal. You only need 2 actual meter readings 12 months apart to get your annual usage - bit of a calculation to do to convert gas volume to kWh, but nothing too difficult.

davemorton

The amount of people living in the house has changed in the last 4 months, so that's why I am having to guestimate them. But still, one would have thought that no matter what my usage was, an old tariff would not hold its own against all the newer ones, unless of course the comparison sites are using the cost pKw that I signed up to, and in reality they will have risen in price.

victor2

Maybe your conclusion will be that it's best to stay put. Even with the change in usage, if you compare your actual cost for the last year with what that same consumption would cost on current tariffs, you should be getting realistic comparisons. Of course you can't predict how variable rate tariffs will change, but at least it gives you an idea. If your consumption has fallen, then you'll save, or at least have some sort of cushion against the almost inevitable cost increases.

t0rt0ise

davemorton wrote: »

It just doesnt seem right, surley even Scottish Powers Online Energy Saver 7,8,9,10,11,12, etc Dual Fuel tariffs would be cheaper I would have thought. Most odd, got me thinking I am doing something wrong.

Surely you couldn't sign up to all those tariffs could you? I thought Scottish Power were on about 14 now and that's the one that should appear.

Some online calculators apparently don't show tariffs from the company you are on. Try another site. I use uSwitch which seems to work okay.

john87_2

Scottish power bills usually have your annual usage in kwh on the last page of the bill. There is also a telephone number on the bill you can ring to check you are on the cheapest deal.

Go online and view your bill.

grizzly1911

Do all the subsequent tariffs include the same discount to variable or are differences.

A number of the online tariffs may have included an additional discount 12 + months ago as an incentive to switch.


Energyonline? or something like that - the one shown on the MSE site were the only one that predicted what tariff I would be forced onto when mine expires soon and showed what would be comparable to that.

All the others appeared to quote compared to my existing tariff and not surprisingly they were all shown to be worse.