MSE News: Scottish Power to hike energy prices

loulou41

I am debating whether to go with EDF fixed 2014 or remain with SP and go for their capped tariff June 2013. I will not be saving much from online saver 12. I am a bit concerned to do the switch as with all these panic whether the switch will go before 1st August. I understand new supplier had to contact SP within 15 days and I do not see this happening. Does anybody know if the switch takes a long time & happen after the 1st August, will I incur the penalty exit? I was thinking of going through moneysupermarket link for the £30 but I read the cashback is not very reliable and knowing my luck I might be slapped with the £50 exit. Is it better to switch now or wait the last minute to do it? Also what's the difference between capped and fixed? I guess I will email SP to register my intention of switching to EDF. I am used to SP and I like their online account, not sure about EDF, can you read bills online as soon as you in put meter readings? yourThanks

2010

Been away since Monday so just catching up.
I`m on OES12 and haven`t had an email yet.
I would imagine they are staggering them because of the amount of phone calls their massive price rises will provoke.

Basically I`ve decided to stay on OES12 and get the benefit for as long as possible and then switch to OES14 at the end of July, but if it isn`t available, switch to Direct October 2012.

When I log in to my account, Oct 2012 is available for me to switch to straightaway but not OES14, so I would have to phone and ask.
Actually there is only a £9 saving per year between the two according to energyhelpline so no great shakes there.

I have thought about capping/fixing but the premium seems set way too high for me, something like a 31% increase to cap until 2013.
If I go for Oct 2012 it`s an increase of 11%, so I think I`ll chance future increases (!!!!!! are Ofgem doing?).

SP seems to be panicking people into fixing and have racked rates up out of proportion and of course, as already mentioned, the Martin Lewis chant of "fix now" is causing sheep-like behaviour.

Ba,Ba,bl00dy,ba

silly_moo

lolly5648 wrote: »

I haven't had the email either - surname starts with N. I am not panicking yet, we have another six weeks before the rise takes effect and I want to see what the other companies are doing.

I had the email yesterday (Thursday). Surname starts with F.

beaujolais-nouveau

SnakeDoctor wrote: »

I sent an email to SP asking them how I could use the online 'change my service' facility to change my tariff from OLES13 to OLES14, ...

At present we are not offering Online Energy Saver 14 tariff to our existing customers.

Thank you for reporting that. Switching to OLES14 was one of the options that I thought I had. Well, not much point hanging around SP - off to the switch sites.

beaujolais-nouveau

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

What is SP OLE14-can't locate this on their website-it is fixed/capped?

OLE14 is not available to existing customers.

claret-hammer

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

OLE14 is not available to existing customers.

i got it was on oes10

Spad_2

This is their response to my request regarding getting out. Im still baffled. I also think they mean expire 2012 not 2011.

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx

Thank you for your email.

Your current product of Online Energy Saver 12 is due to expire on 29th February 2011. As part of this product agreement there is a cancellation fee, however, by using your Right to Cancel, you will not be charged this fee should you wish to change supplier.

As you have Gas with us and it is supplied by Independent Gas Transporters (IGTs) the annual charge of £42.00 which you were paying will be set to zero effective from 1st August 2011.

If this decision has been made due to our recent price increase announcement, we have available products which are unaffected by this price change.

We have just launched our new Fixed Price 2015 package. This will offer fixed unit prices until January 2015. Currently this is the longest fixed price product available.

Our Capped Price product will guarantee no price increases until May 31st 2013, but should prices fall, you will receive this reduction.

Our Unifi product offers a fixed price until October 31st 2013, and offers a unique energy monitor allowing you complete control over your consumption.

We also have available our Platinum product, providing standard boiler cover and fixed prices until January 31st 2014.

Further information on any of the above products can be found on our website at http://www.scottishpower.co.uk.

Should you wish to transfer to any of the above products, please confirm at your earliest convenience and we can arrange to do this for you.

We look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Kind regards

xxxxxxxxxxx
E-Contact Centre

mikedej

ed123 wrote: »

...just got an e mail from SP re increase in prices and offer of OES 14 (a capped offer) which has to be applied for before 1/9/2011....this indicates to me that something will happen at this date ie a price increase...I am on Online Energy Reward a fixed deal ending 31/7/2011.....I will wait till near the end of July and then choose a Fixed tariff ie you know the rates you will pay for a set period.....the capped deals could be subject to change (ie the standard direct debit rate increasing on which the OES 14 is based-2% below)...therefore to me the capped rates do not appear to be "capped" at all.....or am I missing something?......thanks Ed

Which area are you in, Ed123?

Hasbeen

Hi all
Also received email from S/P details see below, currently on Package: Online Energy Saver 9 (April 2012) but it seems to have now changed?
Question is : Am i better staying or trying to get a fixed deal? advice appreciated!!! cannot find premier on any sites.

Your new prices
The new prices will come into effect from 1st August 2011. Please see below to see what they mean for you. But remember, you’ll continue to benefit from a minimum 3% discount on our standard monthly Direct Debit prices^ until the end of your current Online Energy Saver Offer.
Electricity
Tariff: WWW Domestic Tariff Premier Plus (No Standing Charge)
Electricity prices Current New
First 225kWh used each quarter 16.915p 20.680p
All/Day remaining kWh 11.302p 11.302p

Gas
Tariff: WWW Premier Plus (No Standing Charge)
Gas prices Current New
First 670kWh used each quarter 5.960p 7.393p
All/Day remaining kWh 2.820p 3.392p
†All prices shown in the table exclude VAT. Note that VAT at the applicable rate (currently 5%) is applied to domestic energy bills in Great Britain.
*If you notify us that you wish to cancel your agreement before 1st August 2011 and we receive a request for your supply from another supplier within 15 working days, we will not apply the price increase or the cancellation fee for your product. If you have an outstanding debt, we may object to your supply leaving us, but we will give you time to pay the debt and leave us without incurring the increased prices.

JamesM_2

They're trying to get everyone on fixed rate, I switched to OES 14 which works out about the same (slightly cheaper) than the OES 11 I was on (pre-price rise).

As OES 14 isn't fixed they could add a rise to it as well in the future, but consider this;

1. They'd get another headline of rising prices, do they really want that?
2. This price rise has shown that it's significant enough of a change to warrant a waiver of the fee for changing services. I'd expect the same thing again if they wanted to raise an equivalent amount.
3. Loads of people don't bother changing their provider or contract and will just accept the rise, through them they get the gain they need.

My advice would be to take the opportunity to change contracts, if it works out that an alternate SP tariff is still the cheapest then go for it, other power companies may follow suit but SP isn't likely to rise again in the near future for publicities sake.

As for fixed tariff... toss a coin, it's a gamble.