do i fix or stay as i am. confusing bills. help needed.

raphanius

i posted this in reply to one of martins blog posts on energy fixing and im getting no replies so im trying on here:

bearing in mind that trying to work out my energy usage is rocket science how do i know which tariff is better? i am currently on a no standing charge tariff making it impossible to compare with a fixing tariff with standing charge.
Originally Posted by JimmyTheWig
Do your existing bills not give you your current usage?

over the winter quarter 2010/2011 i was charged electric and gas at three different rates. as i said rocket science.

when i put my tariff through uswitch to compare it says i spend £1200 on fuel if i then input as a british gas user to try and find a competing tariff it says i use £1100 worth of fuel a year. i cant find the fixing tariff ive been offered on any comparision websites so how do i know i'm getting a better deal?

YOUR GAS BILL
Your Tariff is Go Direct 2 General Domestic No Standing Charge
20 Oct 2010 - 30 Nov 2010
Standard energy
522 kWh at 4.920p each £25.68
Discounted energy
2100 kWh at 2.880p each £60.48
01 Dec 2010 - 01 Feb 2011
Standard energy
433 kWh at 7.230p each £31.30
Discounted energy
3548.33 kWh at 3.150p each £111.77
Your Tariff is Standard Energy No Standing Charge Online
01 Feb 2011 - 12 Apr 2011

Standard energy
487 kWh at 7.120p each £34.67
Discounted energy
9409.5 kWh at 3.100p each £291.69
Go Direct discount -£12.49
Go Direct discount -£20.74
Less your Monthly Direct Debit Discount -£27.77
Total charges before VAT £494.59
VAT at 5.00% on charges of £494.59 £24.72
TOTAL CHARGES THIS BILL INCLUDING VAT £519.31

TOTAL FOR YOUR ACCOUNT £153.31

YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL
Your Tariff is Go Direct 2 Domestic Standard No Standing Charge
20 Oct 2010 - 01 Feb 2011
Standard energy units
259 at 14.45p each £37.42
Discounted energy units
1200 at 11.51p each £138.12
Your Tariff is Standard Energy No Standing Charge Online
01 Feb 2011 - 08 Mar 2011
Standard energy units
88 at 14.23p each £12.52
Discounted energy units
252 at 11.33p each £28.55
09 Mar 2011 - 12 Apr 2011
Standard energy units
85 at 14.23p each £12.10
Discounted energy units
244 at 11.33p each £27.64
Go Direct discount -£23.34
Less your Monthly Direct Debit Discount -£12.81
Total charges before VAT £220.20
VAT at 5.00% on charges of £220.20 £11.00

TOTAL CHARGES THIS BILL INCLUDING VAT £231.20
TOTAL FOR YOUR ACCOUNT -£50.80

The £50.80 we owe you will be carried forward to your next bill

ive been offered a fix at tariff 7 on sse but cannot find the actual prices of fuel for that tariff. the closest is tariff 6 with scottish power. !!!!!! do i do?

jalexa

raphanius wrote: »

i am currently on a no standing charge tariff making it impossible to compare with a fixing tariff with standing charge.


ive been offered a fix at tariff 7 on sse but cannot find the actual prices of fuel for that tariff. the closest is tariff 6 with scottish power.

!!!!!! do i do?

I understand your concern but there is a straightforward approach to this.

Firstly you need to obtain you approximate annual consumption in kWhrs. Ask your supplier if you do not know. Then armed with your annual consumption and current tariff name, go to a Consumer Focus accredited website and enter the details.

Go through the list of tariffs which are in price order.

Be wary of the "offer" from you current supplier if you cannot see it on the list.

*You* will need to chose between a variable tariff and a fixed tariff. FWIW I think at this moment in time it is a "no-brainer" to select a fixed tariff. But it is your choice. If you have decided, move quickly as the best fixed tariffs could be withdrawn at any moment.

st999

forget it, if you don't understand it you don't

raphanius

jalexa wrote: »

I understand your concern but there is a straightforward approach to this.

Firstly you need to obtain you approximate annual consumption in kWhrs. Ask your supplier if you do not know. Then armed with your annual consumption and current tariff name, go to a Consumer Focus accredited website and enter the details.

Go through the list of tariffs which are in price order.

Be wary of the "offer" from you current supplier if you cannot see it on the list.

*You* will need to chose between a variable tariff and a fixed tariff. FWIW I think at this moment in time it is a "no-brainer" to select a fixed tariff. But it is your choice. If you have decided, move quickly as the best fixed tariffs could be withdrawn at any moment.

i explained this (or tried to) above there is no exact comparision on uswitch and the like for the fixing tariff i have been offered. i know my annual cosumption calculated by the amount i pay thats £1200 per yer BUT i am always having my monthly amounts raised and lowered when i am in credit/debit with my supplier so this extra factor makes comparision more tricky than ever as there is usually only a small difference between tariffs.

raphanius

st999 wrote: »

It is quite easy to compare them.

This is an example only as I can't be bothered working out exact figures.
No standing charge.

For 5000 kWh a year.

tier 1 tariff 1000 kWh at 20p equals £200

Tier 2 tariff 4000 kWh at 10p equals £400. total £600

Standing charge £200 per year

5000 kWh at 8 p equals £400. total £600

simple.
so when comparing tariffs on a comparison site put in 5000 kWh.

Then pick the cheapest or if you want fixed pick the cheapest fixed price.

Ignore any savings to be made as you want the price from now not what you paid before.

how did you get my annual kwh usage from my winter bills? we use diddly in the summer and are up to our eyes in hock in the winter? plus where did you get the standing charge from? i just dont get it

jalexa

raphanius wrote: »

i explained this (or tried to) above there is no exact comparision on uswitch and the like for the fixing tariff i have been offered

Ah ha, as Alan Partridge might say, the reason for that is you have been offered a "maturity tariff". Maturity tariffs are not universally available so don't appear on comparison websites.

Personally I wouldn't touch a maturity tariff with a barge-pole (because I don't trust the supplier). If it really was a competitive tariff why wouldn't it be marketed as a universally available tariff as EDF are doing?

Up to you to answer that question.

And don't kid yourself that you are being offered a stonking tariff as a reward for customer loyalty. No, your supplier sniffs an easy profit and you are in danger of becoming a victim of "confusion marketing".

Just trust a comparison website with your current tariff and your annual consumption and take your pick of variable or fixed as you wish.

raphanius

confusion marketing sure confuses me lol seriously ive never heard of a maturity tariff before. still leaves me with the problem of how to accurately work out my real annual consumption NOT based on what i pay a month as this is inaccurate.

Irratus_Rusticus

raphanius wrote: »

i just dont get it

Hi Raphanius. Working from seasonal variations in your existing costs is only going to confuse things. Just find your total annual kWhs for each fuel, ignoring tiers and standing charges etc. You probably already know...switching sites work all these out automatically in their comparisons anyway. Give the site your annual kWhs per each fuel with your existing tariff name and marvel at the savings... :rotfl:

If you don't have old bills to add up the kWhs over four quarters, as said above, ask existing supplier for the most recent annual figures.

In my experience you can rely on two sites to be accurate to the penny... energyhelpline and Uswitch (click links from this site). Don't know about others as I haven't checked their calcs. Two sites ought to be enough. These sites will work from announced increases even before they are applied, so you are getting the up-to-date comparisons.