Lazy Utility Consumers - Huhne is toast

BenNevis

Huhne speaks the truth….well, on this matter anyway.

rogerblack

moonrakerz wrote: »

If you think that the switching sites do this then you are sadly deluded !

In what way do they not?
I used the switching site to find the cheapest tarrif for me, and am now paying around 60% of my previous amount.

StephenM_2

rogerblack wrote: »

In what way do they not?
I used the switching site to find the cheapest tarrif for me, and am now paying around 60% of my previous amount.

In truth they only tell you what the cost is based on your predicted or historic consumption - not on what you consumption actually will be. It is possible that your consumption might change so that some other tariff would have worked out cheaper. In most cases though, this effect will be marginal.

ariba10

What I do not understand is. Why they need to know who your current supplier is?

If I give them my consumption figure. They should be able to tell me the cheapest supplier.

Or is it that they only make money if you do change supplier.

StephenM_2

ariba10 wrote: »

What I do not understand is. Why they need to know who your current supplier is?

If I give them my consumption figure. They should be able to tell me the cheapest supplier.

Or is it that they only make money if you do change supplier.

If they know your current supplier and your current tariff they can work out how much you can save.

For example, I've just put my figures in a site and it tells me I can save up to £0 a year. The best switch would cost £2 a year more.

I also like it that I can compare their calculation of my tariff with my own calculation - its a kind of sanity check on their calculations.

Premier_2

ariba10 wrote: »

What I do not understand is. Why they need to know who your current supplier is?

So that they can show you the savings/oncost compared to your existing situation

ariba10 wrote: »

If I give them my consumption figure. They should be able to tell me the cheapest supplier.

It does. The list is the same and the annual costs are the same. The only thing that will be wrong is the suggested savings (as if you don't tell them the current supplier/tariff. they can't possibly know the difference in price between the existing and the alternatives)

ariba10 wrote: »

Or is it that they only make money if you do change supplier.

They do only make money if you switch supplier through them, but the output (other than the suggested savings/oncost) remains the same no matter what existing supplier/tariff you input.
i.e. the list of suppliers/tariffs and their annual cost does not change.

jalexa

ariba10 wrote: »

What I do not understand is. Why they need to know who your current supplier is?

They don't. The headline cost is "accurate" as long as you provide accurate annual consumption figures regardless of which "current supplier" you enter. Note that "accurate" includes factoring in "deferred discounts":eek: which may never be earned.

Or is it that they only make money if you do change supplier.

Well that is true but....there is no obligation and no charge to the consumer. And not all tariffs are switchable online anyway, mainly but not exclusively same supplier switches.

Swipe

He has a point but it's HIS renewable energy costs levied on to the bills that also adds to them being them unaffordable.

Ultrasonic

To whatever extent all of the energy suppliers essentially shift their prices en masse, there are still quite a range of tariffs available at any one time. Go to any price comparison site and there are usually pretty significant differences between the cheapest and most expensive tariffs listed. So I believe Mr Huhne is correct to suggest that consumers are missing out by not looking into switching energy suppliers regularly.

Putting aside the issues of his private life, I wish we had more MPs like Chris Huhne. He is one of the most intelligent, scientifically literate MPs that we have. (And I say that despite being a former constituent of his who did NOT vote for him at the last general election.)

A._Badger

Huhne is simply a rank hypocrite. He has been artificially inflating energy prices by pursuing a discredited energy policy and is now trying to deflect attention from the suffering he has caused by blaming users for not switching supplier.


The fact is that whoever people switch to will have increased their prices and because his and the previous government have allowed our energy suppliers to behave like spivs, switching has been made deliberately complicated to baffle and bamboozle the consumer.

The sooner he is inside where he belongs, the better. The only sadness is that many of his colleagues, from both sides of the house, won't be in adjoining cells.