Scottish Power 2008 Capped Rate

blisteringblue

Can't find this info anywhere but I signed up for the SP capped till 2008 rate last summer when prices were jumping up.

What happens with the capped service if prices start to fall? Am I stuck at this capped rate or does capping mean price will not go UP so I would qualify for any cheaper rates.

I know I can swap back from the capped at any time as I use the ONLINE ENERGY service but just wondering if I can have the best of both worlds?

Cardew

My understanding of a capped rate - be it gas, electricity or mortgage is that it will not increase above the capped price set when you took it out.

However if the 'standard' rate fell below your capped rate - you would pay that lower rate.

On a fixed rate, your rate(as the name suggests) is fixed and will not rise or fall.

That said the utility companies are a law unto themselves and might have totally different definitions in the small print.

blisteringblue

I asked the same question direct to Scottish Power and the response I got back today is

Thank you for your email.

I can advise that you are not tied into a contract with your Capped Rate.

Therefore should the prices fall, you can request to come off the Capped rate at any point.

Kind regards,

Customer Care Team
e-Contact Centre
ScottishPower

So it does look like if the prices do fall I have to go back to the standard rate to get any benefit.

broxis11

My understanding was that if the price fall then the customers would drop automatically but they would not rise above the capped rate.

That email contradicts that theory though..

blisteringblue

I think I will reply and ask that, because as was mentioned before that makes it a FIXED rate and not a CAPPED rate?

Cardew

As I said in my earlier post the utility companies are a law unto themselves; and, whilst there is an understood convention, I doubt if there is a 'legal' definition of 'capped' or 'fixed'.

It would appear that to SP 'capped' simply means you can leave that tariff without penalty - presumably 'fixed' would mean paying a penalty.

BG use the term 'Price Protection' for some of their tariffs. On their PP2010 & PPApril2009 there is a penalty for leaving, on their PPSept 2009 their isn't a penalty.

lilac_lady

The confusion over this means that I won't take out a capped or fixed rate for fuel again. Marketing this last winter drew in a lot of worried customers but now we feel we've been "had".

blisteringblue

blisteringblue wrote:

I think I will reply and ask that, because as was mentioned before that makes it a FIXED rate and not a CAPPED rate?

Good News !! We were all correct about the capped rate !! Just had this reply to my 2nd query

Thank you for your email.

I have investigated this matter and I can confirm that your prices are capped until 30th September 2008.

However, if the prices fall below what you are currently paying before this date, then your prices will fall also. If the prices increase before this date, then your prices will remain the same.

This means that your prices are capped until this date and will not increase above your current price.

If you choose to come of this tariff before September 2008, there is no additional charge for you to do this, and you would revert to our current prices.

If you have any further queries you can email us at contactus@scottishpower.co.uk or call us on 0845 270 6543, where one of our Customer Service Agents will be happy to help.

Kind regards,

e-Contact Centre
Scottish Power

I will stick with the capped rate then, was always going to be an odd one but I guess nobody thought prices would drop so quickly

greyteam1959

Can I add my offering ????
Surely if you are on their capped rate you are paying a slightly higher price per unit of electric or gas ???
You would be better off on their standard online tariff would you not???
I would say that energy prices are going to keep falling for the foreseeable future so getting locked into any tariff would not be a good idea

blisteringblue

True, but I guess you pays your money and you takes your chances. Not sure what it would take given current state of the world to start pushing prices back up again?

Even on the capped rate (which will fall too) I'm paying a lot less since moving to Scottish Power Online Energy !!