Fixing Now Will Cost Me More...

Farnie

Hi,
I'm with Scottish Power for my Gas & Electricity using Online Energy Saver 16 (No Standing Charge). Having checked various comparison sites I have calculated that if I were to move to their new fixed rate (til Feb 2014) it will cost me approx £50 per year more. The question is do I stick and risk the price hikes in the hope that they are less than the £50 pa? Obviously nobody knows how much energy rates will go up but what would you do????
Thanks

keith1950

Hi, switching to a fixed tariff is always a gamble and the best tariffs have already been replaced so the longer you leave the switch the less the benefit.

A £50 increase only amounts to around 4.5% on an average annual bill so from past experience it is probably a good bet to switch.

NittyGritty

i recently switched to the Online Energy Saver 20 tarriff, can someone tell me what it means by always 8% cheaper (this isnt a fixed tarriff by the way) so when prices rise shortly as expected lets say for arguments sake electric rises by 10% what does the price promise on the saver 20 mean to me? currently i,m paying 20.7 fist 900kw 10.7 thereafter and 5.4 for night rates

macman

You've missed the boat. MSE has been plugging cheap fixes for months, now they've all gone. Fixing does not guarantee a cheaper rate, what it guarantees is that you will pay no more-in effect you are buying an insurance policy. Only you can decide if that is worth an extra £50.

dogshome

As others have posted, going for a Fixed rate is a gamble.
Just to get a crude handle on the odds, add up the total number of annual Kwh you use of Gas & Elec, and divide that number into £50 - This will tell you by how much the cost of Gas & Elec Kwh have to increase over 16 months to before you are a winner

The meaningless 'National Average' consumption quoted by the industry is 16,000 Gas & 3,300 Elec - A total of 19,300.
Divide this into £50 and you get 0.259 pence per Kwh

grahamc2003

Farnie wrote: »

Hi,
I'm with Scottish Power for my Gas & Electricity using Online Energy Saver 16 (No Standing Charge). Having checked various comparison sites I have calculated that if I were to move to their new fixed rate (til Feb 2014) it will cost me approx £50 per year more. The question is do I stick and risk the price hikes in the hope that they are less than the £50 pa? Obviously nobody knows how much energy rates will go up but what would you do????
Thanks

I fixed for 5 years last year, for I think about a 10% premium. The longer the fix, the higher the premium you should expect to pay. I'd fix now if I wasn't already, before the annual large hikes at this time of the year (just before their usage increases a lot). (and the now usual introduction of slightly lower rate tariffs in the spring, to give a feel-good factor to people, just before their usage decreases a lot!).

One other advantage - you don't have to go through the hassle of comparing prices, switching, complaining about switches which go wrong etc etc for another 5 years!.

Farnie

Having checked my consumption figures again (last did this a few weeks ago when the loss was about £50pa) on a couple of comparison sites it appears switiching to any (even non fixed) tarrifs will lose me £75pa and the Scottish Power Feb 2014 would cost me £176 pa. As someone said - I dithered when it was £50 weeks ago, I think I'll stay where I am....

YoYoY

He who hesitates is lost

grahamc2003

Farnie wrote: »

Having checked my consumption figures again (last did this a few weeks ago when the loss was about £50pa) on a couple of comparison sites it appears switiching to any (even non fixed) tarrifs will lose me £75pa and the Scottish Power Feb 2014 would cost me £176 pa. As someone said - I dithered when it was £50 weeks ago, I think I'll stay where I am....

Don't worry, in a few weeks the differential will be down to £50 again as your non-fixed tariff rises. Seems reasonable (from their profit maximising pov) to increase the fixed offer prices a month or so before the non-fixed tariffs, since as the increases become more likely, more will switch to a fixed tariff.