First Utility, Switching & Fixing

rachelandgromit

OK, I am trying to compare prices to switch. I have enough bills going back with SSE to compare, my KWh a year of gas is 9340 and electric 2220 per year. Don't tend to use much electric, but gas alot more (I just love being snuggly and warm)!

I've done comparison on a few different sites and First Utility is coming up cheapest as isave dual fuel v12 saving £130 a year. I can also get just over £30 cashback via Topcashback rather than the comparison sites. So if I say I'd probably save £150 a year switching.

The cheapest fix for me is coming up as Ovo which is fixed for 12 months and saves £70. I think I could get about £30 for switching using the comparison sites, so overall saving is about £100.

My question is that technically I suppose the fixed with Ovo is actually £50 more expensive than First Utility which is not fixed. I just wonder though how much would energy prices have to go up in 12 months for the fix to be worth it. How much would energy prices have to go up for the £50 saving not to be a saving (if that makes sense)!

I just don't know whether a 12 month fix is worth it or not. Any suggestions or comments - :mad: *tearing hair out*

rachelandgromit

Any suggestions

londonlydia

I don't know how much the units work out to cost you, but to answer your question 'how much would energy prices need to go up to stop £50 being a saving' you can work out the percentages, as often the energy companies will say it's going up or down by this percentage for instance.

So to work out your percentage, do the following sum:

50/(how much you pay in a year) x 100

that will show what percentage £50 equates to.

For instance, if your bill is £1000 per year, then £50 is equivalent to a 5% change. if your bill is £1500 per year, then it's a 3.3% change. I would say that's possible, seeing as npower hiked proces by 9.1%.

BUT, also note that sometimes they dont just change both electricity and gas, they may only change one, so a rise in electricity wouldnt effect you as much if you mainly spend on gas. For instance, Co-Op have announced a 2% decrease in electricity from the 21st Dec.

Equally, gas prices *could* decrease, so potentially making a bigger saving on a varioable rate, though I dont know how likely that is.

rachelandgromit

Hmmm, I may just take my chances with variable. Electricity probably wouldn't effect me that much as I am a fairly low user but gas is alot more.

Wywth

rachelandgromit wrote: »

OK, I am trying to compare prices to switch. I have enough bills going back with SSE to compare, my KWh a year of gas is 9340 and electric 2220 per year. Don't tend to use much electric, but gas alot more (I just love being snuggly and warm)!

I've done comparison on a few different sites and First Utility is coming up cheapest as isave dual fuel v12 saving £130 a year. I can also get just over £30 cashback via Topcashback rather than the comparison sites. So if I say I'd probably save £150 a year switching.

The cheapest fix for me is coming up as Ovo which is fixed for 12 months and saves £70. I think I could get about £30 for switching using the comparison sites, so overall saving is about £100.

My question is that technically I suppose the fixed with Ovo is actually £50 more expensive than First Utility which is not fixed. I just wonder though how much would energy prices have to go up in 12 months for the fix to be worth it. How much would energy prices have to go up for the £50 saving not to be a saving (if that makes sense)!

I just don't know whether a 12 month fix is worth it or not. Any suggestions or comments - :mad: *tearing hair out*

It depends on what you want.

A fixed priced tariff and the surety of knowing it won't change over the term
(most of the really good fixed tariffs have now gone - the best ones were available before Martin started telling everyone to grab one at the end of August )

or are you prepared to risk a variable tariff for a £50 per year saving (assuming prices and consumption do not change)?
I think FU guarantee not to increase prices for 3 months from date of switch anyway

rachelandgromit

Yes that is right, it is fixed for the first 3 months which hopefully will see us over the colder months. Decisions decisions ....

Wywth

As MSE Martin has said in the past, it's not so important that you get the very best deal for you, but more important that you don't pay over the odds by doing nothing.

Doing nothing is currently costing you between £70 and £130 per year more. As a switch of supplier typically takes 4-6 weeks (and that doesn't include the Christmas break) then please act sooner rather than later

rachelandgromit

I am going to go with First Utility, only fixed for first 3 months, will have to take chnce.

digp

please let us know how you get on. thanks.

macman

The point of a fix is not necessarily to get the cheapest deal. It's to buy certainty that your unit price will not go up during the contrac: in effect you are buying insurance, for which a premium has to be paid.
Your attitude to risk will determine whether you want that insurance or not, and how big a premium you are prepared to pay for it if you do.