Big london energy switch

chaos2

Hi all,

Have tried to check the forum but not come up with the above.

www.biglondonenergyswitch.org.uk

Had a leaflet from Bexley council to join the scheme. Have not done so yet just woinder if anyonw has joined?

Thanks.

Wywth

chaos2 wrote: »

Hi all,

Have tried to check the forum but not come up with the above.

www.biglondonenergyswitch.org.uk

Had a leaflet from Bexley council to join the scheme. Have not done so yet just woinder if anyonw has joined?

Thanks.

I haven't.

I followed Martin's advice and chose the best deal from the whole of market.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

rather than just the one that wins the auction.

RedRag

I signed up for this 2 days ago when about 8,000 people had registered their interest. Just checked and it's up to 11,000 now. Will be interesting how many it will be by the closing date next Monday 8th April.

With such a large group that the energy companies will hope to attract, I'm hoping the rates offered by the company winning the reverse auction will be such that it will be persuasive enough to change to, but there is no obligation to do so.

I understand that the rates offered to this group will not be available to the general public via price comparison sites.

My 2 year fixed rate has just finished so I'm going to wait a couple of weeks to see what this auction offers before making final decision on who to change to.

(see link to the Big London Energy Switch above since as a new user I cannot yet post links)

Wywth

RedRag wrote: »

I signed up for this 2 days ago when about 8,000 people had registered their interest. Just checked and it's up to 11,000 now. Will be interesting how many it will be by the closing date next Monday 8th April.

With such a large group that the energy companies will hope to attract, I'm hoping the rates offered by the company winning the reverse auction will be such that it will be persuasive enough to change to, but there is no obligation to do so.

I understand that the rates offered to this group will not be available to the general public via price comparison sites.

My 2 year fixed rate has just finished so I'm going to wait a couple of weeks to see what this auction offers before making final decision on who to change to.

(see link to the Big London Energy Switch above since as a new user I cannot yet post links)

I don't know where you got that idea from. :huh:

That may be the aspirational wish of the organisers (although that is not what the website says;)), but until bids come back in, no one knows.

11000 interested parties will probably result in about 1100 switches - not enough to interest any large supplier, and proibably not of much interest to small suppliers either.

Based on other similar schemes, some of which have been much larger, only a few suppliers even bother to bid and those that do simply oiffer one of their existing tariffs ... hence the advice I have given earlier in this thread

trinidadone

I have only just heard about the Big London switch from my local council. The information received, claims to save people money on their gas and electricty bills. London councils are running auctions to get the best deal for local residents. Registration has just opened for the next auction (5th August).

The more people who register, the greater the buying power, and the lower the price maybe offered.

Recent schemes suggest yearly savings of between £60.00 - £200.00 per household. you maybe on the best tarriff already, is it worth checking out?

Anyone who pays a household energy bill can take part, even customers on prepayment meters (as long as you don't owe more than £500 on fuel costs).

Those living on estates with district heating systems can obviousely only take part in the electric aspect of the switch.

To register: biglondonenergyswitch.org.uk

any thoughts anyone??

wakeupalarm

RedRag wrote: »

With such a large group that the energy companies will hope to attract, I'm hoping the rates offered by the company winning the reverse auction will be such that it will be persuasive enough to change to, but there is no obligation to do so.

But do they actually want to attract a large group?

The problem is that energy companies would rather have a steady stream of switchers that they can manage with their normal staffing levels. If they get a large number of switches in one go they have to re-allocate extra staff to cope with the sudden extra workload increasing their costs. Think about it in your own job, do you prefer your normal workload or do you prefer a massive extra burden once a month on top of your normal workload.

The whole system is a farce, collective switching doesn't save money it just adds another extra layer of costs and marketing to an industry that is already overflowing with it.

Any lower prices that you MAY obtain will just be shifting the goal posts for a while and the costs to the energy compaines will be passed onto other customers. And I say MAY because every "big switch" I have seen has failed to beat the cheapest rates I could obtained myself.

Bark01

There is a big difference between the number of people registered and the number of people who actually take up the deal.

As others have suggested I’ve never seen one of these tariffs actual be a market leader. Suppliers are only allowed to offer 4 tariffs at any given time, why would they waste a slot on something like this? Even if all 11k customers sign up it isn’t a lot.

By all means register interested but check the results against a comparison site and I be confident you can find something cheaper.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Bark01 wrote: »

There is a big difference between the number of people registered and the number of people who actually take up the deal.

As others have suggested I’ve never seen one of these tariffs actual be a market leader. Suppliers are only allowed to offer 4 tariffs at any given time, why would they waste a slot on something like this? Even if all 11k customers sign up it isn’t a lot.

By all means register interested but check the results against a comparison site and I be confident you can find something cheaper.

Although what suppliers are allowed to do and what they actually do aren't always the same. BG and SSE offer more than 4 using White Label getarounds, and OVO seem quite happy to offer 6 on their own website!