Scottish power: fix to march 2015 or dec 2014

andrew-b

Bit of a predicament of what to do:

I'm currently on Scottish Power Online Fixed Price Jan 2014 (ends 31st December 2013). As i'm in the broader group for Warm Home Discount i can't leave before end of March 2014 else i miss out on £135 discount.

Usage based on the last year:
Electric 4257kWh
Gas 11932 kWh

Current price: £984 less £135 WHD = £849 or £70.75 a month. Direct Debit set to £80 at moment and i'm about £38 in credit.


Option 1: Do nothing until WHD paid at end of March 2014 - which means from 1st January i think i'd go onto their standard online tariff at £1199 (before WHD) based on current usage . That's £215 per year more = £17.83 a month more than now so £88.66 per month with WHD. If i go this route i'd reasses in March 2014 and chase the best deal then.


Option 2: Fix with Scottish Power to 31st March 2015. Cost on current usage £1,115 (before WHD) . £131 per year more than now so £81.66 per month with WHD. However if i should decide to switch after 31st March 2014 there's a £50 exit fee ..though if i can switch to other Scottish Power deals without penalty.


Option 3: Fix with Scottish Power to 31st December 2014. Cost on current usage £1152 (before WHD). £168 per year more than now so £84.75 per month with WHD. No exit penalties but come next year i'll likely be faced with a similar predicament if i haven't moved elsewhere before then...but i pay more than fixing to March 2015 for the privilege.


All other comparisons i've done are at least £121 more than i'm paying now with only First Utility making a greater saving of £2 than Scottish Power's fix to march 2015.


So what to do?

If i change to a different fix at scottish power now i'm going to be paying more than the current deal for a couple of months BUT i guarantee against bigger price rises than the current fixed price offerings. If i wait a week or two Scottish power may withdraw these fixes. I was going to move to EDF Blue March 2015 but bailed out because of the loss of Warm Home discount. However you look at it i'll be paying more but i want to minimise it as much as possible.

sillygoose

I am/was in the same boat but on Scottish Power online fixed to March 2014, its as good as guaranteed Scottish Power and all the others will hike substantially shortly, they all need to get profits up after a good summer cut down usage. If the winter is mild they will hike again next year.

I have switched to Scottish Power online fixed until March 2015, ran every comparison site including SP's own and they all agreed that the new rate was £75 a year more than my current one. After the hikes soon I don't think there will be anything as cheap available in March 2014 when my rate would have run out.

The comparisons also showed that my previous fix had 'worked' up to now as there were no rates on the market currently any cheaper than the one I was on. If I had been quicker at the time there were even cheaper fixed rates around but I dithered too long and the SP March 14 was the best still left back then.

Main change is SP March 2015 is a bad old standing charge tariff but I know my historical usage quite well so I am happy the calculations are right for me.

andrew-b

i've done the same as you in the end and went for the fix to march 2015 deal. Just looked on my scottish power account and it's all gone through and my direct debit has been upped to £92.93. Annoys me that they don't take account of warm home discount in the direct debit setting (or allow me to reduce to anything less - only more) but i'll get it back one or way or another!

vickyanne_2

Get them to ring you Andrew but be armed with your up to date consumption for the year and the amount of any discount and credit balances. Work out how much it cost per month with all of these then get ready to argue if it's less than they want to charge you per month. I did this and got my DD down from the £150 they wanted to £136. I just get fed up of always being in credit. The computer said no initially but I stuck to it and off she went a couple of times and eventually came up with something we agreed on.