Cheap Energy club

Robwiz

The 'how much you'll save' figure is always an overstatement because it assumes you will switch to your current supplier's standard tariff when your fixed/contract ends.

It may be worth looking for your current supplier's best deal in the list – that's what you would pay if you rolled over your commitment with them. The true saving is the difference between that and the cheapest on the list.

MABLE

Consumerist wrote: »

Extra Energy is getting some really bad reviews lately so I would give them a miss for a year or two until a better picture of their customer services emerges.

I am with EE and have found them very frustrating to deal with regarding their lack on online facilities. Having to record manually all my meter reads every month and my dd payments. Then phoning them to check they agree with my figures.

However that said they are now upping their game so to speak and now have a very active EE Rep on this site willing to help with any issues. Also the rep has advised that it should not be too long before full online services are available.

I will say one thing further that when you phone their customer service they are extremely polite and helpful and this has been the case since I joined them.

Radaday

anyone found out who the best deal for cheap gas & electric fixed tariff

victor2

Radaday wrote: »

anyone found out who the best deal for cheap gas & electric fixed tariff

I did earlier in the year by putting my annual usage figures into a couple of comparison sites and then getting cashback on the switch.

JJ_Egan

Radaday wrote: »

anyone found out who the best deal for cheap gas & electric fixed tariff

Yes i used MSE Energy Club and other comparison sites .
Fixed tariffs vary month by month .

chanz4

MABLE wrote: »

I am with EE and have found them very frustrating to deal with regarding their lack on online facilities. Having to record manually all my meter reads every month and my dd payments. Then phoning them to check they agree with my figures.

However that said they are now upping their game so to speak and now have a very active EE Rep on this site willing to help with any issues. Also the rep has advised that it should not be too long before full online services are available.

I will say one thing further that when you phone their customer service they are extremely polite and helpful and this has been the case since I joined them.

extra energy is worse than npower, that's because its management is ex npower that sunk them

brewerdave

Anybody thinking of switching to EON on this MSE Collective 12 month fix?? I'm 6 months into a fix with OVO and it looks good to me -but I can't agree with their potential savings even allowing for the " existing supplier's standard tariff after x months" angle.
The figures they quote for EON per Kwh and daily standing charge - can't see whether they are inc of VAT or not ,which doesn't help!!

EDIT - Found some of the difference - when I enter my current OVO tariff ,MSE isn't allowing for the online only discount of £60 !!

victor2

brewerdave wrote: »

Anybody thinking of switching to EON on this MSE Collective 12 month fix?? I'm 6 months into a fix with OVO and it looks good to me -but I can't agree with their potential savings even allowing for the " existing supplier's standard tariff after x months" angle.
The figures they quote for EON per Kwh and daily standing charge - can't see whether they are inc of VAT or not ,which doesn't help!!

EDIT - Found some of the difference - when I enter my current OVO tariff ,MSE isn't allowing for the online only discount of £60 !!

I agree, it isn't clear if VAT is included, but I assume it as, as their calculations for my current tariff are very close to my own for the same usage. That does include the £60 discount in my case, but not of course the interest paid on a credit balance, although that will be a very small amount over the year anyway.
The reason it shows an annual cost a little higher than my calculations (around £30), I put down to the claim that it uses my fixed tariff until it ends next May and then uses Ovo's standard tariff after that, which my calculation doesn't.

Either way, I don't see that switching to the E.On tariff will be worth it. It claims I will save £101, but that excludes the £60 termination fee, and £30 switching bonus. I won't go onto the standard tariff anyway, so the bonus can effectively be disregarded. For an extra 6 months fixed, I'm not going for it. For once, energy prices are not expected to rise dramatically in the short term, so I'm happy to stay as I am and shop around next April/May for another tariff that suits me. Might even stop with Ovo if they offer another attractive deal...

Pincher

There's an official thread now for the big winter switch.

blanik

Robin_Davies wrote: »

The Cheap Energy Club is an excellent idea, and could work really well, but currently it is encouraging unnecessary switches by making the assumption that members will do nothing unless told to. Here's the problem:

The Club calculates potential savings by working out the costs of a year's usage based on estimates you provide. All of the alternative tariffs it suggests will be running for at least another year, whether they be fixed or variable, so in calculating their costs, it does the best job it can.

But if you are currently on a fix that ends in less than a year, it calculates your annual cost by assuming that, when the fix ends, you won't notice, and your supplier will put you on their standard tariff which costs a lot more. Compare this with, say, another fix that ends a year or more ahead, and you will see apparent savings that, as long as your current tariff is still running, may well not exist in practice.

This is a fundamental mistake which, for everyone on a fix that ends in less than a year, may easily cause them to switch early to another tariff that, in the short term, will actually cost them more money. I almost did this yesterday.

So if you're on a fix that ends in less than a year, you need to do your own calculations so see if a switch now is really a saving. However, now that suppliers provide standardised Tariff Information Labels, "doing the math" is not too arduous.

Unfortunately this is an Ofgem idea, and has applied to company bills as well. This was included from my current supplier.

"Our cheapest tariff for you
Over the next 12 months you
could save £108.75*
*you may be charged £30 per fuel if you
cancel more than 49 days before your
current tariff ends."

So on the face of it I could save £48.75 by switching. But I could save even more by waiting until Apil 2015.