Cheap Energy Club - not impressed

Joe0675

Beware if you are on a fixed tariff.
The Calculator says I can save £180 a year by switching.
I was surprised at this so I looked a bit closer and found that it assumes I will go on to Standard Tariff when my fixed tariff ends next April.
There is no way I will go to Standard Tariff, I'm not that daft!
I worked out that if I switched now my savings up to next April would be a BIG FAT ZERO!
I suggest you make this tool a bit more transparent for those on a fixed tariff.

smithgor

I too have just inputted my details into the Cheap Energy Club comparitor, being very careful to identify my current tariff correctly and use exact consumption figures (I record usage every month and even graph usage over the years) so I am certain the numbers are correct.
MSE Cheap Energy tells me I can save several hundred pound by changing.
BUT, when I run the Cheap Energy Club standing charge & Unit rates through my spreadsheet and compare to my existing tariff the difference is just a few pounds per fuel and overall a few pence more expensive!
I think the Cheap Energy Club is potentially misleading people about the savings it can offer.

twohapence

I too saw the potential savings and was impressed until I looked more closely. This calculation is downright misleading and would have ended up costing me money.

Seems like a number of other comparison tools have picked up on this skewed calculation as a way of boosting their income.

Be warned - there are lies, damned lies, and price comparison tools! :mad:

brewerdave

I've actually done the comparison by spreadsheet this a.m.
CEC says I'll save £241 per annum - HOWEVER, my "true" saving is going to be ~ £70 ,once I take account of::-
1. The fact that MSE/CEC doesn't acknowledge that my current deal has an online discount of £60
2. The escape penalty from my current plan of £60
3. The "standard tariff after current deal " line which I estimate in the Summer next year would cost me an extra £50

I'm still going to switch as the savings plus the switching bonus of £30 makes it worthwhile for me - BUT for lower users it will definitely be touch and go if they see any savings!!

cklass

CEC and all other comparison sites have to calculate savings in this way because of an Ofgem regulation, which stipulates that these calculations must take into account future tariff changes. Since CEC cannot predict which tariffs will be available in the future or which tariff you will choose to switch to when the time comes, it can only use the standard tariff for calculations. Martin has said MSE is campaigning against the regulation. CEC obviously isn't trying to hide this from you otherwise you wouldn't have noticed.

smithgor wrote: »

I too have just inputted my details into the Cheap Energy Club comparitor, being very careful to identify my current tariff correctly and use exact consumption figures (I record usage every month and even graph usage over the years) so I am certain the numbers are correct.
MSE Cheap Energy tells me I can save several hundred pound by changing.
BUT, when I run the Cheap Energy Club standing charge & Unit rates through my spreadsheet and compare to my existing tariff the difference is just a few pounds per fuel and overall a few pence more expensive!
I think the Cheap Energy Club is potentially misleading people about the savings it can offer.

It would be helpful to know your existing tariff and the tariff CEC is suggesting, so that we can figure out where the calculation has gone wrong. If CEC is providing incorrect calculations, it would obviously need to be corrected.

Nada666

Edit: Argh, don't wander off for fifteen minutes before sending a crossed-post.

Most comparison calculators do this. I believe it is a requirement of Ofgem. What matters is how clearly they display this along with the base cost.

Bark01

As above - but to put it another way its the cost of doing nothing and defaulting onto standard verses the cost of swapping to a current tariff.

All quotations be they from a supplier or from a comparison engine need to do this by default. The projections you see on your bills and annual statements will also do this. As the methodology should be universal, just pick the biggest saving just as you would have done so before.

However there is nothing stopping quotes being shown with the old and new methodology. I know on energylinx you can swithc between the methodologies

molerat

EnergyHelpline also allow you to choose which comparison method to use. CEC is an appalling site to use, image over substance. I want a list of my options, as provided by EHL, not a piece of slick confusing journalism.

smithgor

cklass wrote: »

It would be helpful to know your existing tariff and the tariff CEC is suggesting, so that we can figure out where the calculation has gone wrong. If CEC is providing incorrect calculations, it would obviously need to be corrected.

First Ulility - iSave Fixed v20 July 2015
2841Kw Electricity & 24610Kw Gas

£1316.63 First Utility
£1316.74 CEC

MegaMiniMouse

I responded to the emails about about the Cheap Energy Club, but it does nothing to reduce the number of variables which need to be considered before switching. My current tariff is fixed until March 2016 with zero exit charges in the meantime. The CEC offered me deals which would save me a maximum of £30 in a year, but were fixed only until November or December 2015, and all of which would charge early exit fees. The 'best' alternative was with a new company with no track record and which is not part of the Warm Homes Discount scheme which, to me, is worth £140 a year.

MSE's time would be better spent persuading the energy companies to offer fixed length fixed price contracts of, say, 12, 18 or 24 months duration with no other variables - that's what the phone companies do, and it works just fine for me. It would also help if the energy companies (again like the phone companies) expressed their standing charges as a monthly figure, and produced their bills on a monthly basis - this would obviously only work for customers who are able and willing to provide monthly meter readings, but it would not rule out the option for customers to enrol in a monthly payment plan based on estimated usage.

footyguy

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=66870372&postcount=3