Ive been offered 3 years fixed...Should I?

silkyuk9

Im currently with First Utility until July 2015 when my tarriff deal ends. Ive been offered a fixed deal until 2018


click image to enlarge




Basically should I or not?

Andy_WSM

No one really knows! Fixed tariffs are a bit of a gamble.

At the moment wholesale prices are declining slightly, oil is dropping in value, so it follows that gas is too as the two are linked.

However; we're heading towards Winter when demand is higher - and lots of talk of electricity short falls this year, which may put prices up as the emergency measures on standby will cost millions of £s to impliment - and guess who will pay the bill?

Labour have likely thrown a spanner in the works as the fools stated that if they get in power (heaven help us!) again next year they will ensure energy costs are frozen. That's all well and good if they'd continued on an upward trend, but it's likely they are being held artificially high now by the utility companies with the "threat" of them being frozen in mind.

Toss a coin - that's about as good as it gets right now!

Andy_WSM

p.s Those prices do not look particularly competitive to me!

Try looking away from "dual fuel" which seems to offer little benefit now and look at some of the smaller suppliers.

I moved my gas to Daligas last year and fixed at 3.14p /kWh. I know their rate is about 3.5p /kWh now, which is still better than you have been offered.

wiogs

This very question was asked on Moneybox on Radio 4 yesterday and the consensus was not to fix for such a long time.

Here is a link to the prog should you wish to listen to the reasoning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04md569

lstar337

wiogs wrote: »

This very question was asked on Moneybox on Radio 4 yesterday and the consensus was not to fix for such a long time.

Here is a link to the prog should you wish to listen to the reasoning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04md569

Is there an exit fee though?

I'm fixed for cheaper than a variable, and with no exit fee.

So long as there is no exit fee and the fix is competitive, there is no reason not to.

wiogs

lstar337 wrote: »

Is there an exit fee though?

I'm fixed for cheaper than a variable, and with no exit fee.

So long as there is no exit fee and the fix is competitive, there is no reason not to.

That was part of the discussion too.

silkyuk9

lstar337 wrote: »

Is there an exit fee though?

I'm fixed for cheaper than a variable, and with no exit fee.

So long as there is no exit fee and the fix is competitive, there is no reason not to.

I think there is a £30 fee if you want to move from First Utility before your contract ends

Pincher

Doing a long fix just makes sure that you are on a bad deal ALL THE TIME.

Being on short fixes means you might pay more a year from now, but you have also saved for a year paying less.

For those of us that have been doing short fixes for the last five years, it's not a matter of breaking even: we are laughing ourselves silly.

joncombe

silkyuk9 wrote: »

I think there is a £30 fee if you want to move from First Utility before your contract ends

You might be able to get round this if you are allowed to switch to another First Utility tariff. If so, you should be able to swith to another First Utility tariff with no exit fee and then switch to the tariff of your choice (whether with First Utility or otherwise). Might be worth checking the T&C to see if there is anything that excludes this. Certainly this process was possible to get out of a fix with Scottish Power.

NittyGritty

silkyuk9 wrote: »

Im currently with First Utility until July 2015 when my tarriff deal ends. Ive been offered a fixed deal until 2018


click image to enlarge




Basically should I or not?

im just in the process of switching from npower march 2017 long fix deal to scotish power 1 year deal, when I initially took out the long fix prices were going up and looked to increase further,


but as now most have froze prices including SSE to name a few till 2016 I don't see point of long fixes for the time being at least, just my opinion tho. do what you feel best in the circumstances

silkyuk9

joncombe wrote: »

You might be able to get round this if you are allowed to switch to another First Utility tariff. If so, you should be able to swith to another First Utility tariff with no exit fee and then switch to the tariff of your choice (whether with First Utility or otherwise). Might be worth checking the T&C to see if there is anything that excludes this. Certainly this process was possible to get out of a fix with Scottish Power.

As I am with FI until july 2015 I can swap tarriff with them until 2018 without incurring a charge, however my question was should I? would it save me money in the long term? which presently from answers seem to be no.