MSE News: Collective switching comes of age as 60,000 save £10 million

System

web_ferret wrote: »

Hmm I smelt a rat and went looking.
Seems like I am correct.
This isn't what it seems. £ 60 exit fees thats some lock in and as others have said, dependant on region this latest MSE switch is being misrepresented.

I'm out.

Let others judge: complain to the ASA.

DragonQ

It's a bit strange to be in a time where prices are actually dropping. I only completed a switch a month ago and now I can save £40 over the next year (including cashback and exit fees) by switching my gas supplier. Splitting gas and electricity is usually better for me and once again it'd save money compared to the Sainsburys MSE dual fuel tariff. It's not even usage dependent: both the standing charge and unit rate are lower.

Is there a limit to cashback from a single supplier by the way? Like once per year maybe?

Consumerist

The trick, for me, when it comes to comparison sites, is to always use any standard variable tariff as my "current" tariff and to ignore any "savings" claimed.

The standard variable tariff means no assumptions are made about the time spent on it. Ignoring the claimed savings and concentrating on just the estimated annual costs has always been the best policy anyway.

Consumerist

DragonQ wrote: »

. . . Is there a limit to cashback from a single supplier by the way? Like once per year maybe?

Cash-back is offered by switching sites - not suppliers. They often restrict cash-back to once per year so using a different switching site will get around that restriction.

Suppliers may charge early-termination fees, however, if you switch before a fixed-term contract ends.

Wallhart

I'm sick and tired of the bull I read in the papers the news sites, reading industry protectionist.

Take this with a pinch of salt but I have reason to be confident these companies had, may still have, secret meetings.

Saying that it's an absolute farce and anyone who thinkd they haven't got the government in their pocket is deluded. They try and outsmart you by talking about future contracts etc but let's have some clarity.

Most retail arms will hedge prices through intercompany contracts with their parent company. By laws of transfer pricing they have to be done at market prices. However, it is not hard for them to time these for when the market price is higher than the hedge they have in the market from their parent company. if their hedge is not lower they will shorter the intercompany hedging cycle herefore inadvertently pushing profit into the wholesale arm at the expense of the retail arm.

Now not saying this is exactly what they are doing and energy is one derivative market I have less experience with But let's face the facts.

Rising wholesale prices: oh we have to push prices up very quickly
Falling g wholesale prices: we are hedged in at higher prices
End of winter: look we will drop gas (which you don't use of much in summer)
Start of winter: we have to pass on prices

What is the media, this site's leader doing about that Because their voice isn't loud enough. I guess it's still too populist to attack bankers

And labour tell you they are going to fix prices. Oh yeah thanks at these elevated prices. Lol thanks labour

What do they take everyone for. Why can the government bash bankers constantly but give energy companies a free ride, bar a few words.

It's a joke.

They should be forced to provide transparency on the retail arm

This site is fantastic it really is but the advice is short term. There needs to be long term remediation to how these companies operate

For politic party's which all say they don't like taxing the average person on the street they somehow love stealth taxe. Put more money in the pocket of the average person and the economy will prosper, create Job, increase the tax revenue you have given up, provide some inflation which is good for the government debt burden

All opinions are obviously just mine