British Gas Tariff?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

I’m really sorry if these seems a stupid question

I’ve moved into my own property which has gas and electric set up as direct debit. Before moving I was renting for 7 years and had pre-payment cards (They were the meters that were already in place)

My supplier is British Gas – as im in a new house (different “type” and also bigger) so for the first year im not going to know how much i spend so will monitor and check against Martins energy checker but for now what i wanted to find out was whether or not it was worth me going on a fixed tariff.

At the moment I am on a standard tariff for both gas and elec. I get £15 off a year for “dual fuel”

The rates are:

Gas: 5.08p per kWh
Elec: 15.01p per kWh

British Gas are trying to get me to sign up to their “fix and reward” which is fixed until Feb 2016, has no exit fees, gives a £50 gift card and rates are:

Gas: 5.03p per kWh
Elec: 14.97p per kWh

With both tariffs I can collect nectar points also.

Seems like a good offer? So what’s the catch?!

As I mentioned, I’m going to be switching using Martins tool if it is cheaper elsewhere but not until i have a few months of usage to compare

Thanks!

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

I’m really sorry if these seems a stupid question

I’ve moved into my own property which has gas and electric set up as direct debit. Before moving I was renting for 7 years and had pre-payment cards (They were the meters that were already in place)

My supplier is British Gas – as im in a new house (different “type” and also bigger) so for the first year im not going to know how much i spend so will monitor and check against Martins energy checker but for now what i wanted to find out was whether or not it was worth me going on a fixed tariff.

At the moment I am on a standard tariff for both gas and elec. I get £15 off a year for “dual fuel”

The rates are:

Gas: 5.08p per kWh
Elec: 15.01p per kWh

British Gas are trying to get me to sign up to their “fix and reward” which is fixed until Feb 2016, has no exit fees, gives a £50 gift card and rates are:

Gas: 5.03p per kWh
Elec: 14.97p per kWh

With both tariffs I can collect nectar points also.

Seems like a good offer? So what’s the catch?!

As I mentioned, I’m going to be switching using Martins tool if it is cheaper elsewhere but not until i have a few months of usage to compare

Thanks!

You've neglected to include the standing charge, which is crucial.

That said, I'd bet my mortgage that there'll be a better tariff than BG's fix elsewhere.

Average consumption is 13,500 KWh gas, 3,200 KWh electricity. Adjust upwards if you think you'll use more, this should allow you to see roughly what tariffs are the best for your region and consumption.

JJ_Egan

Those rates are expensive both gas and electric .

You would be better to check prices just using average usage rather than build up a picture through usage .
Its the tariff prices that are the key not any guessed at amount PA.

Cardew

You won't know your consumption until you have been in the house 12 months - you cannot use a winter month's consumption as the basis of a complete years consumption.


You have omitted the Daily Standing Charge(DSC) from the BG figures you have quoted. The DSC can make a big difference between tariffs of the various companies as it ranges fro zero to around 50p a day for both gas and electricity.


For my area (Midlands) this is 26.01p per day (£94.93 per year) per fuel for the BG Fix and Reward Feb 2016.






You are better off guessing your consumption and see how the BG tariffs compare for various levels of consumption.


The UK average is 13,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity.


With that consumption in my area(Midlands) BG Fix & Reward February 2016 would cost £1200pa.


There are 55 cheaper tariffs available with the cheapest being the Coop fair and square January 2016 at £947 - so BG is 26.7% more expensive than that tariff.
Their gas is 3.140p per kWh and electricity 10.406p per kWh with a DSC for each of 24.66p(£90 a year)


It is a racing certainty that whatever consumption levels you guess at for your new house that there will be much cheaper tariffs than BG.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

AHH of course – sorry I’ve neglected the standing charges. Thank you all for pointing that out

Your right I think I need to guess the consumption and use the MSE tool to get a cheaper deal. The only reason I like BG is because of their mobile app but I assume most companies now have something similar anyway.


Thanks for the replies and help

lstar337

Do you have an EPC for your new property?

If a new EPC it will have some figures for gas/electric over a year, if it's an older EPC you may be able to have a good guess based off the efficiency rating.

British Gas is very unlikely to be your cheapest option, so try some guesstimate figures in a comparison site and see what you can get.

Look out for the suppliers who are very cheap at the moment but who are terrible at their job. Just my opinion, but avoid spark/npower/scottish power/utility warehouse.

Nada666

Note that although other suppliers will be cheaper many of them will share British Gas' anomaly - the standard tariff will often be more expensive than the shorter fix which, I think, is why the OP was thinking there may be a catch. There isn't. Short fixes are (often) a supplier's cheapest tariff.