MSE Cheap Energy Club

AndyJ52

Hi, I'm currently on the CEC BG Collective Fix February 2017. Clearly that deal Is coming to an end soon so I'd like to ask whether the CEC has any plans to set up another Collective auction in the foreseeable future that I should look out for - or should I just scour the market for whatever 'good' deals may be currently available?

Many thanks in advice for any information or guidance that the CEC guys can offer me ...... it will be much appreciated.

System

The last Collective Switch failed to attract much supplier interest. The prices were more than the best deals already on the market, so MSE CEC declined to promote the offer. Since then, MSE CEC has published a supplier deal that was unique to MSE CEC but it was only available to new customers. I fear that the days of competitive collective switches have come to an end. This is a result of the recent liberalisation of the energy market following the recent CMA investigation into competition.

FWiW, I would start looking to switch today without waiting for MSE CEC.

Telegraph_Sam

I too am on the BG Feb 2017 Collective Fix deal and am beginning to ask exactly the same questions as to what happens in March 2017. However ALL indications I have had from competitor suppliers and switching institutions are that this is a very good deal indeed - "unbeatable" in my circumstances - so I am very much hoping that there will be a MSE successor. There is of course an exit penalty (precise terms somewhat unclear) which would cancel out any benefit from switching now.
Gut feeling tells me that in a liberalised market MSE is going to have more negotiating clout than myself individually so it would be very helpful if MSE could let me and others know their intentions as soon as reasonably practicable. Hopefully positive

c_smith

I'm in the same situation. All the current dual fuel deals are much more expensive than my the BG Collective fix Feb deal. The cheapest option I can see at the moment is separate suppliers for gas and electricity. Make sure you consider this option and if MSE comes up with a collective fix to better it, you can always switch later. Don't switch too early though to make sure you get the full term out of the BG deal. I would suggest switching in the second week in February, once you set a switch in motion I'm fairly sure that your current deal is maintained for 20 days or so after the end date.

System

c_smith wrote: »

I'm in the same situation. All the current dual fuel deals are much more expensive than my the BG Collective fix Feb deal. The cheapest option I can see at the moment is separate suppliers for gas and electricity. Make sure you consider this option and if MSE comes up with a collective fix to better it, you can always switch later. Don't switch too early though to make sure you get the full term out of the BG deal. I would suggest switching in the second week in February, once you set a switch in motion I'm fairly sure that your current deal is maintained for 20 days or so after the end date.

CAVEAT EMPTOR - some of the new smaller suppliers - Iresa for example - are adopting a do nothing approach during the 14 day following off period. It follows that if a deal ends on, say, the 28th February and you apply to switch on the 14th, then the losing supplier may not be informed of a switch prior to the end of the fixed term contract. In such cases, it is usual for the losing supplier to switch you to its SVR tariff. Suppliers signed up to 17 day switching action the transfer during the cooling off period so this isn't an issue. Seventeen day switching is still a voluntary code.

Telegraph_Sam

I now believe that it is possible to exist from the Feb 2017 Collective Fix free of the exit fee as from 9 Jan - but to me no one in his right mind would want to do so such are the advantages. I have signed up for two other collective fixes but there is no certainty that these will dovetail in with the end of the BG deal, or yet what terms they can offer. According to MSE's own publicity this scheme was a great success so one would think that whoever was responsible would by now be working on a replacement. Do the MSE experts read these posts???
I have yet to check out individual fuels as opposed to dual fuels, tks for the tip, but I would be amazed if these could bridge the gap.

System

Telegraph_Sam wrote: »

I now believe that it is possible to exist from the Feb 2017 Collective Fix free of the exit fee as from 9 Jan - but to me no one in his right mind would want to do so such are the advantages. I have signed up for two other collective fixes but there is no certainty that these will dovetail in with the end of the BG deal, or yet what terms they can offer. According to MSE's own publicity this scheme was a great success so one would think that whoever was responsible would by now be working on a replacement. Do the MSE experts read these posts???
I have yet to check out individual fuels as opposed to dual fuels, tks for the tip, but I would be amazed if these could bridge the gap.

They tried this a month or so ago and the bids received came in higher than the best deals on the market. ML's team therefore took the decision not to promote the offer but to point people towards the best deals on the CEC website. The dynamics behind collective deals have now changed: one, market prices are increasing and , two, the CMA recommendations now allow a comparison site to offer one off deals to new customers. In my view, the days of collective deals as we knew them are over and we will see more deals open to new customers only. Why would any supplier want to pay a comparison site £60 just to keep an existing customer?

Telegraph_Sam

I fear that you are probably right though I don't yet follow the reasoning. You would think that other than in an extreme sellers' market the principles of collective bargaining / the power of numbers would still apply. Particularly if the system is meant to be becoming more transparent, and new independent suppliers are entering the market.

" ..now allow a comparison site to offer one off deals to new customers." Was this not always the case? New customers = those that switch via comparison sites?? I'm missing a trick somewhere.

I have been offered a new "best deal" by BG but on investigation the £8.69 saving that they claim is in comparison with their standard variable tariff

System

Telegraph_Sam wrote: »

I fear that you are probably right though I don't yet follow the reasoning. You would think that other than in an extreme sellers' market the principles of collective bargaining / the power of numbers would still apply. Particularly if the system is meant to be becoming more transparent, and new independent suppliers are entering the market.

" ..now allow a comparison site to offer one off deals to new customers." Was this not always the case? New customers = those that switch via comparison sites?? I'm missing a trick somewhere.

I have been offered a new "best deal" by BG but on investigation the £8.69 saving that they claim is in comparison with their standard variable tariff

Think about it: 100,000 referrals means £6M in referral fees. We may yet see suppliers ringing existing customers offering a £30 discount to stay but this will depend on how far Ofgem is prepared to change the rules. As it is, we are seeing the cheapest limited time deals restricted to new customers only, and deals linked to only one comparison site. This is what the CMA is after. A collective switch where 80% of consumers stay with their existing supplier; pay no exit fees and get £30 cash in hand for doing so makes no sense for a business - but, that said, I am not in the energy supply business.

Telegraph_Sam

Are the consequences that (as I think I read somewhere) in order to get the best deal going you now have to trawl through the various search engines rather than rely on just one? Seems that there's a gap in the market for a search engine that searches other search engines ....

"A collective switch where 80% of consumers stay with their existing supplier .." assumes that the collective doesn't switch (or threaten to)!!

Former_MSE_Laura_B

Hi all,

We’re planning to run another collective switch early this year, but we don’t yet have any details around dates which we can share.

However the cheapest deal available today may not be available in a few weeks' time. We've seen the price of the cheapest energy deal jump over £100 per year (on typical use) in the last couple of months, and with rising wholesale costs the trend's likely to continue. You can either fix and lock in your prices now to be safe, or hold on to see if we can negotiate a better deal.

If we do go ahead with another collective, details will be included in our weekly email:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/

Thanks,
MSE Laura