Time to Fix?

fusewire

With Npower raising electricity prices by 15% and gas prices by 4.8% from 16th March it looks like time to find a fixed deal that lasts for more than a year perhaps. I am on the collective British Gas deal ending this month and with no new collective in sight I have checked EDF fix till Feb 18 and British Gas fix till March 2019, both are about the same, but nothing like my existing deal. I am not too sure about some of the smaller companies, which may or may not survive. Customer service is important although none appear to be great in that department. British Gas did change my meters from the old pointer type and I was pleased about that as the new ones are easier to read even if they will not work as smart meters with another supplier. Is a long term (2 year) fix the way to go?

brewerdave

I've gone for a 2 year fix on gas (Better Energy) because the rate was competitive but I couldn't find a decent 2 year fix for leccy so gone for 1 year fix with Iresa.

elle_may

My fix ends 31 April and i am on my suppliers cheap fix. So i was thinking of moving to another fix my thought's are, as we still have another 2mth of winter yet and i have the warm discount coming up which may not be paid till May and if i moved to another supplier i will lose that.

I think i will stay on this till later and will look at longer fix after. that. It is a case of if's and but's and only the energy companies are winning, no matter how canny we are in our switching.

fusewire

Are there any better two year fixed deals than British Gas and EDF, or is it better to only look for 12 month fix with the smaller companies and hope they survive and in some case improve their customer services.

footyguy

fusewire wrote: »

Are there any better two year fixed deals than British Gas and EDF, or is it better to only look for 12 month fix with the smaller companies and hope they survive and in some case improve their customer services.

Consult a comparison site.

It will tell you if there are any cheaper 2 year deals , and how they compare costwise to other tariffs available.

Most comparison sites also have a customer service rating for each supplier

System

fusewire wrote: »

Are there any better two year fixed deals than British Gas and EDF, or is it better to only look for 12 month fix with the smaller companies and hope they survive and in some case improve their customer services.

Be very careful when looking at the costs of long term fixes. Yes, you may get certainty for 2 years but you can bet your pension that the suppliers have loaded the tariff to make sure that the chances of them losing out is pretty well nil. Note, any cash back is a 'one off'; that is, you do not get it in year 2. Most importantly, do your own sums. If you look at MSE CEC for example it will show you a 12 month projection. It follows that if it shows a £100 increase, then this is for Year 1 only. For a 2 Year fix, the difference will be £200.

It also follows that if you could get a 1 Year fix at £50 more, you need to think hard about whether Year 2 (a second one year fix) will cost you £150 more. If it doesn't, you will save money by going for just a one year fix. I have and it has cost me £30 a year more through until December 2017 - and I switched from 2 of the cheapest tariffs on the market.

brewerdave

I went with 2 year fix for gas because it was only £18 py (~3%) more than 1 yr fix. Unfortunately the differences were much larger on leccy fixes.

ASavvyBuyer

We went for a 2 year fix with Zog for Gas when it came up for renewal. Was only about £7 a year more than a 1 year fix, so thought it worth it to guarantee the good rate for two years. If prices drop dramatically, more than the £30 exit fee, we can always switch again. Zog may not be the cheapest, but they are not that far off it for us.

System

ASavvyBuyer wrote: »

We went for a 2 year fix with Zog for Gas when it came up for renewal. Was only about £7 a year more than a 1 year fix, so thought it worth it to guarantee the good rate for two years. If prices drop dramatically, more than the £30 exit fee, we can always switch again. Zog may not be the cheapest, but they are not that far off it for us.

I think that you may need to replace your crystal ball. With oil prices on the rise again, I suspect that cheap energy is something that we may not see again for some time.

C_Mababejive

I am quite comfortable to let the market float freely and the do my deal when my current contract comes up for renewal in July. I have been with the same spplier for maybe 3 years now and every time it comes up for renewal, they offer me the best deal i can get so i sign up again. I also like their website as it gives me lots of useful data,,whats not to like? If anyone is interested, inbox me