Outfox the Market reviews: add your feedback
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The "calorific value" is something else that I find confusing and complicates things even more.
It is a measure of the energy derived from the gas. It is adjusted to an average figure and then used to calculate your usage in kWh.
It isn't something to worry about. You have no control over it and it doesn't matter who your gas supplier is.0 -
Interestingly, OTM are the cheapest supplier for me (by about £5 a month compared to a 12-month fix with Avro) but they offer a variable tariff. The fixed tariffs available from other suppliers have slowly crept up in price the past few days but OTM's tariff seems have stayed the same. Makes me wonder how long they can keep the price game up for.0
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I use cheap energy club for comparisons as i can select who gives warm home discount.. and then search around to see what cashback offers are about in quidco or topcashback if any (there is actually a topcashback energy comparison too) and click through from the cashback site to order. Both quidco and topcashback offering £46 for the dual fuel deal at SSE i went with whereas MSE was £25 cashback.So I take it the Cheap Energy Club isn't the cheapest search for energy prices, or do you go through Top Cashback when you have done the search at the energy club ?
And what is "warm home discount" ?
Warm home discount is a discount (currently £140 per year) administered by the energy companies for those on various benefits/limited income/pension credits. See https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme .
Unfortunately not all energy companies are part of the scheme which means if your entitled to it your choice becomes more limited when factoring it into comparisons. It's given in the form of credit to electricity account....so one way to chase a cheaper deal is to go to a cheaper small supplier for gas and a bigger supplier who does give WHD for electric .
OFTM don't take part in the scheme but back in april it unusually worked out cheaper to move to OFTM than to a deal with WHD.
In my view energy companies should not be the one's administering the scheme as it's resulted in a limited choice and those with a need to cut their outgoings aren't always getting at the cheapest deals.0 -
Yes i know. Maybe i'm just a cynic but it's a bit odd a bill generated on the 11th August used one figure and the corrected bill for the same billing date generated 2 days later used a lower figure instead. I only spotted it as i keep my own spreadsheet and hadn't updated the calorific value. When i looked all the way back to 2006 i found that 36.6 was the highest calorific value used in any of my bills i've ever had. I'm not sure how it's decided and how often the value is changed in their billing systems but the customer takes it in good faith that the value used in their bills is the correct one.ValiantSon wrote: »The calorific value is a variable factor and changes from time to time with all suppliers. This is nothing to do with increasing costs, but rather how much energy is produced by the gas supplied.0 -
I followed the instructions through MSE but it seemed the first three cheapest quotes did not like MSE help, it directed me to the website where I had to fill in all the details again.
Unfortunately, the quotes MSE comes up with is £12 cheaper than the actual website. To top it all, what Outfox have claimed to MSE about no surcharge for gas is incorrect. Although MSE had calculated the membership fee £8.50 a month as 27.945p a day this is charged for both the Electric and Gas. Duel discount was £30.
So to outline; although MSE got a good quote, when you go onto the companies website it is much higher. Not good at all.
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Beware folks switching, we have just done that from OVO energy and its been a nightmare all the way through. It seems these companies use a 3rd party to validate the meter readings and estimate them higher. As we have just moved in from abroad they estimated our usage from the previous owner which is much much higher than ours being a smaller family. Trying to get this resolved with OVO and these took ages even with proof of the meter reading supplied to them. They still wanted to estimate higher.
Switching is supposed to be easy but that's not our experience so far, no wonder people do not bother. OFTM are still the cheapest even with the fee, its dual fuel so a lot less than OVO at around 55ppd. 30-day contract with no exit fee makes it easier to move but going through a switch again, maybe not!!
We shall see how we get on but so far we are not impressed with a faceless company that is not easy to communicate with. They also take the DD upfront so you pay for it before you use it.
Hope that help people make the right decisions if they are brave enough to switch.0 -
Beware folks switching, we have just done that from OVO energy and its been a nightmare all the way through. It seems these companies use a 3rd party to validate the meter readings and estimate them higher. As we have just moved in from abroad they estimated our usage from the previous owner which is much much higher than ours being a smaller family. Trying to get this resolved with OVO and these took ages even with proof of the meter reading supplied to them. They still wanted to estimate higher.
Switching is supposed to be easy but that's not our experience so far, no wonder people do not bother.
All companies use a third party for verification of meter readings.
Your direct debit should have been based on your estiated annual usage, and not that of a previous owner.OFTM are still the cheapest even with the fee, its dual fuel so a lot less than OVO at around 55ppd. 30-day contract with no exit fee makes it easier to move but going through a switch again, maybe not!!
Switching is easy and the number of problems are small. You were unlucky once, but it does not mean that you will be again.We shall see how we get on but so far we are not impressed with a faceless company that is not easy to communicate with. They also take the DD upfront so you pay for it before you use it.
They are very easy to communicate with, either through live chat, or e-mail. The former is not available 24 hours per day, but responses are fast when they are, and the latter is normally responded to within 24 hours.
Lots of companies take the direct debit in advance. So what? Your direct debit is designed to cover the total projected annual cost divided by 12. It is irrelevant that you haven't used the fuel as that isn't how the payment works.Hope that help people make the right decisions if they are brave enough to switch.
What you are actually doing is spreading misinformation and fear. This is likely to be ignored by those who understand how the market works, and deter those who don't. You may mean well with your comments, but they are likely to cause some not to make sound financial decisions.0 -
Beware folks switching, we have just done that from OVO energy and its been a nightmare all the way through. It seems these companies use a 3rd party to validate the meter readings and estimate them higher. As we have just moved in from abroad they estimated our usage from the previous owner which is much much higher than ours being a smaller family. Trying to get this resolved with OVO and these took ages even with proof of the meter reading supplied to them. They still wanted to estimate higher.
The supplier will have access to the usage history of the property as a whole, they have no way of knowing how much energy you are going to use compared to who's lived there before. Therefore they have no choice but to estimate higher. Unless this is a meter reading issue and I presume you did supply Ovo with readings when you first came into the property and not six weeks later when you moved to OFTM and your dispute is actually about that and not the fact you believe Ovo can't count?
Remember if you end up overpaying to OFTM you'll just build up a credit on the account which your usage will be deducted from so overall it shouldn't cost you any more than that, in fact if possible its better to slightly overpay than underpay.We shall see how we get on but so far we are not impressed with a faceless company that is not easy to communicate with. They also take the DD upfront so you pay for it before you use it.
Which it tells you about when you sign up. You did read the T&Cs, right? And switching is easy, though with all due respect a lot of the "problems" on the forum due to switching are down to the customer, typically because they didn't read the T&Cs and then wonder why they get two DDs go out in two weeks.0 -
Neil_Jones wrote: »Remember if you end up overpaying to OFTM you'll just build up a credit on the account which your usage will be deducted from so overall it shouldn't cost you any more than that, in fact if possible its better to slightly overpay than underpay.
Do overpayments of the membership fee count towards credit?0 -
Do overpayments of the membership fee count towards credit?
You don't pay a separate figure in your Direct Debit so you are not actually overpaying your membership. If you are being overcharged then your costs go down which will increase your credit.
The first 4 months of my agreement I was being charged £8.99 per month when it should have been £6.99. I contacted them because I have years of figures which confirm what they had for the last 2 years flow rate. They amended all of my previous bills to account for the reduced charge.
My DD has not been reduced, but this does not bother me. Since 28th Feb I have paid them £363 and my account was £176 in credit on 28th July.3.795 kWp Solar PV System. Capital of the Wolds0
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