Offer I think I can refuse, but?

oldwiring

My fixed contract with SP ends end of June, so my first chance to change to another supplier, should i wish, without penalties is ~mid May.

They sent me an offer of a £20 credit to change to a new fix now, and it seems no sense to take it up, the extra cost of energy used from now to the contract end being estimated by me @~ £30 after application of the credit.0

I can ignore, but am I missing something, some event very likely to upset may calculations and logic?

Please! No comments on SP prices, service and the such.
I have no fault to find,

System

Only you know the answer. I would do a full market price comparison before making a decision. Remember, there are suppliers such as Bulb that will refund your exit fees and pay you £50 if you switch to them ( you need to use a referral link but these are readily available).

House_Martin

oldwiring wrote: »

My fixed contract with SP ends end of June, so my first chance to change to another supplier, should i wish, without penalties is ~mid May.

They sent me an offer of a £20 credit to change to a new fix now, and it seems no sense to take it up, the extra cost of energy used from now to the contract end being estimated by me @~ £30 after application of the credit.0

I can ignore, but am I missing something, some event very likely to upset may calculations and logic?

Please! No comments on SP prices, service and the such.
I have no fault to find,

Have a look at British Gas and their All Online 2019 tariff which is the leading big 6 tariff in my area ..
A dual fuel switch via Top Cash Back can beat the Cheap Energy Club derisory £30 cashback offer and equal these referral fees cashbacks and at least you can move to someone you have heard of and are still likely to be in business next year.
Tts rare but BG at the moment are leading the pack of the big 6 and with a decent cashback by Topcashback are up there with the "unknowns " springing up weekly
As Hengus says, visit a comparison site, eg Uswitch but make sure to use the "see the full market " link and not just "who can I switch to now "

oldwiring

@Both:) My thoughts were not so much on changing, but on why SP should choose to make an offer at this time. I'm not convinced that they would make it, beneficial to me or not, were there not something in it for them.

Are they, perhaps, wanting to tie in for sake of the customer base?
@House Martin I'm also inclined to deal with established names.

Smodlet

The answer is in your OP, OP. They sent you an offer of £20 to change to a new fix with them now... So you would be tied in to a new fixed term, would you not? You would be liable for exit fees for much longer than a couple of months as no new fix is going to be for a matter of weeks; it will probably be nearer to a year.

[Deleted User]

Smodlet wrote: »

You would be liable for exit fees for much longer than a couple of months as no new fix is going to be for a matter of weeks; it will probably be nearer to a year.

Are exit fees not fixed rather than pro rata?

Smodlet

No, they are fixed for fixed term tariffs except during the last 49 days of the period covered by the tariff. That is what "fixed" means. The exit fees do not gradually reduce the nearer you get to the end date.

In_Cider

Psssssstttt .... a little inside secret when you sign up to a fixed term you are signing a contract for a predetermined period.

However if you look at the Ts and Cs, particularly with the big six (its now 9), most dont charge if you change to another tariff with themselves.

So do the price comparison but dont sign to anything, if you find a better deal, go onto your online account/phone your provider and change to a non penalty tariff. Once you have confirmation (email or online account screenshot). Go back on to wherever and pick up your deal.

thorganby

oldwiring wrote: »

My fixed contract with SP ends end of June, so my first chance to change to another supplier, should i wish, without penalties is ~mid May.

They sent me an offer of a £20 credit to change to a new fix now, and it seems no sense to take it up, the extra cost of energy used from now to the contract end being estimated by me @~ £30 after application of the credit.0

I can ignore, but am I missing something, some event very likely to upset may calculations and logic?

Please! No comments on SP prices, service and the such.
I have no fault to find,

What you are missing is that SP like other suppliers offer cheaper tariffs via comparison websites and are offering you a £20 bribe to get you to agree to a dearer fix now before you current fix ends!

Make a note of the unit rate/standing charge/total cost for the tariff that they are offering and then look on a comparison site e.g. Simply Switch and you will find that SP will have a much cheaper tariff available that you can switch to.

So basically even if you want to stay with SP you would be silly to accept any tariff that they offer you, even with the bribe when you can switch to a comparison website exclusive cheaper tariff in minutes online and get cash back as a bonus. Unlike a normal energy company switch which takes weeks, this is simply a change of tariff with your existing supplier and it is confirmed by email in days. No exit fees are incurred when simply changing to a new tariff, so you don't need to wait until your current fix ends.

Don't waste your time with the cheaper energy clubs £25 when over £40 is currently available via Simply Switch for a dual fuel switch.

Smodlet

How can Simply Switch claim they offer a "unique service"? I can name half a dozen sites which offer exactly the same service off the top of my head and know there are several more.

ETA: I have just run a comparison through this site and it returned a load of BS. It claimed to save me nearly £200 by switching to BG and paying at least that much more than my current fixed tariff.

thorganby

Smodlet wrote: »

How can Simply Switch claim they offer a "unique service"? I can name half a dozen sites which offer exactly the same service off the top of my head and know there are several more.

ETA: I have just run a comparison through this site and it returned a load of BS. It claimed to save me nearly £200 by switching to BG and paying at least that much more than my current fixed tariff.

You are missing the point entirely!

Cheaper tariffs exclusively available on comparison websites are better than the supplier will offer direct, even with "special customer" £20 bribe!

The last comparison site that I used was Free Price Compare via TCB because they were giving the highest cashback at the time.

Simply Switch are just one of many comparison sites and do not claim to be unique:

Why Use Simply Switch?

* Simply switch is a free and impartial website that can offer you an unbiased view of what gas and electricity deals are out there.
* We are approved by Ofgem so you can trust us to find you the best deal on gas and electricity.
* Switching energy supplier through Simply Switch means that you!!!8217;ll be able to access exclusive deals on gas and electricity that wont be found anywhere else.
* Many people think that switching gas and electricity supplier is difficult, but it doesn!!!8217;t need to be.
* At Simply Switch we take care of all the paperwork and hassle so that you don!!!8217;t have to.
* If you switch energy supplier through Simply Switch you!!!8217;ll be saving up to £390 per year on your gas and electricity bills!

You yourself should be able to calculate the total overall cost of any tariff offered to you and the actual comparison website used is only relevant because of the amount of cashback available!