Fixed or Variable - Cheap Energy Club (Outfox the market) ?

tawse57

Hi,


I just used the MSE Cheap Energy Club guide and it shows a load of companies to consider.


The top - cheapest - one is something called Outfox the Market which appears to be a variable price. I assume that means the prices could go up whenever they chose to increase them?


Apologies for being a numpty but I thought the point of changing energy suppliers was to lock in a price for 12 months and hence effectively cap what you are paying?



Or have I got that wrong?


Thanks for any info.

Skools_Out

tawse57 wrote: »

Hi,


I just used the MSE Cheap Energy Club guide and it shows a load of companies to consider.


The top - cheapest - one is something called Outfox the Market which appears to be a variable price. I assume that means the prices could go up whenever they chose to increase them?


Apologies for being a numpty but I thought the point of changing energy suppliers was to lock in a price for 12 months and hence effectively cap what you are paying?



Or have I got that wrong?


Thanks for any info.

You you have got that completely right. You are indeed wrong.

Try this:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

tawse57

Skools_Out wrote: »

You you have got that completely right. You are indeed wrong.

Try this:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

Read that already thanks - was looking for some constructive help / answer to my question.

JJ_Egan

No the point is not to lock in for 12 months .The point is to compare . Comparison what's available .
You then decide what suits you best .

Though 12 months is a normal FIXED tariff .



Fixed if you think prices will rise /
Variable if you really think they will drop .


Fixes longer than 12 months can be available .
A 2 year fix Feb 2018 is the route i choose .
With two different suppliers .

Skools_Out

tawse57 wrote: »

Read that already thanks - was looking for some constructive help / answer to my question.

If you failed to find my previous response constructive, I somehow feel you will find this one equally unconstructive.

But perhaps it will assist others who have a similar issue?

I would suggest you read it again, and hopefully you will then see that you are correct in that you are wrong.

May I also suggest you look particularly carefully as the Q&As, particularly over short or long term fixed rates. Whilst that itself demonstrates why you are correct to assume you are wrong in your understanding, if you were to consider a variable rate tariff as an extremely short fixed rate one, then that may cast some more light on the answer you are seeking.

ETA: You may also wish to think about why the CEC has various filtering options available to you such as showing just Fixed & Capped tariffs, Fixed & Capped tariffs that last at least 18 months, and just variable tariffs , as well as the default setting of all tariffs

ETA2: Outfox The Market are one of the numerous new suppliers of energy. Therefore they rely on consumers switching to them, unlike the Big 6 who started off with millions of legacy customers.
OFTM, as well as some other new suppliers, only appear to offer a variable tariff.
If you were correct in your understanding, why would anyone switch to them.
Hence why you are correct in that you are wrong in your understanding.

tawse57

JJ_Egan wrote: »

No the point is not to lock in for 12 months .The point is to compare . Comparison what's available .
You then decide what suits you best .

Though 12 months is a normal FIXED tariff .



Fixed if you think prices will rise /
Variable if you really think they will drop .


Fixes longer than 12 months can be available .
A 2 year fix Feb 2018 is the route i choose .
With two different suppliers .

Thank you.