Cheap Energy Club giving erroneous information

doveman

I'm currently with Better Energy Online Saver 12 for gas paying:
21p/day £76.65/year
3.7590p/kWh £191.71/5100kWH
£268.36/year

and Bulb Vari-Fair for electricity paying:
20.445p/day £74.62/year
13.976p/kWh £388.81
£463.43/year for 2782 kWh

and these are shown correctly as my current tariffs in Cheap Energy Club with a total annual cost of £732/year.

It says I'll save £50 by switching to Bulb Vari-Fair. Obviously the Electricity cost will be the same but it says the estimated annual costs for 2782kWh is £443, £20 less than it actually is even though it shows the correct standing charge and unit cost.

The Bulb Vari-Fair gas prices are:
20.445p/day £74.62
3.612p/kWh £184.21/5100kWH
£258.83/year

which is a saving of £9.53 compared to my current Better Energy tariff but CEC shows the estimated annual cost for 5100kWH as £239, giving a saving of £19.83.

So I'd only actually save £9.53 but it's saying I'd save £50. I checked a couple of the other providers and they show the correct estimated annual costs, so it may just be Bulb that the figures are wrong for but it's pretty bad if this error has caused people to switch to Bulb when they could have saved more with a different company.

Gerry1

This mess is all Ofgem's fault. The comparisons assume you'll do nothing when your fixed rate ends and that you'll pay a fortune on their standard variable tariff.

Just ignore all the alleged savings and see whose tariff will be the cheapest.

Also don't believe Economy 7 fake quotations from the British Gas website and other suppliers. They don't ask for your day and night readings, they just assume an arbitrary day night split so you'll pay a lot more if your night usage is lower.

JJ_Egan

<This mess is all Ofgem's fault. The comparisons assume you'll do nothing when your fixed rate ends and that you'll pay a fortune on their standard variable tariff.>


And vast numbers do not know these very basic facts .

doveman

Gerry1 wrote: »

This mess is all Ofgem's fault. The comparisons assume you'll do nothing when your fixed rate ends and that you'll pay a fortune on their standard variable tariff.

How is it Ofgem's fault if the CEC site is miscalculating the estimated annual cost for just one supplier, when it has the correct standing charge and unit cost prices?

EnergyRookie

doveman wrote: »

I'm currently with Better Energy Online Saver 12 for gas paying:
21p/day £76.65/year
3.7590p/kWh £191.71/5100kWH
£268.36/year

and Bulb Vari-Fair for electricity paying:
20.445p/day £74.62/year
13.976p/kWh £388.81
£463.43/year for 2782 kWh

and these are shown correctly as my current tariffs in Cheap Energy Club with a total annual cost of £732/year.

It says I'll save £50 by switching to Bulb Vari-Fair. Obviously the Electricity cost will be the same but it says the estimated annual costs for 2782kWh is £443, £20 less than it actually is even though it shows the correct standing charge and unit cost.

The Bulb Vari-Fair gas prices are:
20.445p/day £74.62
3.612p/kWh £184.21/5100kWH
£258.83/year

which is a saving of £9.53 compared to my current Better Energy tariff but CEC shows the estimated annual cost for 5100kWH as £239, giving a saving of £19.83.

So I'd only actually save £9.53 but it's saying I'd save £50. I checked a couple of the other providers and they show the correct estimated annual costs, so it may just be Bulb that the figures are wrong for but it's pretty bad if this error has caused people to switch to Bulb when they could have saved more with a different company.

What supply region are you in. I'd be happy to take an in depth look for you to try and identify the root cause

doveman

EnergyRookie wrote: »

What supply region are you in. I'd be happy to take an in depth look for you to try and identify the root cause

Thanks but the problem is the fact that CEC is not calculating the estimated annual spend for Bulb correctly, despite showing the right tariff costs. I'm in Greater London.

EnergyRookie

doveman wrote: »

Thanks but the problem is the fact that CEC is not calculating the estimated annual spend for Bulb correctly, despite showing the right tariff costs. I'm in Greater London.

Is that the Seeboard region? I think so.

The error occurs because MSE is still taking into account £20 per fuel bill credit, but you won't be entitled to that (nor any possible cashback) as you are currently a customer of Bulb.

So the electricity will cost you £463pa, not the £443 indicated.

Similarly for the gas it would be £259pa, not £239 indicated.

However, the CEC cannot switch you as you are a current customer, and Bulb would give you the correct figures when you apply to them.
In fact all you are doing is switching your gas, as your electric is already with Bulb on the tariff you desire.

BUT....

Whether you are saving £50 or just £10 pa moving your gas to Bulb, you could save over £150pa switching to another supplier entirely (as shown by the CEC), and there are a good half dozen suppliers cheaper than Bulb for you on a dual fuel tariff even considering the underestimation of the costs with them.

Ditch & switch today :money:

doveman

EnergyRookie wrote: »

Is that the Seeboard region? I think so.

The error occurs because MSE is still taking into account £20 per fuel bill credit, but you won't be entitled to that (nor any possible cashback) as you are currently a customer of Bulb.

Yeah, I think it is Seeboard.

The tariff information for Bulb doesn't say anything about any £20 per fuel bill credit (or any cashback), so I don't know why MSE is taking that into account.

The highest dual fuel saving it shows is £133 (I haven't checked to make sure that is correct) but that supplier doesn't provide the £140 Warm Home discount. The cheapest supplier with WHD is Avro for an estimated £82/year saving but they don't have any feedback, so the cheapest with good feedback is Bulb for an estimated £50/year saving.

If I stick with Bulb for electricity to get the WHD and just switch my gas to Zog, who have good feedback, I'll save an estimated £54/year so there's not much in it.

EnergyRookie

doveman wrote: »

...
The tariff information for Bulb doesn't say anything about any £20 per fuel bill credit (or any cashback), so I don't know why MSE is taking that into account.

It's offered to brand new customers, along with the usual cashback.
You don't see it as you are an existing customer.

doveman wrote: »

The highest dual fuel saving it shows is £133 (I haven't checked to make sure that is correct) but that supplier doesn't provide the £140 Warm Home discount. The cheapest supplier with WHD is Avro for an estimated £82/year saving but they don't have any feedback, so the cheapest with good feedback is Bulb for an estimated £50/year saving.

If I stick with Bulb for electricity to get the WHD and just switch my gas to Zog, who have good feedback, I'll save an estimated £54/year so there's not much in it.

Yeah, sorry, it's £133 saving with new supplier, Green - but as you say they don't support WHD

WHD is worth £160 per year to you, and is applied to electric only.
(so it will be difficult to beat by a supplier that does not offer WHD, but if you were not entitled to WHD then there are savings of £80 for electric available elsewhere - sadly not shown by the CEC)

But you could save £54 per year switching you gas elsewhere - a saving not to be sniffed at

Better than the £10 saving you will receive by switching your gas to Bulb

So an overall saving of £44 pa. (almost £4pm) :money:

An even bigger saving is from Avro at £82 as you say (for dual fuel). Remember the Bulb saving is only a £10, not £50.

So £72 pa saving compared to Bulb Energy.

Not sure why MSE say they don't have enough feedback on Avro - they arranged a collective switch with them last year, enticing MSEers to sign up.
(may have been MSE fell out with them because they didn't pay MSE the referral money for a long while?)

But as you see - top customer service rating

MSE Winner 2: Avro 18mth fix - top customer service rating - only 15,000 available

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips/19-09-2018/


[Compared to newcomer, GNE]

this is a bigger (500,000 customers) company, which has been around longer and has a much stronger customer service rating.

JJ_Egan

On my second Zog sign up and never a problem .

But never a problem with the other ten or so energy companies i have used .

doveman

EnergyRookie wrote: »

Not sure why MSE say they don't have enough feedback on Avro - they arranged a collective switch with them last year, enticing MSEers to sign up.
(may have been MSE fell out with them because they didn't pay MSE the referral money for a long while?)

It says "Important: Avro Energy has recently had a new customer ban lifted by regulator Ofgem. We’re keeping an eye on the supplier and will update you if there are other issues."

So it sounds like they took on too many customers and the service suffered as a result.