Fuel suppliers

wilson1973

Biggus_Dickus wrote: »

I’ve just plugged your tariff/usage details (but using my own post-code) into the Citizens Advice comparison tool and it gives me this;...“we estimate your current annual energy spend is £1,265.93”

The cheapest 12-month fixed tariff with £0 exit fees is Avro Simple and SuperSave at a cost of £997.23 per year...i.e. £268.69 per year cheaper than your present Shell Feb 2020 v3 tariff.

There are cheaper tariffs available but they are all Variable tariffs,...some have exit fees, some don’t.

The earliest you can leave Shell without incurring exit fees is approx 14th December if your present deal ends on Feb 1st.

Leaving Shell immediately and switching to Avro will take approx 3 to 4 weeks to complete. That would leave 3 months worth of savings between mid Sept and 14th December.

It’s very difficult to estimate but given your usage the difference between the two tariffs (Avro/Shell) for the period mid-Sept to mid-Dec will probably(???) be approx £80. Could be a bit more,...could be a bit less.

If you do move to Avro immediately you’ll need to pay £60 Shell exit fee which would negate most of the potential cost saving for said period.

However, an immediate move to Avro will give you the security of a 12 months fixed (£0 exit fee) tariff and all the savings it will bring. You also have the flexibility of jumping ship (without exit fees) if something better comes along in the meantime!

If I were you I’d be switching to Avro today;...if you do decide to switch it’s better not to procrastinate,...tariffs are withdrawn and replaced with alarming regularity,...and the tariff charge usually (but not always!) increases.

The choice of new energy provider/tariff is yours of course, but my advice is do it sooner rather than later whatever choice you make.

P.S. be aware that Energy company tariff charges vary depending on your location in the UK so your figures may not correspond exactly with my figures above.

Thanks for your help,that was kind of you I'm going to start the switch later today,I'm annoyed with myself for taking my eye off the ball

Gerry1

wilson1973 wrote: »

Thanks for your help,that was kind of you I'm going to start the switch later today,I'm annoyed with myself for taking my eye off the ball

Watch out for new Avro tariffs: they launch new ones and withdraw old ones about once per month, e.g. Simple and GoSwitcher was launched last Friday. If there's no exit fee and their new tariff is cheaper you can phone them and switch almost immediately rather than wait three weeks for a new supplier.

You can see all the latest price updates at Energylinx.

wilson1973

Cheers,it's a shame about the exit fee for leaving Shell.but I haven't left before the end of a contract before and hadn't thought too much about it previously,but it's good to know Avro don't charge for leaving/changing early.
I'm juggling a few balls at the moment at home so it's been nice getting advice on here to help me look at the situation

Smodlet

I know I'm late to the party and it seems you have already received excellent assistance, OP but I wanted to suggest Bulb as a way of avoiding exit fees. If you go on to the referrers' board and use someone's link to switch to Bulb, they will pay your exit fees up to £60. They do not impose exit fees themselves so you could then switch to Avro/supplier of choice without penalties.

Sorry if all I have done is complicate matters and no, I don't have a code for Bulb myself.

wilson1973

Hi thanks @Smodlet I wish I had seen your post before I switched,what is bulb then is that a switching site?


Edit,Oh I see what you mean that's clever,where is the referral board?I wonder if I could cancel the switch and do just that,mind you I suppose it might take a a couple of months to get to Avro then


I think my service is starting on the 2nd of September,it says I will be paying a direct debit on the 25th of August,I read on the net you sometimes have to pay another month within the first month,what a nightmare,I can only hope the credit from the old supplier gets sent to bank account quickly

Smodlet

Sorry for my lateness once again, wilson1973; you seemed to need no further assistance until exit fees were mentioned. I was a little surprised none of the respected contributors on your thread suggested Bulb, tbh but no-one can think of everything all the time and perhaps they do not like this company.

You do have 14 days to change your mind about switching; this is the "cooling off" period and is law, not at a company's discretion. I cancelled mine to Bulb on Day 14 because one of the Big 6 came up with a brilliant, fixed tariff at the last minute. The next day, it had disappeared.

That is the one thing I really dislike about Bulb: They have one tariff and it is variable so I think of them as a stop-gap to avoid exit fees rather than as a long-term supplier. They do offer £50 cash back if you use a referral link, though so there is a lot to consider.

I realise not everyone has the time or energy to spend on such things but I approached 5 suppliers in less than a month and switched to 2 of them before finding my current supplier.

wilson1973

Thanks the problem is I'm seting it up for my mum who has dementia I spoke to Avro over the phone this morning and they said to set it up online and then send the lasting power of attorney copy to them as it will be me dealing with it,I would imagine they won't talk to me further about this account now it has been set up and I'm not the named person on account,if that makes any sense

Smodlet

wilson1973 wrote: »

Thanks the problem is I'm seting it up for my mum who has dementia I spoke to Avro over the phone this morning and they said to set it up online and the send the lasting power of attorney copy to them as it will be me dealing with it,I would imagine they won't talk to me further about this account now it has been set up and I'm not the named person on account,if that makes any sense

Sort of... I don't claim to know much about power of attorney at all. I do think, if your mother tells whoever to speak to you then passes you the phone then they will. I know this works with certain providers such as car insurance companies. OH is by no means unable to deal with them himself, he just can't be bothered with them in general and on line chat in particular so tells them to deal with me... I can't even drive!

Anyway, best of luck to you and, should you want it in future, here is the [URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5958725Referral Thread[/URL].

Gerry1

wilson1973 wrote: »

I can only hope the credit from the old supplier gets sent to bank account quickly

Don't bank on it ! They have a leisurely six weeks to get round to producing your final bill, and then a further two weeks to send you the refund.

Oh, and the wonderful Ofgem has funked it: they were going to impose automatic £30 compensation if the final bill was late, but at the last minute they kicked it into the long grass.

wilson1973

Gerry1 wrote: »

Don't bank on it ! They have a leisurely six weeks to get round to producing your final bill, and then a further two weeks to send you the refund.

Oh, and the wonderful Ofgem has funked it: they were going to impose automatic £30 compensation if the final bill was late, but at the last minute they kicked it into the long grass.

wow,the new service Doesn't start until the 3rd Sept but I have a debit going out from them on the 25/8,the dd for Shell Energy our present but soon to be former supplier is due to be paid on the 6/9 so God knows if that last one will go out then too,I so hope we have a nice warm winter:j