Separate suppliers - do you align tariffs?

egyptiancotton

Talldave said:

I'd pay £10 more over the year to go with Zog, just to avoid being a British Gas customer. 

Zog is about the same price as British Gas; £377 fixed for 12 months.

Talldave

lloydyyy said:

Talldave said:

I'd pay £10 more over the year to go with Zog, just to avoid being a British Gas customer. 

Zog is about the same price as British Gas; £377 fixed for 12 months.

Even better, it's £10 more in London!

pokora

I switch to tariffs without early exit fee, so don't try to align them. Just check regularly if there is another better offer available.

egyptiancotton

The cheapest gas tariff without an exit fee is British Gas Evolve fixed for 12 months at £372 or 15 months at £375 (well, the annual cost quoted is for 12 months but the unit and standing charges are locked for 15 months). Zog has a £30 exit fee, unfortunately.

The cheapest electricity tariff without an exit fee is Symbio Energy. It's a variable tariff and for my usage the annual cost comes to £227. PFP is slightly cheaper (£219) but comes with a £30 exit fee. The cheapest fixed tariff is much more expensive at £292.

Not sure what to do - stick with PFP Energy and choose either British Gas Evolve or Zog, or cancel the switch with PFP Energy and go with Symbio instead.

brewerdave

lloydyyy said:

The cheapest gas tariff without an exit fee is British Gas Evolve fixed for 12 months at £372 or 15 months at £375 (well, the annual cost quoted is for 12 months but the unit and standing charges are locked for 15 months). Zog has a £30 exit fee, unfortunately.

The cheapest electricity tariff without an exit fee is Symbio Energy. It's a variable tariff and for my usage the annual cost comes to £227. PFP is slightly cheaper (£219) but comes with a £30 exit fee. The cheapest fixed tariff is much more expensive at £292.

Not sure what to do - stick with PFP Energy and choose either British Gas Evolve or Zog, or cancel the switch with PFP Energy and go with Symbio instead.

Are you sure on your maths ?? In one of your previous posts ,you said consumption of 12000kwh ? If that is leccy ,then it is going to be a LOT more than your figures !!

egyptiancotton

My gas consumption is 12,000kWh and my electricity consumption is 1,400kWh - based on actual meter readings.

Electricity: PFP quoted me £219 fixed for 12 months but there's a £30 exit fee. I had a look for the cheapest tariff without an exit fee as advised by @pokora - it's a variable tariff with Symbol Energy at £227. The cheapest fixed tariff is much more expensive at £292.

Gas: British Gas Evolve quoted me £372 for 12 months fixed with no exit fee. They also quoted £375 for 15 months (I did the math and the price is quoted for 12 months but the unit and standing charges are fixed for 15 months. Zog came recommended but they are a bit more expensive at £377 but charge a £30 exit fee.

lessonslearned

@lloydyyy I want to say that being on a "fixed" tariff doesn't mean your monthly payments will stay the same for the whole duration of your contract. Only your standing charges and unit rates are fixed. 

Monthly payments are subject to each supplier's reassessment policy. Some suppliers do a direct debit reassessment every 3 months, and some do it once a year. This is to make sure you're not paying too much or too little for the energy you're using.

Pay attention to the unit rates. The cheaper the unit rates, the better your tariff deal. 

egyptiancotton

lessonslearned said:

@lloydyyy I want to say that being on a "fixed" tariff doesn't mean your monthly payments will stay the same for the whole duration of your contract. Only your standing charges and unit rates are fixed. 

Monthly payments are subject to each supplier's reassessment policy. Some suppliers do a direct debit reassessment every 3 months, and some do it once a year. This is to make sure you're not paying too much or too little for the energy you're using.

Pay attention to the unit rates. The cheaper the unit rates, the better your tariff deal. 

I'm aware but appreciate the advice. Thanks.

egyptiancotton

Good job I checked again earlier. A new British Gas tariff (Online Fix Jan 2022v8) cropped up on Citizens Advice's website - £362 based on my usage - fixed until 21/01/22 and there's a £20 exit fee. Nice saving over the British Gas Evolve tariff (£372, fixed for 12 months but no exit fee).

Edit: This is annoying. I went directly to British Gas' website to look for the tariff and it's not showing up in the list of tariffs for my quote. I'll give them a call.

Gerry1

lloydyyy said:

Edit: This is annoying. I went directly to British Gas' website to look for the tariff and it's not showing up in the list of tariffs for my quote. I'll give them a call.

No point in calling them.  BG don't publish most of the BG tariffs on their website, let alone those of BG Evolve.  They don't want to alert existing customers that they are being ripped off !

You'll have to switch via a comparison site.