Switching suppliers during fixed period

Mk14:37

Last year the switching tool gave me British Gas fixed rate as the best option for dual fuel bills.

Looking at Ovo and Octopus today it seems that both have lower standing charge and unit rates for gas and electricity, and using the 12000 kwh comparison I could save around £60 per year. BG has a £30 early exit fee, so is it as simple as switching, paying the exit fee and pocketing the remaining £30 saving?  Or is there something I'm missing / other reason not to do that? 

My bills in the summer started at £65 but usage was higher than predicted so went up to 145 to pay back the shortfall and account for the increase of use in winter.  Ovo and Octopus both gave an indicative £80 ish.  But even if my usage were well above the estimates, as the unit costs are lower than the bills would still be lower than with British Gas... or is my maths failing me?! 

Gerry1

Possibly on shaky ground if the suspiciously round 12000 figure is an estimate rather than annual kWh usage derived from actual meter readings.  Similarly, you may be confusing DDs with bills: the DD is a just a kitty which may or may not be sufficient to pay the bills.

MSE DD advice

But if the new tariff is fixed and is £60 cheaper than your existing tariff then it certainly could make sense to switch.  Of course, you need a crystal ball to see whether tariffs are likely to fall or rise, and it also depends on the exit fee on your new tariffs.

Don't forget to compare separate suppliers and to search the whole market (e.g. not the CEC).

I did exactly that, paid £30 to leave Gulf gas when Robin Hood had a mega-cheap deal.  They went bust, BG took over, they extended the fix by a month and scrapped the exit fee, so it turned out to be a very, very good move.

Neil_Jones

You can switch whenever you like, all that happens with the exit fee is if its more than 49 days before your end date it gets added to your final bill so it comes out of any credit, which you get back.

Note that if you feed a website a usage of 12,000 that'll be based on relatively typical usage.  If we have a really cold spell for weeks on end where temperatures don't get above -5 at all, you'll ultimately use more energy to keep Jack Frost out as it were.  That will be an exception to the norm for this country, but it happens on occasion, see a couple of years ago, the so-called Beast from the East which I remember as the heater in the car was a waste of time as the air was too cold for it to heat it properly, so it was all horrible and lukewarm, and one had to wear four layers just to sit in the damn car to drive it.

mac.d

Mk14:37 said:

Ovo and Octopus today it seems that both have lower standing charge and unit rates for gas and electricity, and using the 12000 kwh comparison I could save around £60 per year. BG has a £30 early exit fee, so is it as simple as switching, paying the exit fee and pocketing the remaining £30 saving?  Or is there something I'm missing / other reason not to do that? 

I'd go back and check that, exit fees are usually per fuel, so if you're on a dual fuel tariff, you'll pay £60, wiping out any possible savings.