Price comparisons

nigelthecardtart

I've just been through the minefield of renewing my gas and electric contract. As always the sites just give a list of companies in price order, but even then you can't be sure you're getting the best deal available. Can Money Saving Expert break the mould and start giving comparisons as simple cost (incl VAT) per kilowatt hour and standing charge. We could all sort the wheat from the chaff very easily then. 

Neil_Jones

nigelthecardtart said:

I've just been through the minefield of renewing my gas and electric contract. As always the sites just give a list of companies in price order, but even then you can't be sure you're getting the best deal available. Can Money Saving Expert break the mould and start giving comparisons as simple cost (incl VAT) per kilowatt hour and standing charge. We could all sort the wheat from the chaff very easily then. 

The comparison sites give you the best deal based on the information you feed them.  If you give them the wrong information you'll get the wrong quote.

The MSE does give you the unit cost and standing charges and an estimated (key word) monthly charge based on what you tell them.  However the lowest unit rate and the lowest standing charge does not mean the cheapest bill.  A lot depends on your usage.  You can save either with a high standing charge/low unit rate, or low standing/high unit.  If you use a lot it will lean towards the former, otherwise it leans towards the latter.  Most people will be somewhere in the middle.

Of course nothing to stop you working your own deal/costs out with Excel without needing to go anywhere near these sites.

[Deleted User]

There used to be something called a Tariff Comparison Rate which took into account unit prices and the standing charge but Ofgem dropped it. Bear in mind, the industry is fast moving around from kWh/year comparisons. Figure comparison tools with use actual historical data from your smart meter, and it will offer the cheapest tariff et al based on not just how much energy is used per year but WHEN the energy is used.

From the Ofgem website:

The half-hourly consumption and price data recorded by smart meters enables innovative products such as export tariffs, electric vehicle tariffs, and dynamic ‘time-of-use’ tariffs that reward consumers for using energy away from peak times or when there is excess clean electricity available.

The Smarter Tariffs – Smarter Comparisons project funds the development of tools to demonstrate how these smart meter-enabled tariffs can be compared, giving consumers the information they need to switch to the best deals and integrate new low carbon technologies.

The project will help to demonstrate: 

• how tariffs can be compared in a smart energy system which offers consumers a greater range of products and services, including dynamic pricing
• how to drive consumer engagement with smart tariffs and empower customers to make informed decisions
• how smart meter data can be integrated into comparison tools to improve consumer experience and the accuracy of comparisons

JJ_Egan

Comparison sites never been a problem for me to work out unit costs or see them .

Cheapest shown are going to be the ones with the lower tariff prices so i only look at those .

Agree that TCR was confusing for many .

Doubt if all can sort the wheat so easily as many are confused with the higher mathematics of purchasing and paying for electric or gas .