Fixed deal expires end of October - what to do?

Gimel

I don't know yet what they'll (BG) be offering me (I have asked) and current deal is extremely cheap, will it increase relative to my current deal
or to whatever the cap allows them to get away with?
Usage is:
~2600 electricity single rate
~9400 gas

[Deleted User]

Why are you waiting until the end of October? Cheap deals are being pulled every minute as suppliers hit back at the Government’s inaction. Start your search now or you could end up on a very expensive fixed deal? Variable tariffs may well be cheaper at the moment.

Gimel

They've already been pulled.

garrehsponges

I'm in same boat, with very cheap BG deal. Just missed the Sainsburys fixed rate which was pulled recently, well gutted.

Are variable rate deals likely to go up again in October or current ones get pulled?

Wondering whether to just go with a variable rate from Octopus (Flexible - currently £69) and see how it goes. Or go with the next cheapest fix which is £76 from Goto Energy and nurse my wounds. :<

danlightbulb

@Gimel you might be better off allowing your BG contract to lapse and drop you onto their standard variable rate, which will be subject to the government price cap. Its worth running the numbers on that scenario and comparing it to what else is available.

garrehsponges

In my case current BG yearly tariff is £600 - this will go onto standard variable rate £855 year - but BG have confirmed a price rise of 12% from 1st October to the standard rate. So it'll go up to £957. The cheapest fixed rates at the moment £936 from BG - so that's just £21 cheaper for a fixed.

I think you maybe right @danlightbulb it's probably better to just stay on standard rate and hope this madness settles down over winter - then next spring hopefully some better fixed rate deals will pop up. And hopefully we've seen the final hikes going into winter for variable rates.

Gimel

Thanks both, 
I'll sit tight for the moment.

Armengar

what is your risk appetite?  Will the cap increase?  If so, fix now with low exit fees, switch later.  Will the wholesale go down due to mild winter?  Stick on a variable capped (not a green tariff etc).

garrehsponges

Armengar said:

what is your risk appetite?  Will the cap increase?  If so, fix now with low exit fees, switch later.  Will the wholesale go down due to mild winter?  Stick on a variable capped (not a green tariff etc).

It's my understanding the cap won't increase until next April when Ofgem do another review. They've already done their review and prices are going up in October. From what I've seen, most fixed rate tarrifs are set above the max cap. So on most fixed rate you would be guaranteed to be losing money for 6 months.

garrehsponges

One thing I've noticed is if you are willing to split your electric / gas between companies you can actually get a pretty decent fixed rate with a smaller utility company. Though with smaller companies struggling it's a question of how much trust you put in it. Either way your money would be protected and you would just fall back onto a bog standard variable rate with another company if it went under, which isn't much different to the situation most of us are in now anyway?