to switch or not to switch

richpluk

Hi folks. 

My tariff expires in February, however I am anxious that the prices are going to get even higher next year so was thinking of switching early even though it means paying exit fees £60. If I do it through TopCashback I can get £120 for switching to Scottish Power Fixed Price August 2024 YM2 Online. 

There had been massive price hikes in the past, in your personal experience is it worth switching now, paying exit fees, getting cash back and freezing prices until August 2024? Had any of you done it in the past and didn’t regret? 

Fixed Price August 2024 YM2 Online

Electricity
Unit rate 24.578p per kWh
Standing charge 25.672p per day

Gas
Unit rate 5.822p per kWh
Standing charge 26.596p per day

apt

If you are on a good deal which will cover most of the winter I would stick with that.

richpluk

apt said:

If you are on a good deal which will cover most of the winter I would stick with that.

Thank you. 

One of the things which makes me feel iffy about switching to Scottish power is their appalling customer service record. I heard nothing but complains about them. 

spot1034

Ignore all these people saying 'prices are only going one way and that's up'. They are wrong. Markets never go in one direction only and the present high prices are an overshoot which will correct itself in time. The only uncertainty is over what time scale, and it does look as though even after spot prices start to ease it may be quite a while before prices at the retail end respond as all suppliers are presently having to sell at least some of their energy at a loss. 

The main argument in the favour of long fixes  seems to be that although they will cost more between now and next April, they will seem like a much better deal after that when the cap increases again. The guess you have to make is whether the market price will stay high up to or beyond that point, or whether suppliers will by that time be able to offer fixes that reflect an easing in the market that will make the present deals look expensive.  That is the bit no one can help with as there are so many unknown factors. 

richpluk

One of the negative factors I can see is that there will be a lot less suppliers and less competition as a result of this. The prices might never become as competitive as they had been in the past. 

JudgeDekker

richpluk said:

apt said:

If you are on a good deal which will cover most of the winter I would stick with that.

Thank you. 

One of the things which makes me feel iffy about switching to Scottish power is their appalling customer service record. I heard nothing but complains about them. 

I had a problem with Scottish Power. It took yonks to sort out because the goons in customer services kept sending me contradictory bills, but I was never concerned at any time that I would lose out. Completely different to and much better than dealing with firms like Symbio, where there's no-one there to even read your emails and I was very worried that my money would disappear. 

richpluk

Years ago I had awful experience with Npower. They drove me nuts. It took months to sort out their billing error. I wasn’t the only one with such experience, don’t know how they were allowed to operate that way. 

QrizB

richpluk said:

Hi folks. 

My tariff expires in February, however I am anxious that the prices are going to get even higher next year so was thinking of switching early even though it means paying exit fees £60. If I do it through TopCashback I can get £120 for switching to Scottish Power Fixed Price August 2024 YM2 Online. 

There had been massive price hikes in the past, in your personal experience is it worth switching now, paying exit fees, getting cash back and freezing prices until August 2024? Had any of you done it in the past and didn’t regret? 

Fixed Price August 2024 YM2 Online

Electricity
Unit rate 24.578p per kWh
Standing charge 25.672p per day

Gas
Unit rate 5.822p per kWh
Standing charge 26.596p per day

You're going to earn £120 cashback, but spend £60 of that on exit fees? You're only really gaining £60.

On the other hand, that tariff is quite expensive by current standards. I don't know what your current deal is or how much you use but the standard variable rate cap (SVT) is around 20p/kWh for electricity and 4p/kWh for gas.

If you're an average household using 2900kWh of electricity and 12000kWh of gas, switching to that SP tariff will cost you an extra £570 over the next year, compared to the current SVT. A lot more than £60 you'll gain from the switch.

hubb

I have been informed of my takeover of Avro by Octopus by the Energy club, but they are still showing I am with Avro and haven't updated my details with the new Octopus tariff, so the Energy Club is useless to give me comparisons to be able to switch to a cheaper deal.

Ultrasonic

QrizB said:

richpluk said:

Hi folks. 

My tariff expires in February, however I am anxious that the prices are going to get even higher next year so was thinking of switching early even though it means paying exit fees £60. If I do it through TopCashback I can get £120 for switching to Scottish Power Fixed Price August 2024 YM2 Online. 

There had been massive price hikes in the past, in your personal experience is it worth switching now, paying exit fees, getting cash back and freezing prices until August 2024? Had any of you done it in the past and didn’t regret? 

Fixed Price August 2024 YM2 Online

Electricity
Unit rate 24.578p per kWh
Standing charge 25.672p per day

Gas
Unit rate 5.822p per kWh
Standing charge 26.596p per day

You're going to earn £120 cashback, but spend £60 of that on exit fees? You're only really gaining £60.

On the other hand, that tariff is quite expensive by current standards. I don't know what your current deal is or how much you use but the standard variable rate cap (SVT) is around 20p/kWh for electricity and 4p/kWh for gas.

If you're an average household using 2900kWh of electricity and 12000kWh of gas, switching to that SP tariff will cost you an extra £570 over the next year, compared to the current SVT. A lot more than £60 you'll gain from the switch.

I was a bit surprised how big that difference was and so just did some sums. For the quoted tariff figures and 2900/12000 usage I make the anual cost £1602.18, so unless the SVT you're referring to is signficantly cheaper than the price cap (unlikely I'd have thought?) I don't think the extra cost can be as much as £570? 

Ultrasonic

hubb said:

I have been informed of my takeover of Avro by Octopus by the Energy club, but they are still showing I am with Avro and haven't updated my details with the new Octopus tariff, so the Energy Club is useless to give me comparisons to be able to switch to a cheaper deal.

I don't think the exact tariff has been confirmed yet, so it't not strictly possible for the CEC to reflect this.

Also, have a read of this if you haven't already:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/09/energy-firm-gone-bust--how-your-new-firm-and-tariff-stacks-up/