Martin Lewis: The rise in the energy price cap next April will still be cheaper than any fixed deal

tim_p

QrizB said:

wittynamegoeshere said:

If you need a computer to compare prices then competition can not ever work effectively.

But you don't need a computer; you need a smartphone, or a pocket calculator, or a pen and the back of an envelope, or even a bit of careful mental arithmetic.

Any 16-year-old with a maths GCSE (or a CSE, or an O-level) is capable of doing it.

Strangely a skill they mostly seem to lose once they leave home and get a place of their own and magically energy costs become unfathomable. 

jrawle

wittynamegoeshere said:

I'm completely capable of comparing tariffs.  However, I'd say that it's probably a minority who are capable of doing this.  You've got to appreciate that the energy nerds who frequent an energy supplier forum are definitely not representative of the entire population.

We have elderly relatives who could be paying anything and are extremely reluctant to switch as they don't have a clue what they're paying or what others are offering.  They don't have a computer or smartphone.  They're definitely not alone, a huge chunk of the population just ignore it all as they can't be bothered with it.

I really don't see a problem with eliminating standing charges and just having a flat unit rate.  It might cost heavy users a bit more, but they're the ones who are polluting the planet and overloading the infrastructure.  If they didn't get their effective discount for heavy use then they could always spend on improving efficiency instead.

Suppliers wouldn't be able to offer different tariffs for heavy users, the unit rate would be their one and only variable.  Just like that price label on a tin of beans in fact.

You didn't answer the question, though. Where do you find the information about all the prices, even if they are only a single rate, if you don't use a computer?

I do agree that there needs to be a way to help people switch to better deals on their bills if they struggle to do this themselves. I think Energyhelpline used to offer a service over the phone; not sure if they still do. But we are going to have to bite the bullet as a society one day and stop assuming that older people can't use the internet, as they will have been using for decades before they even became elderly.

The price label on your tin of beans does't show the unit rate. It shows the total price. Perhaps supermarkets should only be able to show the cost of beans per 100g, as different sized tins wold only confuse people. (Actually, Tesco's baked beans come in a 420g tin, Sainsbury's 400g, and Heinz are 415g. Great for comparing prices!) Perhaps Supermarkets should also be forced to stop selling large packets of anything. How discriminatory for people who live on their own! Large families can always just eat less if they want to save money.